Kiwis in rival teams for Sydney league final

Press, 16 September 1987, Page 31

Kiwis in rival teams for Sydney league final

By

JOHN COFFEY

New Zealanders will be pitted against each other in a Sydney rugby league grand final for the first time on September 27. Last Sunday Darrell Williams, the former Auckland and present New Zealand test fullback, gave the last pass for the try which put Manly-Warringah into the code’s biggest Sydney showcase.

Williams, who is preferred as a centre by Manly’s coach, Bob Fulton, has been outstanding in a back-line which also includes the Kangaroos, Dale Shearer, Michael O’Connor and Des Hasler, and the New South Wales

State of Origin stand-off half, Cliff Lyons. The Manly try-scoring move was completed by a wing, David Ronson, and O’Connor kicked three goals in the 10-6 defeat of Eastern Suburbs.

On Sunday, at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Easts, . captained by the Kiwi - skipper, ; Hugh McGahan, opposes Canberra, which includes the former Linwood and Canterbury prop, Brent Todd, for the right to meet Manly in the grand final. McGahan has been in

peerless form in his third season with Easts, and is acknowledged as one of the most courageous and skilful back-row forwards in the sport.

Should Easts earn another opportunity to topple Manly, two other New Zealanders could play a part in grand final proceedings. The Kiwi utility, Gary Prohm, and a former All Black inside back, Kurt Sherlock, have* been regular first grade replacements in recent weeks. Prohm could become the first player from this country to appear to both a British Challenge Cup final at Wembley and a Sydney grand final. Inevitably, there will be southern support for Todd and his Canberra teammates in Sunday’s preliminary final. A grand final winner’s medal would be perfect compensation for losing his test front-row place to two Canterbury, compatriots, Ross Taylor and Adrian Shelford, earlier this year. Having qualified for its first semi-final play-offs since joining the big league in 1982, Canberra lifted its supporters’ hopes with a resounding 46-12

>. elimination of South Sydney in, the minor, final last Saturday. / ; V

The formidable pirop pairing of Todd and Sam Backo has been an important factor in Canberra’s rise to prominence, even without its injured test centre,' Mai Meninga. In only his first Sydney season, Todd will be seeking to surpass the feats of two other Canterbury and Kiwi props, Bill Noonan and Mark Broadhurst.

« Noonan was, in the Can-terbury-Bankstown > team toppled by *; Eastern Suburbs in 1974; while Broadhurst was left out of the Manly side beaten by Parramatta in the 1982 grand final.