The Star: June 27, 2019

news online at www.star.kiwi
One-eyed Cantab
Gordon Findlater
gordon.findlater@starmedia.kiwi
The Star Thursday June 27 2019
SPORT 41
Dumbing down the Crusaders’ horsemen
Volleyballers reunite on big stage
• By Gordon Findlater
THE ASIAN under-23
volleyball championship in
Vietnam next month will be a
reunion for four Christchurch
women and their coach.
Petra Manderson, Tasmyn
Fahey, Nicky Pio and Chloe
Mikaera have been named in the
New Zealand side to compete at
the 15-team tournament which
starts on July 13.
They will be joined on the trip
by their former Burnside High
School coach Sam Ryburn –
who is also the under-23 coach.
All four were part of at least
one of the Burnside High
teams which won back-to-back
national secondary school titles
in 2015 and 2016.
Pio and Mikaera have been
playing for the Shirley club,
while Manderson and Fahey
are currently on volleyball
scholarships at division one
Top of the tables
League premiership
P W L D PD Pts
Linwood Keas 10 9 1 0 142 18
Hornby Panthers 10 8 2 0 210 16
Northern Bulldogs 10 6 4 0 118 12
Eastern Eagles 10 6 4 0 34 12
Riccarton Knights 10 4 6 0 -22 8
Celebration Lions 10 3 7 0 -77 6
Papanui Tigers 10 2 8 0 -179 4
Halswell Hornets 10 2 8 0 -226 4
Metro premier rugby (top six)
P W L D BP Pts
Lincoln University 2 2 0 0 1 9
Shirley 2 2 0 0 0 8
New Brighton 2 1 1 0 1 5
HSOB 2 1 1 0 0 4
Christchurch 2 0 2 0 1 1
Marist Albion 2 0 2 0 0 0
(Bottom six)
Sydenham 2 2 0 0 2 10
Sumner 2 2 0 0 1 9
Belfast 2 1 1 0 2 6
Burnside 2 1 1 0 0 4
Linwood 2 0 2 0 0 0
University 2 0 2 0 0 0
UC Championship
P W L D BP Pts
Nelson College 9 8 1 0 8 40
St Andrew’s 8 8 0 0 7 39
St Bede’s College 8 7 1 0 5 33
Christ’s College 8 5 2 1 6 28
Christchurch BHS 8 5 3 0 6 26
Rangiora HS 8 5 3 0 6 26
Lincoln Combined 8 3 4 1 5 19
St Thomas 8 4 4 0 3 19
Shirley BHS 9 3 6 0 3 15
THE STATE of the new
politically correct Crusaders
horsemen can only be compared
to turning up to your favourite
bar only to find out they’ve
changed their taps and now only
serve low alcohol beer.
The Crusaders horsemen made
their first appearance since the
March 15 terrorist attacks during
last week’s semi-final win over the
colleges in the United States.
“Going to division one is
a major step up – everyone’s
bigger and everyone’s faster. I
was lucky enough to get to
play all of last year and it’s
tough, but very cool,” said
Manderson.
The New Zealand team will
aim to secure a top three finish
at the Asian championship and
book a spot at the under-23
world championships. For
Highlanders. However, they now
sport a much different look.
Long gone are the six marauding
horsemen turning Crusaders
fans into a near feral state. We
now have six lame dads sporting
helmets and waving flags on
ponies . . . I know we’re trying
to turn Super Rugby stale with
over saturation of teams and the
introduction of a conference
REUNION: Petra
Manderson,
Tasmyn Fahey,
Nicky Pio and
Chloe Mikaera
will link up with
their former
school coach Sam
Ryburn in the New
Zealand under-23
volleyball team.
PHOTO: MARTIN
HUNTER
Fahey, who has just transferred
to North Carolina A&T State
University, the decision to
come home to prepare for the
tournament was easy.
“I kind of came back to play
for him [Ryburn]. I was in
the States, but I knew he was
coaching so I wanted to try and
make his team,” said Fahey.
They will face No 3 seed
Vietnam in their group, as well
as Turkmenistan.
Marlborough BC 8 2 6 0 4 12
Timaru BHS 8 2 6 0 4 12
Waimea Combined 8 2 6 0 1 9
Aoraki Combined 8 2 6 0 0 8
Mid Canterbury 8 0 8 0 2 2
Mainland Premier League
P W D L GD Pts
Cashmere Tech 14 12 1 1 44 37
Nelson Suburbs 14 9 1 4 17 28
Nomads United 14 8 0 6 1 24
Western AFC 14 6 2 6 1 20
Coastal Spirit 14 6 1 7 12 19
Ferrymead Bays 14 5 2 7 -13 17
Selwyn United 14 5 1 8 -10 16
FC Twenty 11 14 0 2 12 -52 2
Premier hockey men
P W L D GD Pts
Southern United 9 7 0 2 8 23
Marist 9 4 3 2 13 14
Harewood 9 4 3 2 5 14
Avon 9 3 3 4 0 13
HSOB/Burnside 9 3 3 3 5 12
Carlton Redcliffs 9 2 4 3 0 9
University 9 2 5 2 -20 8
Hornby Vipers 9 1 6 2 -11 5
Premier hockey women
P W L D GD Pts
Carlton Redcliffs 8 8 0 0 28 24
Marist 8 5 3 0 7 15
Harewood 7 3 2 2 8 11
HSOB/Burnside 7 3 3 1 -4 10
Avon Eels 8 3 4 1 -4 10
Hornby Tigers 8 2 4 2 -5 8
Southern United 8 0 8 0 -30 0
system which means the best
two teams meet in a semi-final
rather than the final, but bringing
the horsemen into this is a
step too far.
Orange ball debut
• By Tatiana Gibbs
ORANGE CRICKET balls will
be used instead of the traditional
red or balls in some afternoon
club cricket matches this season.
Christchurch metro
cricket says the new
balls will initially
be introduced into
selected social
grades.
The orange
Kookaburra
Crown twopiece
ball was
selected during
a series of trials
last season, which
compared white, pink
and orange balls. After
being tested for visibility and
performance on grass and
artificial pitches, the orange ball
performed well.
Said Christchurch metro
Weekend match-ups
•Premier rugby league
(Saturday) Halswell Hornets
v Celebration Lions 2.45pm,
Halswell Domain; Linwood
Keas v Eastern Eagles 2.45pm,
Linwood Park; Nothern Bulldogs
v Riccarton Knights 2.45pm,
Murphy Park; Papanui Tigers
v Hornby Panthers 2.45pm,
Papanui Domain.
•Metro premier rugby
(Saturday) Marist Albion v
New Brighton 2.45pm, Edgar
MacIntosh; Lincoln University
v Christchurch 2.45pm, Lincoln
University; Shirley v HSOB
2.45pm, Burwood Park; Sumner
v Burnside 2.45pm, St Leonards
Square; University v Linwood
2.45pm, Ilam Fields; Belfast v
Sydenham 2.45pm, Sheldon
Park.
•UC Championship
(Saturday) Mid-Canterbury
Combined v Timaru BHS
noon, Ashburton College;
Aoraki Combined v St Bede’s
College noon, Roncalli College;
Marlborough BC v Christchurch
BHS noon, Marlborough BC;
St Andrew’s College v Lincoln
Much like Super Rugby itself
we should have let the horsemen
go out on a high and killed
them off completely rather than
dumbing them down.
cricket general manager Mike
Harvey: “With a number of
teams wearing white clothing,
this makes it more difficult to see
white balls.”
“Feedback suggests it is much
easier to see for batsmen
and fielders, which
will make it safer for
play,” he said.
The change
will occur in 14
grades across
men’s, women’s
and youth
formats.
The change will
be introduced in
phases to allow clubs
to use their current
stock of red cricket balls.
The presidents men, division
three men, social eights women,
and youth women grades will be
the first to use the new ‘jaffa’ ball
in October.
Combined 2.45pm, St Andrew’s
College; St Thomas’ v Rangiora
HS 2.45pm, St Thomas’.
•Southern Football
League
(Saturday) Nelson Suburbs v
Western AFC 12.30pm, Saxton
Field; Otago University v
Cashmere Technical 12.30pm,
Caledonian Ground; Coastal
Spirit v Nomads United
12.30pm, English Park; Mosgiel
AFC v Caversham AFC
12.30pm, Memorial Park.
•Premier hockey men
(Saturday) University v Hornby
Vipers 2.45pm, Nga Puna Wai;
Avon v Southern United 3pm,
Nga Puna Wai; Harewood v
Marist 4.30pm, Waimakariri
Hockey Turf; HSOB/Burnside v
Carlton Redcliffs 4.30pm, Marist
Park.
•Premier hockey women
(Saturday) Southern United
v Avon Eels 1.30pm, Nga Puna
Wai; Harewood v Marist 3pm,
Waimakariri Hockey Turf;
HSOB/Burnside v Carlton
Redclffs 3pm, Marist Park.