High early-season form likely in senior netball

Press, 7 April 1979, Page 12

High early-season form likely in senior netball

Rain is not usually a major problem to netball players in Canterbury with the excellent all-weather courts on Hagley Park. But for the annual opening tournament before the grading day, some teams

from the second, third, fifth and sixth grades were to play on grass; these courts would have been reduced to quagmires after the rain which fell before and on Saturday. So the season for the 488 teams under the Canterbury Netball Association’s wing starts today with grading matches, the highlight of which should be the effort of Burnside B to >tave off the challenge to a senior place from St Nicholas B, last year’s senior reserve winner.

However, Bumside B has a notable acquisition in Linda Shepherd, from Cashmere, and it speaks volumes for the strength of Bumside’s attack that this player can not make the top line-up. Bumside, clearly, has strength all round; it has 32 teams, the most of any club in the city. And surprisingly enough, there is only one new club, North Beach Services, which has four teams; while the concentration of both primary and secondary college stu-

dents at one campus, Ham, has resulted in increased Teachers’ College entries. There are many changes among the senior teams, the 1978 winner, Technical, showing three of them. Robyn Foster, its highscoring shooter, will be sorely missed, her rapport with Frances Granger causing many problems — some of them psychological — to opposing defences. A New Zealand representative, Maxine Blomquist, will again be the mainstay of the defence, experienced as it is with Blomquist paired with Lynne Cawley again.

St Nicholas A, runnerup last year, has retained its top shooter, the well-

known Canterbury tennis player, Ann Davidson, but will miss the services of its goal attack, the wily Judy Pani. The defence looks strong with the proven combination of Philippa Borlase and Barbara Kreft. Sacred Heart A has an exciting new look on paper, including the new combination of Wendy Heta, shooting, and Jenny Wills on attack. Sacred Heart’s B team, last season’s surprise performer, will miss its shooter, Penny Bern,', and the long arms and difficult defence of the outstanding Brenda Rowberry. Both Sacred Heart and

field two senior teams, a difficult proposition in any sport; and Burnside A this year will rely heavily on Adrienne Prattley, forward, and Wai Taumanu, on defence. Both players control play skilfully, and their team will again be a force with which to be reckoned.

The full personnel of the Teachers’ College, Riccarton and Cashmere teams is not definite at this stage, but Cashmere has lost Shepherd and College will be without Carol Honeybone, moving to the North Island.

Finally, there is Hagley with its three New Zealand trialists — Christine Pietzner, Janice Henderson and Geane Katae — as strong as ever but possibly to be the hardest hit when the national teams are announced. With the senior team to contest the fifth world tournament in Trinidad and Tobago in August, and the under-21 side to tour Australia in June and July, players Will have the incentive to peak early.

This could well result in a high early-season standard, and a continuation of keenly-contested games featuring a high level