The N.Z. League Tour of Australia

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 997, 13 June 1930, Page 7

The N.Z. League Tour of Australia

Will the Team Be Stronger Than That 0f1925? Old Hands Will Be Backbone of Side —North Should Win Inter-Island Game Tomorrow.

WILL the 1930 New Zealand League team be as strong as the splendid side of 1925, which was undoubtedly one of the finest playing combinations which ItETURNED to these shores? The 1925 team -was potentially strong when it left. It had the promise of a rich leavening of youth. That promise was more than fulfilled on the tour. When the team returned, it was a wonderful playing combination, as it showed by its tremendous victory over an Auckland thirteen. The 1925 team won three out of four of its matches against New South Wales, but it was beaten in both games against Queensland, then the dominating factor in the League code in any part of the British Empire. In the past few years New Zealand has lost many of its most brilliant players, who have accepted offers from English clubs to play professionally. Think of Brown, Mason, Hardgrave, Hall and Hutt. to mention only a few —all of them fit for any team in the world. Are the gaps left by these players being filled? Only when the South Island team is seen in action tomorrow will be it be possible to form an estimate of how N' w Zealand stands in relation to 1925. The North has the backs. Much is expected of the South Island forwards. The South Island, of course, has lest Spillane, the ex-New Zealand representative who went Home last year: and Goodall, who was one of the outstanding forwards against the English team in 1.928, played against the British Rugby team the other day as a West Coast representative, so he. too. will be missing. The North Island this year is strong in seasoned players—perhaps too strong. There must be some regret

that more young players of promise have come to light. Outside of Bert Clark. Tittleton and George Perry, the North Island is a powerful combination of old rep. players and apparently M. O'Brien, Lckhoff and Amos are still the outstanding men in the South. The Possibles-Probables trial should not be overlooked on Saturday. There are some good youngsters there, such as Abbott, S. Watene, Len Barchard, Simons. O’Leary and N. Campbell, Whose form will be closely followed. The prospects of a strong side going to Australia are bright. Some good judges even go so far as to say that it will be stronger than that of 1925. The general opinion in Auckland is that the South Island team this season will not be quite up to the strength it displayed last year and therefore the North Island is expected to have the better of the game. This view is also held by The Sun Christchurch correspondent, who writes as follows: “The South Island League Rugby side is not likely to cause a sensation in League circles: and it is a question not whether the North Island will win, but how many points it will win by. “Far from being over - blessed by League talent, the South Island will be represented bv the best available team, with perhaps one exception, that of R. Bond, a winger who is playing well below his true form. The game, in Canterbury at least, has not been advanced in quality by the development of the bullocking type of forward, and back play, free, open and fast, has been neglected and spoiled through reliance on the packmen. “Consequently the North Islanders will find themselves opposed by a solid, workmanlike pack,

each man a toiler with speed and weight. The forwards are a uniformly good lot and the North Islanders will need to watch M. O’Brien and J. C. Dobbs particularly. A. Townsend, of Otago, is a successful hooker, and B. Eckhoff, the Otago breakaway, is a difficult man when in form. M. Calder and E. Griffiths, both West Coasters, are packmen of the raking, tireless sort. “So fai* as the backs are concerned, the selectors have had to think hard. There is no Wilson-Hall in the South Island these days as halfback, nor is there a Jimmie Sanders. Sanders is not playing this season, if ever again. Players of their calibre are needed in the Soutli today. “A. Pahi, a Maori player, though not up to his form of a couple of seasons ago, is the halfback. He has plenty of heart and is elusive, though on the light side. “The real strength of the backs in attack or defence will be J. Amos (Canterbury) and J. Dodds, of the West Coast, the five-eighths. Both are first-class tacklers and straight running in attack. Amos has the weight and pace and is in tip-top form. “Bond does not take kindly on tlie wing to overmuch attention. I-le'has the pace and weight, is a sound scoring man, but inclined to be spasmodic. J-T. Pearce, of Otago, is one of the fastest men in the game and will not need many openings. T. McKenzie, at centre, has the makings of a first-class man. He has speed, a neat anticipation. a swerve and snaps up every opportunity. He has one fault: he appears to lack dash when up against it, a fault not unknown among other backs. “W. Palamanntain, the fullback, is

sound in handling and kicking, but is inclined to be bustled at times.

“It is same to say that the visitors will miss Spillane, the rugged fiveeighth, who played a great game at Carlaw Park last year.” The North island team, lining out a back division composed of the following, Shortland, Wetherill, Meyer, Perry, Brisbane, Tittleton and Dufty, should be able to outplay its opponents in the rearguard, for there is no denying that it is a brilliant line. Dufty, as the last line of defence, is rapidly regaining his best form of late, and that form has in the past stamped him as one of the world’s best Rugby League fullbacks. Tittleton, one of the wings, played a dashing game for South Auckland against Auckland in the Northern Union Challenge Cup match recently. H. Brisbane, who as a stripling of 21 was one of the big successes of the New Zealanders’ Australian tour in 1925, is in as good form as ever. The North Island insides also are up to international standard. Wetherill may be just past his best, but he is still a great player, and on defence is one of the most valuable men any team could count on. Forward, the North Island pack is strong, but it is expected that the South Island will be able to hold its own. A great deal depends on the North Island forwards, for unless they can command a fair share of the ball, the brilliant Northern back line will not have the opportunities it merits. South Auckland has three of its mainstays, Trautvetter, Stephenson and Menzies, in the front row, and after their showing against Auckland, much will be expected of them tomorrow. Summed up, the match should be a great forward one, with two powerful packs striving for the mastery. The odds will be on the North Island, but with the New Zealand selection committee looking on anything may happen, and the South has certainly shown in the past that it will take a deal of beating.