RUGBY LEAGUE

Grey River Argus, 24 August 1946, Page 6

RUGBY LEAGUE

WEEK-END HIGHLIGHTS. There were no Rugby League com petition matches played on the West Coast last week-end because oT the heavy state of the grounds. The main match at the park this week will be between Kohinoor and Ngahere. Both these teams are on the up-grade, and should provide an interesting, if not spectacular game. It will be remembered, that at the start of the new One Round Competition botli turned the tables on Runanga, by adapting themselves to the heavy conditions to come out on top. If the field is heavy to-morrow, Ihe Kohinoor-N'gahere game should provide a good forward battle. Runanga, which has lost two games in succession will meet Blackball at Rapahoe, while the new Hokitika side, with the inclusion of A. Gillman (South Island representative) to Strengthen it will meet Brunner—the side that scored a last minute victory over Ngahere—on the Taylorville Domain. Marist have the bye. Lower grade matches will be piayed on all grounds. The Boys Kissed Him! Although, New Zealand defeated the Englishmen by 13 points to 8 at Auckland recently, there was an incident in this game that will be talked of for years—“the famous Graham try”—a try that assured New Zealand of victory. Clarke, attempted to goal from a most difficult angle, and to his dismay saw his kick hit the cross-bar and bounce back infield, but Graham following up fast from the 25, took the ball on his chest, and using every atom of pace and strength he went over Jones, the English full-back, to touch down in a handy position from which Clarke added the extras. It is stated that the crowd cheered, and the English- | men stood dumbfounded, while several of. the New Zealanders rushed up and kissed him. Play-the-ball Rule: Referees’ rulings on play-the-ball have been disputed at every match the Englishmen played on their recent tour of New Zealand. This dispute is termed by many as a “hardy annual,” and is revived every time an English team comes to New Zealand, or a New Zealand team visits Britain. North Island ex-, perience has confirmed the formed after seeing the decisions in the South Island and West Coast matches at the start of the tour that though the Englishmen complained of unfair treatment, they were without doubt correctly penalised by New Zealand standards in the majority of cases.

Schoolboy Reps: Fans and followers of the League code will again maintain interest in the tour of a West Coast schoolboy League representative team to play 1 in the tournament at Auckland, durI ing the coming week. They will I leave on their journey to-day and be in Auckland in readiness for the first match which will begin at 2 p.m. on Tuesday. The two leading teams will play a curtain-raiser to an Auckland senior club match the following Saturday. It is stated that the Coast? team is in top form, and with such young and experienced players —some of whorh have played in open grades —they should give a good account of themselves, and add additional prestige to League on the Coast. Prolific Scorer: L. Lisle, the former Kohinoor Club full-back, is stated to be playing first class football for Lindwood seniors in Christchurch. Although he has only played a few -games, he has accounted for a large percentage of his side’s points.. Last Saturday he kicked an excellent penalty from a long way out, and was unlucky not to score on one occasion when his foot hit the corner flag. Although, not in the same class as Soster or Nuttall, he played sound football on the Coast, and has impressed the Canterbury selectors with the result that he has been chosen an an emergency in the Canterbury side to play Auckland on September 3. at Christchurch.

Auckland Touring Team: The Auckland Rugby League selectors, Messrs T. Hadden. J. Clarke and J. McGregor have chosen the following team to represent Auckland on its southern tour.— S. W. Clarke. R. Cunningham, F. James (City), L. Jordan, R. Nutse and T. Hardwick (Ponsonby), R. McGregor, M. Robertson, A. Graham. D. Ryan (Richmond), A. Read, R. Clark,. B. Graham, J. Rurtherford, J. Pye, C. Peterson (North Shore), J. Johnson (Otahuhu). , , „ The team will leave Auckland on August 29. Hokitika’s Find: ■ Arthur Gillman, the Addington forward, who played an impressive game in the Test match against England, and who has also represented Canterbury and the South Island, has been transferred to Hokitika as a member of the Police Force. He has been selected to represent West Coast in the match against Auckland on Sunday September 1. Before turning over to League, Gillman was a prominent Rugby player. DRUIDS v. BUFFS M th , e aXS fixture for the-McPhee present holders of the shiela, but on this occasion the Druids aie - • dent that they can wrest the coveted trophy from their opponents. me proceeds of the game are to he donated to the injured players of die pjunanga Club. _