MAORI RUGBY

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 530, 13 May 1933, Page 6

MAORI RUGBY

TE ARAWA TEAM TO GO INTO TRAINING FOR WEEK i - T AINUI-M ANI AP 0 T 0 CUP r At a meeting of the Arawa Tribal ' Football Club held on Thursday even"ing, it was announced that an inti- ' mation had been received from the Taranaki Tribal Union that the lat- ■ ter's team was prepared to def end the Tainui-Maniapoto shield against ■ the Arawa's challenge at New Ply- , mouth on June 3, the King's Birth- ' day. The Tainui-Maniapoto challenge ■ shield is at present held by Taranaki and is the blue riband of Maori foot- ' ba.ll. The Arawa union has decided to accept the date and is now setting ; about selecting the best team available in the district. With this end in ?view endeavours are being made to 1 arrange a match against the Te Puke Maori representatives. This will en•able the selectors to see the cream ' of the Maori talent in the district in action. In any case, the team will go into training for a week before the match. 1 It is f elt that the Arawa district has many fine footballers in the making, but lack of training facilities militate against proper combination development. A week in camp will give the players a fair chance to develop some combination and become acquainted with one another's play. Under these circumstances the team should stand an excellent chance of bringing to Rotorua the coveted trophjr. The team will leave Rotorua on June 2.