Players Striving Hard After Fitness For Test

Chronicle (Levin), 10 June 1947, Page 7

Players Striving Hard After Fitness For Test

Press Assn.

By Telegraph

-Copyright

Received Monday, 7.4o p.m. SYDNEY, June 9. The All Blacks ' casualty list continues to extend although all- injuries are comparatively minor. Today Hobbs withdrew from the team to play tomorrow, sutfering from a bruised leg incurred in the match again'st New South Wales on Saturday. Dalton, who is ordinarily a frontrow forward, will now go iiito the team as lock. White will play on the side of the scrum. Seven players are now incapacitated, the list being: Allen, strained tendon; A. B. Smith, twisted knee; Tetzlaff. islight head wound; Frazer, after effects of eoncussion; Hobbs, bruised leg; Grant, hurt knee; 'Mason, after effects of eoncussion. ' It is now revealed that for about half an hour in the flrst half of Saturday 's game, Tetzlaff was practically unable to see, his vision being blurred by a kick on the head. No doubt this accounted for the inaccuracy and slowness of his passing. Frazer remembers nothing about the second half of the game in which, nevertheless, his efforts were homeric. Both he and Mason are now almost over the effects of eoncussion suffered on Saturday. The All Blaek managers expect all players to be fit for selection in Saturday 's test. The team trained hard again this morning, making every effort to acquire the iitness it could not attain beeauso of the few games before leaving tfew Zealand. The fact that players are not yet fully fit probably accounts for the way they are feeling hard knocks in tue early matc.hes. Tomorrow the All Blacks play under the second one-armed referee in three games. Mr. W. Chapman is a "limbie" as is Mr. J. Grifiin who controlled the game at Canberra.