Waikato halfback ready for All Black battle

Press, 26 July 1989, Page 60

Waikato halfback ready for All Black battle

PA Hamilton The highly-promising Waikato halfback, Kevin Putt, admits he has a battle on his hands to make the All Blacks. But that will not stop the 24-year-old from “fighting like hell” to get on the tour party to Britain later this year.

“It’ll be hard,” Putt said. “But that’ll not stop me trying.” Putt, who took the field against the Pumas yesterday, accepts that either of the two halfbacks preferred by the All Black selectors — Cantabrians Bruce Deans and Graeme Bachop —

t will be hard to displace. > “They’re part of a winning team, and you just 1 don’t change a winning team. \ t “They’ve earned the right to be there by playj ing consistexty we ll in top competitiai. s “That’s the way to attract the attentien of the

selectors. That’s what I ’ must do.” I Putt said he will be * helped by a Waikato team that has begun to . realise its potential. t “We are individually j probably one of the more talented teams around,” he said. “We showed that < on occasion last year, but <

we didn’t know how to get it together in every game. “We’ve made it a goal to play consistently well this season, and so far it’s worked. “And if the team is consistent, I can be consistent”

Putt credits the coach, Glenn Ross, for much of what the side has achieved. “What has made the difference this year is communication and organisation. And it all comes down to Glenn Ross. “He’s helped bring

about a new atmosphere. There are no motivational hassles, everyone is real keen. And the team is positive that what we have achieved on and off the field is not going to drop.” Putt, a member of the New Zealand Sevens and

the Northern Zone team this year, will put his aspirations to become an All Black on hold and devote himself entirely to Waikato’s first division campaign, which goes into overdrive next month when it plays five matches in the space of two weeks.