LEAGUE TEAM HAS TAKEN NEW LIFE.
TROUBLE IS SETTLED; ALL PLAY AT TOP FORM.
There may be something in “ direct action ” after all, though perhaps only from the personal point of view. It is significant that all the forwards of the New Zealand Rugby League team who played against and defeated Wigan Highfield on Wednesday were concerned in the recent trouble. Their inclusion as a body (there was no room for the seventh forward) points to a diplomatic move by the selection com vnittee. They justified their positions, and it is devoutly to be hoped that the pack of “ direct actionists ” have been merged again into the spirit of team work which should govern any touring side, if they are to make a success of their visit. The forwards against Wigan Highfield were:—Carroll (who has played ten games), Devine (eight), Henry (eight), Peter sen (four). Singe (three), and Mouat (eight). The total number of matches to date has been nineteen.
With Wilson-llall a passenger for the remainder of the tour, through breaking an arm in the game against Huddersfield on November 6, the problem of the half-back position has been made a difficult one. Wilson-llall was unrivalled in his work behind the scrum, as spectators of football in Canterbury saw to their delight when the meteoric little half did battle for the Hornby Club. Delgrosso was
taken on the tour as Wilson-Hall’s understudy, but the Aucklander cannot reach the heights to which the Canterbury man invariably rises. Delgrosso is perhaps more suited to the three quarter line, and has played both in that position and at half on the tour. He did not take the field against Wigan Highfield. and it was left to C Webb, one of the five-eighths from Auckland, to act as the first link be tween the pack and the backs. That he did his work at least fairly well can be seen by the sparkling back play of which English critics speak. The team will meet Batley to-day, Keighley next Wednesday, and Swinton on the following Saturday.
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Bibliographic details
Star (Christchurch), Issue 18009, 20 November 1926, Page 2
Word Count
342LEAGUE TEAM HAS TAKEN NEW LIFE. Star (Christchurch), Issue 18009, 20 November 1926, Page 2
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