BOYS FOR OVERSEA

NZ Truth, Issue 1227, 6 June 1929, Page 16

BOYS FOR OVERSEA

Flayers belected rrom Wealth of Talent WILL BE FORMIDABLE i (From ■" N.Z. Truth's" Special Wellington Representative). 1 Some forty players from all parts of N.Z. assembled 1 i | at trie Athletic Park on Monday (King's Birthday) | : I with a ' view ,to showing' their wares before the N.Z. | ■ 1 Selectors. > |

•.[iiiiiliiiiiiiiriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiniiiiiiii 1 THE c'lctiial play m the trial match , I. was nothing to enthuse over for ' the reason that there w;is neces- • sa.rily an absence of combination, each i player doing his best to let the selectors know that he, the man with the ! ball, was the only one on the field. \ 'I)he selectors have made the best of , tke' material 'offering and whilst the , chosen ones are not, as a team. New ■ Zealand's best they will, nevertheless, • give a good account of themselves m Australia. ' • / . A few of those who turned out on Monday were unfortunate m not winning v -a place but their turn will come. The real object of the tour to Australia Is to unearth players who will be worthy to represent the Dominion : against the British team next season. I . The players selected are: Full-back: G. . Nepia (East Coast). Wing three-quar-ters: B. Grensicle (Hawkes Bay), IT. . Waterman (North Auckland), J. IT. . Geddea (Southland), Centre threequarters:, S. R. Carleton (Canterbury), C. [ Stringfellow (Wairarapa). Five-eighths: H. , ' Lilburne (Canterbury), R. Cundy , (Wairarapa), C. Oliver (Canterbury), L. ; 'Hook (Auckland). Half-back: W. C. I Dalley (Canterbury). Wlngr-forward: C. G. Porter (Wellington). 'Hookers: B. Palmer (Auckland), . A. Cottrell (Canterbury).. H. Souter (Otago), K. Reid (Wairarapa). Locks: . K. R. Steere (Hawkes Bay), C. Sonntag =• (Otag-o). Forwards: R G. -Uc Williams ' (Auckland), A. Kivell (Taranaki). W. [ Rika (North Auckland), \V. He.side (W'ai- . rarapa), A. Mahoney (Bush District), 13. M. Snow (Nelson). , One half-back has still to be selected to bring the playing strength up to 25. George Nepia, although he has been seen- to better advantage on Athletic

Park, easily won the honors for the fullback position. Heazlewood, nevertheless, did well and is the best .substitute offering for the redoubtable Neiria. In choosing Bert Grenside, Geddes and Waterman for. the wing three-quarter positions the selectors acted wisely. Grenside had already proved himself m the South African tour and he has lost little of his form. . Geddes took time to settle down on Monday, but his great speed will as- , sist him to play his part well during the tour. Waterman, of North Auckland, Shaped exceptionally well. He, too, has speed and determination. The tour will Improve him. Rushbrook lost a place through a very indifferent exhibition. "N.Z. Truth" has already pointed out that it .was really unfair to-ask Rushbrook 1 to play. He was not m form. Anderson (AVaikato) gave a. spasmodic display and was hardly up to the required standard, as wing three-quarter.. Trotter (MacKerizie Country) although he missed a place m the team is a dashing wing three-quarter who will be heard of again. . Carleton (Canterbury) went m on his reputation, as he did not play, Stringfellow (Wairarapa) fully deserved his inclusion' and will be a -real -All Black, after the tour. ■■'.'"■■..- Carlson (Wanganui) failed to make the necessary impression. He is, however, a 1 young player who will yet Win his spurs. ; In the five-eighths,- four have been, se- ; lected for. this; position. Lilburne (Can-

iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiinuiiiiiiiiiiiiiuniiniiuiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiHiiiiiiin terbury). Gundy (Wairarapa), Oliver (Canterbury) and Hook (Auckland). Lilburne and Oliver will be the first choice for their qualifications are well known. Hook "was m an in-and-out mood; but he should make good when he better understands the methods of his southern companions. Cundy is of the solid type. He will be capable of standing up to the strain of. a hard tour. D. Johnson (Taranaki) who was given a trial on Mondax r is unfortunate m missing the trip. He was just slightly overshadowed by those chosen. Bill Dalley (Canterbury) was easily the best back on the ground and his selection was never m doubt. 1 At ; time of writfng another half has to be chosen. Neither .L.eys (Wellington) nor C. Johnson (Southland) played near the required standard and if "Truth" had the making of the selection, Julian,' of Wellington, would go m the team. He is well ahead of both the men who were given a trial and it is surprising how Selector Millard failed to nominate the Ponolce lad. Only one wing-forward has been chosen and the one, of course, is Cliff Porter. Porter should lead the team on the present tour and Bill Dalley should be his associate. Porter still retains his form and few possess such a sense of anticipation as does the All Black captain. McEwen (Southland) had his chances spoilt mainly through the pronounced superiority of Porter. In the forwards, the selectors did their best with the nVaterial offering. The hefty '.man of the Hrownlie-Finlayson type was missing. Tiie exhibition of scrummaging was mediocre to- a degree and the absence of co-ordination upset all possibility of witnessing anything m the nature of real New Zealand forward play. Of the quartet of hookers, Palmer (Auckland), Cottrell (Canterbury), Souter

(Otago), and lie id (Wairarapa), Soute'r appeared to best advantage m loose play. What they did as hookers m scrums is hard to write about, for it was rarely a proper scrum was formed, Batchelor (Southland), Marslln (Otago), Thomas (Poverty Bay), and ' Freitas (West Coast), failed to win. a | place, though as Individuals, their exhibitions were quite as impressive as .some chosen. Freitas is a fine stamp of forward and on his display had hard luck in-being dropped. Two good men m Steere (Hawkes Bay) and Sonntag (Otago) have>been entrusted with the important job of holding the scrums together. Steere was in' great fo2-m m the line-outs. Of the forwards, McWilliams (Auckland), Kivell (Taranaki), Rika (North Auckland), Reside (Wairarapa), Mahoney (Bush District) and Snow (Nelson), -were the pick of the bunch, and the selectors could hardly go past them. McWilliams was the best forward on the ground. He will be the mainstay of the pack throughout the tour. Kivell is solid m the tight work and should improve on the tour: He has pace, too, for a- forward. Mahoney (Bush District) was always conspicuous. He, too, will develop into the class of forward we require. . ' Sno^w (Nelson) was always a certainty for inclusion. He has lost none of the dash which characterised his play last season, ' Reside and Rika are both hefty chaps who will make good.