RUGBY LEAGUE MT ALBERT WILL FIELD GOOD TEAM AGAINST BLACKBALL

Greymouth Evening Star, 29 September 1950, Page 4 (Supplement)

RUGBY LEAGUE MT ALBERT WILL FIELD GOOD TEAM AGAINST BLACKBALL

On Saturday week al Carlaw Park, Auckland, there will be played one of the most eagerlyawaited matches of the season. The relative strength of League in the senior grades in Auckland and on the West Coast will be decided when on that day Blackball, decisive winner of the premiership locally, will play Mt Albert, which was the victor in a strong senior competition in Auckland this sea-

son. There can be no gainsaying that Blackball has shown a big allround improvement in its last two matches —the team scored two very easy wins at the expense of Brunner and later Sydenham —- ■-until it must now be ranked as probably the strongest senior team to have taken the field on the West Coast since the end of the war. Blackball has a fine record to uphold against Mt Albert. In the opening match of this season Blackball met defeat, rather unluckily, at the hands of Runanga, but since then it has proved in no uncertain manner that it is on the top rung of the senior ladder, losing only to Brunner in subsequent matches. However, it had a close call against Ngahere three weeks ago when Ngahere was a superior team on the run of the game. Against Mt Albert, Blackball will have to be in peak form if it is to emerge the winner. Perhaps the best criterion of the strength of the Auckland championship winner was given in the Mount Albert-Richmond game on September 16. Richmond fielded a team which on paper would appear to have at least an even prospect of victory. Any team which has two Kiwis in its backs, as well as a topranking half-back, and two Kiwis in its forwards must be entitled to the utmost respect in a club match. Well, that is what Richmond had the nucleus of its team on September 16, yet it failed to withstand a late bid by Mt Albert which finally forged ahead to win by 19 points to 10.

Top-Class Players

Richmond had in its midst such fine players as B. Hough (wing) and T. Baxter (centre), both of whom were outstanding in their respective position for the Kiwis in the two tests against England this season. Then at half-back was O. Stewart, who incidentally took over the captainship in the absence of Kiwi M. Robertson. Stewart was one of the most tradesmanlike half-backs seen on Wingham Park this season when Auckland played West Coast. Richmond’s pack was moulded round C. Hurndell, who has few peers as a tactician in the country today, and another Kiwi in C. Johnson. But the vigorous forward play of Mt Albert was too much for Richmond. Mt Albert has a specialist hooker in R. Roff, who for some seasons has been considered unlucky not to make an international team. Roff gave a superb display of hooking in the Auckland-West Coast match this season and it will be interesting to see how he fares against R. Aynsley in the hooking department on October 6 —that is assuming that Aynsley fills the hooking berth for Blackball. Last Sunday, against Sydenham, Aynsley sent the ball back at lightning speed from the scrums, and with J. Lee in top form Blackball backs had a feast of the ball. Mt Albert possesses a splendid goal-kicker in full-back R. Moore, who sent over a penalty from halfway against Richmond, while also included in the back-line are dangerous players in T. Nixen (centre) and R. Hayward, Auckland representative T>ve-eighths. Hayward is a strong and resourceful five-eighths. W. Tocker played half-back for Auckland against Australia at Whangarei last year, and E. Kay has played on the wing for Auckland. In the forwards are such wellknown players as A. Wiles, R. Cranch and R. Rodgers. Wiles went to Aus,l tralia with the Kiwis as a centie in 1949. Cranch captained Auckland against South Auckland this season, and Rodgers has played for the North Island.

Much Improved Team

Thus Blackball can be prepared for a hard match. However, even though it would be a bold critic who would attempt to forecast the results, many West Coast enthusiasts will be confident that Blackball can carry the day. It has been really heartening to note the snappiness and speed of the Blackball backs in recent matches. Two of the most dangerous have been

the team’s youthful wingers, C. McGougan and D. Davidson, both of whom have developed into really good scoring wing three-quarters; McGougan, especially, has been a prolific try-getter for his club throughout the season. R. Nuttall, A. O’Donnell, and J. Lee are as steady as the rock of Gibralter on defence, as well as being shrewd attacking players, while W. Pascoe and P. Morrow have paved the way for several tries. These two players have shown pronounced improvement as the season progressed, and if a West Coast team were picked tomorrow they would be strong candidates. LOOSE FORWARDS OFTEN WRONGLY CLASSED ‘SHINERS’ Whenever a forward stands out in open play he runs the risk of being dubbed a “shiner” and fans may be inclined to think that he is shirking the tougher going where a forward should be when required. But the way Rugby League has been developed the forward of to-day generally can hold his own in the tight going and still run with the ball when required to do so. In an article written many years ago Bill Cann, one of the greatest loose forwards Australia has had and the father of the present style of lock forward play, discussed the question. Mr Cann had two trips to England as a player with the 1908-9 Kangaroos and then with the 1911-12 side that won the Ashes. He went again for the third time when he was co-man-ager with Mr. George Ball, of the 1921 22 combination. Cann completely revolutionised the mode of lock forward play known in the early days and he was one of the stars of the 1911 Kangaroos. He firmly believes, however, that a player is not necessarily loafing nor is he neglecting a true forward’s work merely because he succeeds in the open play.