ASHBURTON GUARDIAN, Saturday, July 6, 2013
Weekend
SPORT
Shona’s back in the national limelight “Obviously its quite cold here, I have been doing a lot of training near the heat pump Shona McGrath has been with lots of clothes on.” competing in multisports In Canada, McGrath will be events for over 15 years, and is one of 15 people representing looking forward to representthe country at the championing New Zealand again on the ships and the only one comnational stage. peting in her 55-59 age group. McGrath has been victorious The trip to Canada is not in many events throughout funded so McGrath has been her career, including a victory required to come up with the in the 2000 Coast to Coast required cash out of her own female masters. pocket. However this year McGrath The 55-year-old, a national was not so confident of a plac- representative, is hoping for a ing at this year’s event. strong turnout at her fun run “Running may be tough as I fundraiser in Ashburton on have an injured leg, but that is Sunday as she prepares for no excuse as two of my sports the Duathlon World Champs in friends are in wheelchairs so Ottawa, Canada. a sore leg is nothing,” she said. It will not be cheap for McGrath said competing in McGrath to get herself to Ottawa will be difficult this Ottawa, with it set to cost her year, with the weather condiclose to $10,000, although she tions completely different to is over there for three weeks what was predominant over to adapt to the conditions and here. assess the course, while she “It’s the middle of winter will also travel to see some over here, and over there its friends in other countries. summer so it will be hot and Despite not being in the same humid.” town as her brother and coach Training and trying to adapt Jeff McGrath, she remained to the conditions of what the unconcerned about this causracing will be like, has meant ing any problem to her trainMcGrath has come up with ing. some unique ways to prepare Being strong at sport runs for the race. in the family, with McGrath’s Brayden Lindsay
• McKavanagh jumps Grant McKavanagh jumped from his role as New Zealand Football chief executive before he was pushed. One of his last acts in the role was to finalise the venue for November’s World Cup playoff, which was confirmed as Wellington only hours after his resignation. It was a classic attempt by the national body to quickly divert attention from the resignation of their leading administrator. It’s understood McKavanagh’s performance in recent times was not seen as up to scratch and, even though the All Whites are on the verge of their most important assignment every four years, the time was seen as right for him to go. - APNZ
12-year-old granddaughter Jessica Barlow-Todd recently named Mid Canterbury junior all-round sportsperson of the year. “She is a bit of natural, when it comes to sport.” McGrath has recently returned to her roots, the sport of duathlon, following stints in multi sports and triathlons.
• Sky grabs World Cup After the own goal of losing the English Premier League, Sky Television looks to have netted at the right end and secured the rights to next year’s Fifa World Cup. The Herald understands the pay TV network have locked up the major prize of world football’s showpiece tournament, the secondmost watched sporting event in the world. Sky has endured a rough couple of weeks, being pipped to the EPL by Internet company Coliseum Sports Media and yesterday losing MotoGP to Freeview channel Sommet Sports. Sky also suffered a public backlash over unscheduled interruptions to the All Blacks’ third test against France and the Black Caps’ first Twenty20 - APNZ against England.
• Vettori shuns contract
Photo kirsty clay 050713-KC-009
Shona McGrath is all smiles after being selected in the New Zealand Duathlon squad to attend the age group world championships in Ottawa, Canada, in August.
Table tells the story By Michael Brown Simon Mannering rarely looks at the NRL table. He doesn’t see the point. You’re either doing well or you need to do better. The Warriors skipper didn’t know where his side were sitting on the ladder (“somewhere near the bottom,” he guessed) but is aware the Rabbitohs are travelling very well at the top of the table after 13 wins from 15 games. It’s part of the reason why he felt the Warriors they have nothing to feel comfortable about even though they have won their last five which has them on the cusp of the top eight. The Warriors take on Souths in Perth tomorrow night in a clash of the two form teams of the competition. One side’s impressive run will come to an end - the Rabbitohs have won their last four - in unfamiliar territory and the
Warriors are desperate to equal the six-game winning run they put together in 2008. Mannering doesn’t feel like his side are playing as well as they can, which he thinks should help ward off any signs of complacency among his team-mates. “We have won a few games lately but there are still plenty of things to work on,” he said. “We can’t expect someone to get another intercept try in the last few minutes to win us a game every week [like Konrad Hurrell did last weekend against Brisbane]. “The pleasing thing is the effort in the team, especially defensively. “Any time the Warriors defend well we seem to have a bit of success. That’s going to have to continue against the Bunnies because they have good backs with size and a big forward pack.” The Warriors’ defence has improved dramatically in recent weeks. They conceded an average of more than 28 points in their
first 10 games but have let in only 14.8 in their last five. No team has put more than 18 points on them in the five-game winning streak. Mannering has often been at the forefront of that, and was particularly impressive against Brisbane last weekend when he made 44 tackles including a handful that snuffed out promising Broncos attacks. The Rabbitohs possess so many weapons right across the park, from their big front row to fullback Greg Inglis, who averages an impressive 168m a game and leads the league for tackle breaks with 75. They also welcome back George Burgess and Chris McQueen and are seemingly on course for their first
minor premiership since 1989. The Warriors have some weapons of their own, including Hurrell who has been a threat since his return to the first-grade side. The big centre is still vulnerable in defence, but a handful with the ball in hand and scored the matchwinners against both Manly and Brisbane. He will be even more important if winger Manu Vatuvei, who has scored 10 tries in 11 games, is forced out of Sunday’s game with a shin injury. Warriors side to play Souths at NIB Stadium, Perth, tomorrow (8.30pm NZT): Kevin Locke, Glen Fisiiahi, Dane Nielsen, Konrad Hurrell, Manu Vatuvei, Thomas Leuluai, Shaun Johnson, Sam Rapira, Nathan Friend, Ben Matulino, Feleti Mateo, Simon Mannering (c), Elijah Taylor, Interchange: Russell Packer, Jacob Lillyman, Todd Lowrie, Dominique Peyroux, Ngani Laumape, Suaia Matagi, Charlie Gubb. - APNZ
Fitzgerald up for new challenge By Daniel Richardson New Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic coach Julie Fitzgerald wants to get a feel for the surroundings before she comes in and makes any changes at the franchise. Following the departure of Noeline Taurua, the Magic con-
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firmed yesterday that Fitzgerald would become the first Australian head coach of a New Zealand team in netball’s ANZ Championship. Taurua was part of the furniture at the Magic but decided to move on after guiding the side to one title in the first six years of the competition, which opened the door for change.
There are some pressing concerns for Fitzgerald, namely whether she can hold on to the Magic’s off-contract core of Casey Kopua, Irene van Dyk and Laura Langman. Fitzgerald said she wanted to retain the Magic’s big three but needed to conduct a few meet and greet sessions in the immediate future. - APNZ
The doubt surrounding Daniel Vettori’s cricket career was matched by the man himself yesterday, with the stricken spinner opting against receiving a contract for next season. It was a move of his own making - and a measure of Vettori’s character - but it was far from a white flag in the fight against the Archilles ailment which has plagued him for 12 months. The 34-year-old underwent surgery on his Achilles in London last month, and the prognosis is good. But Vettori is so far away from returning to the crease he felt it unfair to receive remuneration from either New Zealand Cricket or Northern Districts for the 2013/14 season. - APNZ
• Tension in Ford team With friends like Ford teammate Mark Winterbottom, V8 Supercars young gun David Reynolds doesn’t need enemies. Tensions between the pair still appear to be simmering after Winterbottom rammed into Reynolds in the last round in Darwin, costing his team-mate a podium finish. The fallout over their Top End incident prompted their Ford team to establish ground rules for their teammates racing door to door. And Reynolds looked to have shaken off the disappointment when he clocked the fastest practice time (one minute, 13.14 seconds) yesterday ahead of this weekend’s Townsville round. Reynolds flew home in the fourth and final practice session on the faster soft tyres, pipping flying Kiwi Scott McLaughlin (1:13.19) and 2010 V8 champion James Courtney (1:13.29). - AAP