Lindsay’s long wait

Press, 23 July 1986, Page 46

Lindsay’s long wait

By

KEVIN McMENAMIN

Milton would not have had footballers on his mind when he wrote about those whose stand and wait. If he had, he might have spared a thought for reserves and substituted “sit” for “stand.”

One Canterbury rugby player who has done a lot of sitting and waiting in the last, four years is the Shirley half-back, Allan Lindsay. It has been Lindsay’s misfortune to be the understudy in the Canterbury team to Bruce Deans, a man who always seems to be available. Since his debut in 1982, Deans has made 67 appearances for Canterbury, and not once has he missed a game through injury. Nor has he ever had to leave the field. In fact, it is difficult to recall even a stoppage on his behalf.

It was in 1982, too, that Lindsay was drafted into the Canterbury squad. He got one early season outing and later had four in the reserves when Steve Scott, the half-back Deans replaced, was unavailable. Now, four years on, Lindsay is still very much in Deans’s shadow. He has in this period played .11 times for Canterbury, mostly minor games. It was only in the final match last season, against Manawatu after the Ranfurly Shield had gone north, that Lindsay finally got to wear the red- and

black jersey on Lancaster Park. This was the fourth game Lindsay had for Canterbury last year — double his total in any other season — and he marked a very special day for him by playing extremely well.

But what makes Lindsay special is the number of times he has sat among the reserves. Last week against South Canterbury he was there for the fortysecond time.

Barring injury, either to him or Deans, Lindsay should reach his half century this year, and if so he will probably create a Canterbury record for those who sit and wait expectantly. Another half-back, Brent Elder, who now lives in Wairarapa, is believed to have had more

“games” in the stand than anyone else, about 46 when he was the understudy to Lyn Davis through the late 1960 s and early 19705.

When he bowed out of top rugby in 1974, Elder had played a mere 11 games, which is Lindsay’s present total. Lindsay would already have beaten Elder’s total as a reserve had he not missed much of the 1984 season because of a broken leg, which he received in a mid-season club game. : However, plaster, crutches and all, Lindsay barely missed a Canterbury training session during that period, providing moral support, if nothing else, as . Canterbury battled its way through some testing September shield challenges that year.

As well as being halfbacks with no guarantees about their next big game, Lindsay and Elder also have something else in common. They have both served Canterbury teams long and diligently as duty boys.

This is a role which falls to reserves. It involves a number of tasks related to a team’s wellbeing, not the least of them ensuring that no player or item of equipment goes missing after a game, especially away

ones. Elder was an acknowledged expert in the job, and Lindsay has become one, too. It is not always easy for the smallest member of a team, as half-backs usually are, to shepherd everyone on to the bus after an aftermatch tipple, but Lindsay has learnt the art “They have probably heard me do it so many times, that when I say it’s time to go they know l am not fooling,” said Lindsay. However, senior members, along with the managers and coaches, know the value of a good duty boy and for this reason Lindsay’s contribution to the side is rated very highly. “Allan has become an almost professional duty boy, and it says much for his enthusiasm that he never complains,” said •the Canterbury captain, Don JHayes. “No player likes being constantly in the reserves, and everyone was delighted when Allan got a big game on Lancaster Park last year. It was a small reward for his dedication, both to the team and to training," said Hayes. Lindsay needs one more game to earn his Canterbury blazer, and it could be a close finish as to which comes first — his blazer game or his fiftieth as a reserve. One, perhaps, is as notable as the other.