CHAMPION ROUND IN LEAGUE GAME.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17906, 23 July 1926, Page 12

CHAMPION ROUND IN LEAGUE GAME.

ADDINGTON AND MARIST A WILL TRY CONCLUSIONS. Addington and Marist A will meet in the second to last match in the . champion League round at Monica ( Park to-morrow. The winner will play, or will have the right to play, Ilorntn' the following week. Following on these matches will be the knock-out competition for the Thacker Shield, which last year was won by Addington. 33 33 ’ 33 All the New Zealand representatives from Canterbury will be seen in action again, THE BIG MATCH. The meeting of Addington and Marist A should provide some good football. Both teams will be practically at full strength, and calculation is keen as to which will leave the field the win--33 33 33 Marist will have the same team as last week. Mears will be an absentee in the forwards (he did not play last week), but the pack is a formidable one. Petersen will no doubt show out, and will be, as usual, well supported. Batchelor. Brittenden and IC. Fitzgerald will figure in the backs, along with the usual personnel. 33 3-3 3*3 Addington will have something like its old team on the field again. It is believed that E. O’Malley, who has not played since his injury in the Canter-bury-South Canterbury match at Timaru, will be on the wing again; and that R. (Bobbie) Watts will turn out. Watts is a New Zealand representative and one of the best half-backs in the Dominion. He is reckoned by many to be as good as Wilson-Ilall, though perhaps not so brilliant. Watts has not played this year. Last year he was not quite up to form, as his knees troubled him. There is some talk of his taking the field as full-back and not half, so that he may get into his stride again. Mayne is another player who was absent last week, and w'ho will put in an appearance in the backs. Collie will come into the forwards again after a short spell. Taken all the team will be a strong one, and if it acts up to its reputation of always achieving the unexpected, may come out the winners. TWO OTHER GAMES. Other matches have been arranged between Hornby and Waimairi, at Monica Park Xo. 1 : and between Sydenham and Woolston, at Woolston Park. The Horn by-Waimairi game will be the better one, from the spectators' point, of. view. Ilornby will field a team stronger than that which Waimairi held in check so well on July • 10, and should have a fairly comfortable win to their credit. This will probably apply to Sydenham also. NEW'S AND NOTES. The New Zealand League representatives will, according to private advice received in Christchurch, leave Auckland by the Aorangi on August 3. They' will travel via Vancouver. On August 25 they will embark on the Minnedosa, from Montreal, for Liverpool. A. Ward, who filled a vacancy in the Hornby senior team against Marist A last Saturday, is a promising young forward from the junior team. Though still on the young side, for a hard game. Ward shows promise of developing into a high-grade forward. On Tuesday evening next a farewell dance and presentation will be tendered in the Club Rooms, Barbadoes Street, by the Marist Old Boys Club to L. Petersen and J. O Shaughnessy, two members of the club who are going to England, leaving Christchurch at the end of next week, with the New Zealand Rugbv League team. 33 33 35 W. Stewart, the Ilornby three-quar-ter, is one of the unlucky players. This season, after recovering from his injury, a serious dose of the “flu” has kept him off the field for the past fortnight, but he is now on the road to re--33 33 33 Writing on the fact that Ilickey was not included in the New Zealand representative team, “Bunty,” in the “Otago League Guide,” states:—A great deal of surprise is evinced at the non-inclusion in the “Kiwis” of P. Hickey, of Otago, who showed brilliant form in the big trials. The puzzle is made more complicated by the selection of J. Sanders (Canterbury), a five-eighth, for the three-quarter line. And again, what about^Tallentire? Selector Who Plays. Roy M'Gregor, one of the Hornby League Club’s senior selectors, had to fill a vacancy in the Ilornby team last Saturday owing to a bereavement in the Vivian family. M’Gregor is a useful man to have following the team, as he is always willing to fill any vacancies that occur. A couple oi seasons back M’Gregor was one of the best

backs in the Ilornby' Club. He still retains his pace, and is a sure tackier. The Ilornby junior team has had a hard. struggle to muster a full team of late, owing to the large number of injured players it has had. There are a number of very promising players in this team. F. Hor well, the captain, is a forward of the dashing type. Horwell is one the finest goal-lcickers in the club, and he would be very useful in any team for this alone. 33 35 3*3 Regarding the proposal that a team of schoolboys from the West Coast should travel to Dunedin, playing probably two matches at Christchurch on the way, the Otago League has decided to notify the West Coast League that it is impossible to fix a suitable date tor a match against Otago in Dunedin this season owing to the fact that too many other sporting fixtures will take place in August and September. The Otago Rugby League will be pleased to receive a visit from the West Coast League next season. The thanks of the Hornby Club are due to their “Princess” (Miss D. Bryce) and her “ladies-in-waiting” (Miss L. Freernan and Miss M. Stewart), also her pages ’ (Miss R. Bryce and Master R. Davis), for the way in which they repereseuted the club in the recent queen crowning ceremony held in the Caledonian Hall.