RUGBY SEASON STARTS TO-MORROW

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 19918, 21 April 1939, Page 10

RUGBY SEASON STARTS TO-MORROW

SOUTHERN TOUR SHIELD CHALLENGE CLUB PROSPECTS REVIEW OP PLAYERS With the lure oJ a southern lour before them, Gisborne footballers will open the 1939 Rugby season to-mor-row in almost top condition and excellent games are expected in the opening series of grade championship matches. All senior teams have had pre-season games and-in this respect the Marist and Celtic clubs are fortunate in that they had two hard matches apiece to lit. themselves for the opening of competitive play. Proposed games on the southern visit are against three leading unions in Canterbury, Otago and Southland, the last-mentioned to be a Ranlurly Shield fixture should Southland still be the holders of the trophy. This may seem an ambitious programme but, taking the success of the touring Bay of Plenty side last season as a guide, Poverty Bay can well hope to equal at least the successes achieved by the touring side of last season, Poverty Bay also will seek games with South Canterbury, North Otago and the Vincent sub-union. Indi Rations* 'are [that the scarlet pack will be at least as powerful as some which have represented the Bay in the past and, should newcomers to Gisborne, Rugby live up to their reputations, the forwards will be a little better than the strong packs of preceding years. As yet, there is no new talent oflering in the back division, although the form of Reg McKinley. the Celtic colt who created a great impression at Wanganui during Easter, will be watched with great interest.

Celtic

The greens are in the fortunate position of being able to place in the field practically the same team as that which shared the senior title last season and once again the Celts will be a tough nut for all teams to crack-

Good news for Celtic supporters J e that Bill Steel's retirement was a "Madam Melba" one and that he is again to don the green livery. Celtir are famous for the vigour of their forward play and this year's pack will uphold the reputation ot team> of other years. Barty will be back in the front row of the scrum and, with his speed, again should prove a thorn in the side of opposing backs. Tippetts went well in Wanganui and will be available once more, "Lofty" Rogers looks like going on forever, or at least until the southern tour is over, and he, too, went very well in the Spillane games. One of the besL forwards in the competition is Goldsmith, who will be all out for a trip with the representatives.' C. McKinley again will be last man down in the scrum.

The form of the latest of the McKinleys, Reg, will be watched with keen interest as he is said to have been the most promising back seen in action at Wanganui at Easter. Tall and well-built, with very good hands, this latest member of a noted local Rugby family bids fair to carry on the family tradition. Jimmy Milligan will start the season 'al the base of the green scrum, but if is thought that he will give the game best before the season ends. Cecil McKinley will be centrcthreequarter and Alec McAneney and O'Rourke the wings. Another O'Rourke from the juniors showed fine form in Wanganui and might find a place in the seniors.

, Symes will be full-back and is expected to be a strong candidate for a representative position, but he v/ill have to be at the peak of his form to beat Tom Moughan (Marist) for a game. Alec McAneney showed very fine form in the match with Hastings Celtic at Easter and he was selected as one of the two outstanding wingers at the tournament. Brian Malone again will be five-eight and his strong defence should be of help to the side. Celtic went down to glorious defeat in the Spillane final and their showing in that game gave a clear indication that they have a great chance of taking the senior grade honours this season. H. 5.0.8. H. 5.0.8., who arc drawn against Celtic to-morrow, have an influx of training college players and should be well in the running for the championship honours they shared with Celtic last season.

Gardner, who was impressive in the game with Hastings H. 5.0.8. at Easter, witL be /the lull-back and looks like >a player of marked promise. He is said to have shown fine form for Auckland Training College last season. The Ma6ri All Black. P Kutia, is a possible absentee from the centre berth as lie is working or the Coast.

The rest of the H. 5.0.8. backs, with the possible exception of Pat Harris, who was married this week. will be on deck, and promising juniors in Bob Sim and J. Short will be given promotion this .season Other backs will include the captain, Billy Morrison, Geminell, Cecil Sebire, a possible absentee to-mor-row, Morley and Dick Short The maroons have gained some fine forwards this season and their pack will be a good one, with plenty of youth and weight. Tom and Wi Poki two of the best forwards in the Bay, will be turning out. H. 5.0.8. were inclined *o neglect Wi Poki last sea-

son, but now have a true appreciation of his merit and claim that he is the most promising forward in the Bay. Old stagers in Bradford, Lyons, a versatile player, Dick Francis, and McGuffie will be available, while Jim Craig, a High School first fifteen man who has been absent from the district for a few seasons, will be on hand. The veteran Maori All Black, Jimmy Leach, ha's retired, but claims mat he has left an equally good front row man in Wi Poki.

Newcomers in the maroon pack are D. Leach, a nephew of the great Jimmy, Bill Holmes and George 'Maunder, both back from the Auckland Training College. ' A notable acquisition is W, Johnston, a former training college man who has a fine representative record. which includes appearances for North Auckland, North Taranaki and Central Hawke's Bay, being a member of the latter representative team for the past three seasons. Another notable gain will be that of the former College Rifle.; (Auckland) player, I. Stewart.

H. 5.0.8. will be coached by the university All Black, Ron Stacey. who was well-known as a fine forward in Auckland.

Old Boys

With flic veteran leader, Archie Campbell, a doubtful starter this season, Old Boys will be captained by the former Wairarapa representative forward, Bill Aitken, who led the whites against Napier Tech on Easter Saturday. There will be few changes in Old Boys' ranks, but better things are expected of them this year. Jenkins is a doubtful starter and his place at full-back will be filled by a junior player, Trevor White, who shows fine promise. Old Boys nave plenty of backs and some difficulty may "be encountered in placing them all "in their customary position. In the three-quarter line they have Hale, Woods, Read and Burch as the strongest candidates for positions and the most likely selection appears to be Hale, Read and Burch. This may create difficulty as Woods showed fine form in the Tech fixture and is 4oing to be a hard man to displace. ,Voods is a nicely built type for the centre berth and he has plenty of sped. Me will give the mercurial Arthur Read tough competition for the centre position. In the live-eighth line Old Boys have a new star in Ray Swan, a Bay ol Plenty representative live-eighth, who showed line IV. rm in the game with Waipaoa last Saturday. Swan has a big reputation' in the Bay ol Plenty, where the standard of play !s a very high one and he should prove a decided gain to local Rugby Teamed with the newcomer last Saturday was Pat Hnisman, a back who has the gift of rising to great heights when the going is hard for his side. Murray Sharp will give this pair some

tough competition for a five-eighth position and whatever pair is selected will have to play top-notch football to keep Sharp out.

A veteran in playing experience is Old Boys' half, Littler, who will be seen at the base of the white scrum. Littler has served both his club and he representative team nobly for several seasons and he will be one if the strongest candidates for the projected southern tour.

The pack will be led by Bill Aitken. who is in remarkably fine form for so early in the season. Aitken plays the game with marked vigour, and he is a fine forward who was a great help to the code in Gisborne when he elected to transfer to Poverty 3ay from the Wairarapa. Twigg has given some very impressive displays in the white pack and will be out this season, as will Shanks, the hooker, Smellie and Livingstone will Ibe in the white livery, while new men in the pack will be Gordon and Manning, two newcomers to local football, and a promoted junior, Charlie Hayes, who made his senior debut in the Tech fixture. Smellie, tried at rover in the Tech game, cost his side the match with his off-side tactics and will do better if placed back in the scrum. Old Boys, the oldest established team in the Bay, are keen to regain their previous high position in Rugby circles and have the material this year to make the season a bumper one. Marist Losses Marist have lost two fine clubmen in their captain, Ted OTlalloran, and Dick Quinn, two foundation members of the senior side who have given the game best. Both, however, will serve the club in official capacities. Another projected loss is that of the Maori All Black, Jack Lockwood, who is reported to be transferred to Hawke's Bay to play for M.A.C. The ex-Auckland repi-esenta-tive, Arthur Toye. has retired and will coach the JVlarist third grade fifteen.

A newcomer to the blue pack is W. O'Connell. a West Coast representative hooker who took up residence in Gisborne during the summer. O'Connor is a youthful-looking but a sturdily-built player and is expected to provide the rejuvenated Marist backline with a fair share of the leather. Two junior forwards. McGrannaehan and Rex Rigney, the latter captain of the junior A team last season and the former a junior representative, have been promoted to the seniors and are exoocled to do verv well in the top grade. Tibbie. <he star forward at the Spillane Tournament in Wanpanui. Joe Anderson, a fine leader of the pack. Matt O'Brien, and Doyle are other forwards who will be called en to supply the weight to O'Connell and this

will not be lacking as the blue for wards will have plenty of weight.

In the backs Marist have gained the services of the best defensive back in the competition. This player is the former Y.M.P. man, Bill Bright, who has thrown in his lot with the Premier Cup holders. Bright is renowned for the deadly nature of his tackling and his attacking virtues are inclined to be disregarded, but he can do his share in this respect and is a strong runner. He will be partnered by the clever Maori back, Mick Smiler, who played a big part in taking Marist to the forefront last season.

Herbert Duckworth, a player whose services to the club cannot be measured in games alone, will be in action again, and, with the new captain, Darcy Heeney, he probably has the longest record of service with the seniors in the present team. Heeney played well in the Spillane tournament and led his side to a good win over Auckland and Napier teams. He should prove a good leader and Ihe responsibility of captaincy will have the effect of strengthening his own play.

Hoy, Sampson, and Clarke will be keen contenders for the remaining back positions, while Moughan, again will be full-back. This player was impressive as a last line of defence for Marists last season and is expected to have fine prospects of going further than club Rugby this season.

Marists started the season off in fine style by winning the Brennan Cup in Wanganui, scoring a fine win over Auckland Marists in their first game in the series and they will provide stiff opposition to any teams anxious to deprive them of the Premier Cup. A grade champmnshirj is not beyond the resources of this team, which came to the top after a struggle which aroused the admiration of followers of the game in the district.