Auckland players will dominate Kiwi teams

Press, 18 June 1986, Page 44

Auckland players will dominate Kiwi teams

By

JOHN COFFEY

Players with past and present Auckland affiliations are certain to monopolise the compositions of the New Zealand rugby league test and touring teams, to be announced after the final trial at the Addington Show Grounds on Sunday. Ironically, South Island’s representatives have unwittingly assisted to create this situation. South was sufficiently superior to Northern Districts and Central Districts to lessen the chances of candidates from those areas, but was itself decisively beaten by Auckland at Carlaw Park last Sunday.

There was no sign of the poor form displayed by Auckland against Central and Northern as it shattered South’s Travelseekers Trophy aspirations.

The Auckland pack lacked nothing in comparison to its highly-rated South counterpart, and the Auckland three-quar-ters moved with all the precision and flair which had been expected from them in their earlier appearances.

As a consequence, Auckland has 17 (of 30) players in the first trial, to be held at Carlaw Park tonight. And all four Brit-

ish-based Kiwis, Kurt Sorensen, James Leuluai, Gary Kemble and Dane O’Hara, honed their skills in that city. Because other contenders failed to impress, four backs not used by Auckland last Sunday, Peter Kelly, Marty Crequer, Brian McClennan and Kelly Shelford, have been promoted to the Northern Zone or The Rest sides for tonight’s fixture. After that match another Rest XIII is to be chosen to oppose Southern Zone (a combination of South and Central) on Sunday. That Rest XIII should be a particularly powerful combination —

all of tonight’s trialists are eligible apart from Brent Todd (Canterbury), who is in the Southern Zone front-row. The Kiwi team to meet Australia in the first test at Auckland on July 6 will logically be largely comprised of the experienced internationals who have so dramatically lifted this country’s ranking and the sport’s image in the last few years. Reinforcing that theory was the failure of many New

Zealand-resident players to issue serious challenges during the inter-districts series.

If injury prevents Dane Sorenson from assuming his customary front-row role the prime contenders are Todd and Adrian Shelf ord (Wellington). Todd was undoubtedly the front-runner after two inter-district rounds, but Shelford was more convincing last weekend.

Darrell Williams, the Auckland full-back who is being tried as a centre tonight, was one who advanced his prospects with a dazzling display last Sunday. Williams has emerged as a threat to the established Gary Kemble in his specialist role.

Should the versatile Gary Prohm be considered primarily as a loose forward, the resulting centre vacancy should be filled by Dean Bell and Williams would most likely be entrusted with a wing position, as he was in Britain and France last year.

The hooking duel between Tracy McGregor (Auckland) and Barry

Harvey (Taranaki) tonight should decide which has preference as Wayne Wallace’s (Canterbury) understudy. Ron O’Regan and Shane Cooper, who were most responsible for the attractive style of football shown by Auckland in its rout of South, merit much consideration for the test squad. O’Regan’s fate depends on Prohm’s positioning and whether a prop forward is needed as stand-by in case Dane Sorensen suffers a recurrence of his knee problem.

Twenty-three players are to tour Australia and Papua New Guinea. Sorensen, Kemble, O’Hara and Leuluai are the overseas Kiwis permitted to participate in the full itinerary; those attached to Sydney clubs can play only in the tests.

Of the team which travelled to Britain and France in 1985, Glen Gibb (West Coast) and Shane Horo (Auckland) have seemingly dropped from contention. Vaun O’Callaghan (Waikato) is injured, neither Mark Bourneville nor Crequer have been permanent members of the Auckland side, Ricky Cowan has not played for Auckland at

all, and Ross Taylor (Canterbury) has struggled to regain full fitness after making a late start to the season. Most of the newcomers, inevitably, will be from Auckland. Tea Ropati has sufficient midfield strength and speed to merit joining his brother, Joe, among the Kiwi three-quarters, Dean Lonergan has impressed as much as any second-row forward this winter, and Gary Freeman has edged ahead among claimants for inside back selection. The demotion of Phil Bancroft to the Southern Zone reserves for the second trial suggests that his Canterbury teammate, Brendon Tuuta, might be just 80 minutes away from earning a. Kiwi jersey. Kelly Shelford, kept out of the Auckland team by the talented Cooper, could clinch the second stand-off half spot tonight. John Green’s situation is intriguing. The young Canterbury forward has an opportunity to stand out in unfamiliar company tonight, but was not named in the Southern Zone side for Sunday. He is, however, eligible for the Rest XIII if the selectors wish to see more of him. Until Auckland lifted its standard at South’s expense, the inter-districts series had been of little assistance to the national panel. Because few individuals produced the form to demand a touring place the trials at Auckland and Christchurch are all the more vital and open in nature. The pre-trials “shadow” Kiwi teams could be:— Test: Gary Kemble; Darrell Williams, Dean Bell, James Leuluai, Dane O’Hara; Olsen Filipaina, Clayton Friend; Dane Sorensen, Wayne Wallace, Kurt Sorensen; Mark Graham (captain), Hugh McGahan; Gary Prohm. Reserves: Shane Cooper, Brent Todd. Tour: Kemble, Williams, Mark Elia, Joe Ropati, Tea Ropati, Marty Crequer, O’Hara, Leuluai, Kelly Shelford, Cooper, Gary Freeman, Brendon Tuuta, Wallace, Barry Harvey, Kurt Sorensen, Adrian Shelford, James Goulding, Brent Todd, Dean Lonergan, Owen Wright, Sam Stewart, John Green, Ron O’Regan.