FOOTBALL ATTRACTION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19859, 1 February 1928, Page 13

FOOTBALL ATTRACTION.

ENGLISH! LEAGUE TEAM. VISIT TO NEW ZEALAND. ■l—t A STRONG SIDE EXPECTED. A great attraction to followers of League football will be the visit to New Zealand during the coming season of an English representative Rugby League team. Already several trial games have been played in England, and in the near future the personnel of the touring team will be announced. It has been stated on good authority that 12 players, the nucleus of a strong side, have already been selected, and the following are mentioned as being likely to make the trip:—Parkin (Wakefield), Brought (Leeds), Sullivan (Wigan), Evans (Swinton), Carr (Barrow), Ellaby (St. Helens), Bentham (Wigan Highfield), Holliday (Oldham), Fairclough (St. Helens), Ring (Wigan), Rees (Swinton), Burgess (Barrow). Either Parkin or Sullivan will captain the team. No players from overseas will be included. The appointment of managers for the team caused considerable interest in England, as no fewer than nine candidates were available. The choice finally fell on Mr. E. Osborne, of Warrington, and Mr. G. F. Hutchins, of Oldham. Mr. Osborne was one of the joint managers of the English team that toured the Dominion in 1924, and he is the recognised authority on the League code. Mr. Hutchins, who will be the secretarymanager of the touring team, has served as an official of the game in England for 37 years. Ho has represented the Oldham Club on the Lancashire County League for 25 years. The New Zealand Rugby League has received information that the team will arrive at Auckland from Sydney on Tuesday, July 31, and leave Wellington for England, via America, on August 28. The president of the New Zealand Council, Mr. C. A. Snedd3n, and Mr. D. W. McLean, left for Sydney by the Aorangi last evening to attend a conference of tho Australian Board of Control, when the itinerary of the tour will be finalised.