RIGHT, Evening Press readers, your help is required.

A rugby league follower from the other side of the globe has written to both York City Knights and the Press in search of information about one of York's greatest-ever players, Harry Field. And this, hopefully, is where you come in.

Field was the first-ever York player to be selected for a Great Britain Test match, playing against Australia once and New Zealand twice during the Lions' 1936 tour down under.

After one of those games against New Zealand, played at Carlaw Park, Field swapped shirts with Kiwi player Bill McNeight, and his son, David McNeight, who still has that 1936 jersey, is eager to make contact with the York hero or one of his relatives.

The aforementioned letters to the Press and the Knights were written on behalf of David McNeight by Australian RL journalist Bruce Montgomerie, who is writing a book called "Kiwi Gold - The Story of New Zealand Rugby League".

He wrote: "I have been unsuccessfully chasing this piece of information for about 18 months and I will appreciate any help you can give me with information on Harry Field."

If any readers have any information about the great Harry Field or any of his relatives, please contact Peter Martini on the Evening Press Sportsdesk (tel 01904 567137 or email peter.martini@ycp.co.uk) and we will be happy to pass it on.

ONLY six other players, in addition to Harry Field, have played in a Test for the Lions while on York's books.

They were Les White, four times in 1946; Basil Watts, five times in 1954-55; Edgar Dawson, once in 1956; Jeff Stevenson, four times in 1959-60; Geoff Smith, three times in 1963-64; and Mick Sullivan, once in 1963.

Field, however, was not the first York player to represent Great Britain. That privilege went to Norman Fender, who toured down under with the Lions in 1932 - but he played only tour matches, not a Test.

THE York City Knights Summer Roadshows hit town next week, with youngsters urged to book their places as soon as possible.

The roadshows, run in conjunction with City of York Council and held over the schools' summer holidays, are for girls and boys aged from eight to 12, with one session specifically for girls aged from 11 to 16.

They comprise games, skills and tag rugby, with fun being the order of the day.

There are ten dates in total, all at different venues around the city. They begin on Tuesday and run to mid-August.

The dates and venues are listed below. They will each be between 1pm-3pm, costing £2 per person per day.

Places are limited to 40 per day. To guarantee a place, get an application form from the Knights office (tel 01904 656105) and return them with the correct money to Jason Ramshaw, York City Knights Roadshows, Huntington Sta-dium, Kathryn Avenue, York, YO32 9JS. Alternatively call the Knights office three days before your selected session.

Youngsters can turn up on the day but are not guaranteed a place should the session be fully booked. A parent must also be in attendance to give written consent on an application form.

Knights development officer Jason Ramshaw said: "Last year the roadshows were held at local amateur clubs, but this time they will be at schools and playing venues opening it up to a wider variety of youngsters.

"We hope loads of youngsters come along and enjoy the sessions which will be based around fun."

Dates and venues are: Tuesday, July 20, Bishopthorpe Sports Club; Thursday, July 22, Ethel Ward playing fields, Haxby; Tuesday, July 27, Oaklands School; Thursday, July 29, Lord Deramore's School, Heslington; Tues-day, August 3, Huntington Secondary School; Thursday, August 5, Tang Hall playing field; Tuesday, August 10, Canon Lee School, Clifton; Thursday, August 12, Knavesmire - mixed; Thursday, August 12, Knavesmire - girls only (age 11-16); Tuesday, August 17, New Earswick Primary School; Thursday, August 19, Dunnington Primary School. Wear sports clothes and trainers.

Relief for Norris - at least it was once he'd finished

POPULAR mascot Norris the Knight joined the mile-try club last week as he defied his huge cuddly frame to run for charity.

Norris completed a mile for Sport Relief running on a treadmill at the highly-regarded LivingWell Premier gym in Poppleton.

Knights star Aaron Wood, who is a personal trainer at LivingWell, was also among 25 people, some in fancy dress, who completed the charity mile at the health and fitness centre.

Norris was more Seb Slow than Seb Coe, more Steve Chevette than Steve Ovett, etc (make up your own for Steve Cram) as he completed the distance in a laborious 15 minutes 36 seconds. But fair's fair, it was still a respectable time given his bulky size and he had apparently had a busy day, including a rowing session and a long walk. So well done, Norris.

Aaron ran it in 6-24, while LivingWell's health and fitness manager Richard Marshall ran 6-03, and personal trainers Robin Heigh and Colin Hough clocked 8-06 and 7-06 respectively.

The event saw LivingWell raise more than £200 for the charity, with cash still coming in.

Sozi soars while Lee ups gap

YUSUF Sozi's continued good form during the Knights' recent bad spell has seen the explosive prop soar up the Evening Press/Collier Plant Hire player of the year table.

The 22-year-old was named the Evening Press man of the match in the defeat at Hunslet last week and thus picks up three player-of-the-year points to add to the counter he collected following the previous game at Workington.

Additionally, he was one of three players to share top spot in the fans' poll, with all three therefore picking up a bonus point.

The others were second-row Simon Friend and skipper Lee Jackson, while the latter was also deemed by the Evening Press to be the Knights' second-best player and thus collects two more points to stretch his lead at the top of the table.

Richard Wilson was deemed the third-best player and thus gets onto the player of the year leaderboard.

Don't forget to send your votes in for the man of the match, as these votes decide who wins the Evening Press-sponsored Player of the Month award. Furthermore, whoever votes goes in the hat to have the chance to win VIP tickets to a home game, plus the chance to present the award.

Votes can be emailed to peter.martini@ycp.co.uk or sent on a postcard to Peter Martini, Evening Press Sportsdesk, 76-86 Walmgate, York, YO1 9YN.

Latest standings: Jackson 25pts, Rhodes 21, Ball 19, Friend 17, Brough 16, Callaghan 13, Langley 13, Sozi 9, Graham 7, Elston 7, Cain 6, Forsyth 6, Buchanan 6, Godfrey 5, Stewart 5, Briggs, 2, J Smith 2, Wood 2, Walker 2, Wilson 1, Hayes 1, Andrews 1.

TICKETS for the upcoming Supporters' Club fans' forum remain on sale from the Knights' office - though there were few left at last count.

Admission to the event, which is in the Huntington Stadium bar on Thursday, July 22, starting at 7.30pm, is by ticket only. To buy a ticket, priced £2, contact the club office, tel 01904 656105.

Updated: 09:35 Saturday, July 17, 2004