Edkins reaches milestone

Press, 11 August 1989, Page 31

Edkins reaches milestone

The try and four goals which Barry Edkins contributed towards Hornby’s decisive rugby league win over Sydenham at Centennial Park last Saturday took his career club points total to 1500. Only the record-holder, Michael O’Donnell, has previously reached that milestone. O’Donnell retired in 1986 with 1668 points.

But Edkins has no intention of tilting at O’Donnell’s mark. In fact, he will be quite content if he never scores another try, nor takes another kick at goal, even more so if his future service to Hornby is as non-playing coach. Edkins pulled his playing gear back on to cover for the non-availability of other players, and has filled in at stand-off half and second-row in recent weeks.

Gradually the missing men have returned — some from injury, Wayne Wallace after serving a suspension, and Mark Nixon from a rookie term at Canberra.

By

JOHN COFFEY

The goal-kicking responsibility reverted to Edkins when Stu Ward left for Australia and Blair Harding was injured and later chosen for the Junior Kiwis tour to Papua New Guinea. “Simon Angel and Blair Harding will be back from

the Junior Kiwis trip this week, and I will not be playing again if I can help it,” said Edkins. "The body has been feeling it, believe me,” said the former international, whose premier club football can be traced back to Eastern Suburbs in 1975. Since then Edkins has accumulated his 1500 points from 60 tries (43 of them worth three points), 1290 goals and 13 field goals. ’He scored 736 points for Eastern, and has 764 for Hornby.

Edkins had retired after the 1987 season, with his career aggregate at 1464, and served as a Canterbury selector last year.

But the lure of regular weekly involvement in the club premiership was strong this season, and Edkins described reaching 1500 points as “an unexpected bonus.” Apart from O’Donnell and Edkins, only Trevor

Williams (Hornby, 1331) and Lewis Hudson (Linwood, 1458) have exceeded 1000 points. Tony Wildermoth (Marist-West-em suburbs) has most points (959) of present premier players but is no longer first-choice ’kicker for his club. Wildermoth’s successor, Bryce Nicholson, seems sure to carry off the Turner and Le Brun Cup as the most prolific goalkicker in the premiership. With one round left Nicholson has 50 goals, nine more than Carl Hall (Linwood) and 11 in front of Paul Dunn (Halswell). Hall might have a more realistic chance of winning the A. G. Bailey Cup as top try-scorer. The leader, Mike Dorreen, cannot increase his tally of 11 tries because Addington has a bye. Closest to him are Hall and Kelvin Remi (Marist-West-ern), with nine each, one more than Ken O’Brien (Linwood), Gary Leek (Marist-Western) and Barry Goldsmith (Papanui).