Canty league captain intends to step down

Press, 13 February 1986, Page 38

Canty league captain intends to step down

By

JOHN COFFEY

David Field, the Canterbury and South Island rugby league captain for the last three seasons, yesterday announced his intention to step down from all representative football.

In stopping short of actually retiring, Field said he wished to leave his options open in case exceptional circumstances caused the Canterbury selectors to temporarily seek his services. “I am unavailable, rather than retired,” said Field. "I will be playing it day by day, and would like to think that I was performing well enough to be considered as a fill-in should Canterbury be struck by injuries.” Field is starting his second term as playercoach of the Sydenham premier team. His reappointment largely caused his decision to restrict

himself to club level this winter. “The level of enthusiasm is not as high as it used to be, though I still enjoy playing,” he said. “When it came time to start training I just could not get into it, so I stopped altogether. Now I find that I am back to a programme of training twice a day, every day, but I am not as fit as I was last year,” said Field. He steps down from the Canterbury captaincy with the province in particularly good heart. However, there must be increasing concern that the experienced Paul Truscott

(retired), Robin Alfeld (retired) and Ross Taylor (injured) will also be missing and that Adrian Shelford and Phil Bancroft have had approaches to transfer to Wellington. Field made 33 appearances for Canterbury, 15 of them as captain, and scored 16 tries. His 23 matches for South Island is a total bettered only by Barry Edkins (26) and included the historic 12-11 victory over the 1980 Australian tourists. In 1982 Field travelled to Australia. and Papua New Guinea with the

Kiwis, a tour which included its share of frustrations because of the lingering effects of an ankle injury suffered just before the team’s departure. He also captained a New Zealand XIII against Queensland at Brisbane two years ago. His own outstanding performances at stand-off half and the respect given Field by fellow players and administrators were important factors in Can- ' terbury rising to prominence in provincial rugby league. Canterbury won the Rugby League Cup from. Taranaki early last season and survived a series of thrilling defences against Auckland, West Coast and Wellington. It also beat the British premiership winner, St Helens, with Field scoring the winning try just before full-time. "There is still a lack of over-all commitment to some Canterbury training, but the pride is coming back. There was a stage not too long ago when players considered playing for Canterbury was- no big deal,” said Field. “Now that pride is restored in the Canterbury jersey, there is a general urge among the younger guys to make the team,” he said.