FOOTBALL.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 502, 8 May 1909, Page 12

FOOTBALL.

RUQBY.

(Bi Aiustoboum.) , To-day's gamesViotoria Collego v. South- : crn; Oriontal-v. St. James;. Athletic v. WelUngton; Ponoko v. Potone j: Melroso v. Old Boys. - It is ..understood that ■ a prof essiona 1 team ■ is , being , organised to tour - Australia this season. \ .Rumour, haa it that Clem "Green, tho Pot- • ono half-back, who is going to Bolton, Eng- - . land^'ncst. month to .complete his business' J., .training,"::.will'isign:: on> with -the Northern • :. illnion Club in that city.- -'-' . The cx-Otago represenfcativo'.forwaixl, Fitz-,-patriokj now- on tho-injured -list, will bo uni ablo to play for ,some-weeks yet. , ■■~ ./While- in. America, tho -Australian. Rugby .itMm'.-was; bißed : 'm.:.'' the' greatest Rugby team on earth bar New Zealand.'\ \ .- . :,Tho South Auckland Rugby Union—comfrisingitho'.Goldfields, and Waikato as decided to 'make application-to the Nov." tJZcaland .Rugby Union for afiiliotion. [.!)':.yTho: following notice motion - hag'Vtocri i l given by a Welsh delegate .'for: consideration I at tho-.next meeting of the International . ;,|'Board.:';."T7- 'That; itis.'desirable . that when ; U ]»ontral' toueh-judgca. are appointed they shall' ' .roport cases of rough," foul,. or: unfair" play *8S soon'as possible to the referee." . " Gratification::is ,'exprcssed. in the annual, ■;-Aioport of tho Queensland Roferecs 1 Associaticm that tho.ycar. just ended had witnessed ' )the. grant of the. rignt r of direot representation ;>*ef. its members on tho -' senior '• and junior oxof tho. Rugby Union. ■' Tho innovation it is folt would-be of-mutual advantage : land of considerable ■ benefit to tho govoTJi./®ent of tho gamo.. ..... , '■■ . .' J ■ - According to ■ a . southern, writer, the annual Mooting of ,th© New Zealand llngtjy Union on , liMay 13 should bo unusually.- interesting this ; , peor. Thero ..will - ■ bo the' question of tho es> . incurred by the British Rugby, .team" c to tM6sh:out; tho,'case, : of:'ejection at:-Master-i™ «n tho occasion: of tho Anglo-Welsh toatch against _IWairarapa; tho ont-of-pockot , lexpensea question, ,professionalism generally, ftnd possibly Mr. Frank Campbell may have a /heart-to-heart talk with tho delegates on the' ■ of tho Now Zealand 'Rugby Union an respect .to the propoecd alteration of rulo3,' . |. A.propos tho abovo/ it 'is curious that one • ;taceolingly 'interesting 'matter has not been (.threshed out. It is this: How camo it that • ftbo - gato" from oho ,of tho' British matches . returmxl as'£l2oo,' when tho attendance ma returned as £1200 when' the at-:--«endanco was :ostunated : at-ovpr 16,000,:aiid : '*i"-l-®s aa r e 8 for admission were' 2s.j Ba.', and r ; Tho New. Zealand TJnipn hav© discussed :->slhis jjnyatoly. not publicly?. , -lvis stated that the loss on- tho tour of fl tho, Australian Bugby team was not so 1 ; groat as w»3 at first anticipated; Tho total expenditure was £9180 10s. 2d;, and amon" ■the items were the, following Daily nllow° ,'tfinco to 31 players, manager,: sand, assistant ! • £1262 - 35.; hotel oxponsos, £2334 I "-iW,?2;'i stwmor,and railway, fares, cabs," etc., ; i! ' gratnltles antl tips, £185 19s. , ■ gS'-'j ffi? u T a fl < ! o pjayors ; against accident, 08 lld -J uniforms . (and outfits, £262 95.:11 d. j reception of toam ■and souvenirs, £100 12s. Gd. Tho gate re- . ■capta: amounted to £7654 6s. 10d., and £133 iUs. wa3 recoivedias compensation for iniunea & £1392 5 id!' th 6 4007 W3B ' tW . Thus the ".Otago Witness": ,"There is no the fact that Rugby 'football m Wago has deteriorated of recent years, aid Bcek.V.- Tho players So not tako : the .-same lntelligent'-interest" in m a r f i l 1 8hio "> an( i oven nso wrtam degree of fitness, but this dono, ew orthodox movements known , thq world over, and tho hills ' Were,young, .they seldom, if.cver,-break now was: made through this column to mstil into players '■ r S rt 7;of I,rin g in g theirV.broh/to v Kugby football is not ri -■ a , Wynnll^'.whore'ithere' is 10 '10-bu»ock. It is a gamo ''■'Sfir ■ - ,r : "4"1 6 .-display: given - by' "Con"-- : r to ' T® ' minu fc, "Con'' wW .easuy .the best-.forward on the ground' Con^ . Bequent .on du.q f a 3t following up ■ ho' placed " n ™;n Me 'n ? e -in diffioulties timo and H "?. t c ?' lca e«o, Hardham, also gave Wcrcdifcib lo exhibition. S suffered 11 " backs ' Marchmant (Melrose) tu com P? r 'son with Smyriu* ' 'Ihfim ' '' 6 l e 7 s - to' ckobse between , ahem-,as -regards .kicking.' but 'the suburban' :,ite ls.iupenor in;fielding'itbolbalL■' A weak' g -' r "^ ?^ C | hmant '' at a disadvantage; brilliant''- back: on . tne l.etono . side. .From start to finish : Vn scored-most .heavilyiaffainit' ; : :was v in ; the forward' S&.f*. a b»ef period did Melroso show the dash for which thoy aro noted. With Hami® ' a<?e ; t he, scru m ;work;shoiild'show : •••*' g , Mprovement; 'None .of the Melrose ■ paA- was, conspicuous i'abpvo': the others ° wJz, ■ s °°d defence shown bv Twomey, Bcavis, and Greeks, Melrose would heavier .beating than n .r'fv '^' is ' t'ruo.': that'-they all, made mistakeg, -but upon tho whole' their -Work, merited high praise. ' '. • . -. - f£^ a v,i"i fa, ' r :p^ao^,co ? f tackling the player - ; ;:-Mter. ho has got rid of the ball was m lZ .' dence m the, .Melrose-Petono match. - Onoe wv. fivo }ards off, when Hardham .kicked,, but he. wont dii aiid'tried to pull him down... To his discredit Hardham tried ' m n S n ;l +l, S ;froccl . um ' .^bat-appeared.to.be oioro than - a wriggle : - r ' ■ •: - ■ ' ° Kht t 3t in'tho-com-' ; . J / had a . meritorious win over Old Boys. Towards tho end of the ; -:S a^ h a , thoro r , unmistakable y ovidcnco that James, wore. m better fettle than :. ; -tb««opponents. I ;, Thomas, :the'; Jnmos ful-back, pnye-d really well on Saturday. . " nc -kickmg was an .objocfc ■ lesson ■■ to otters who act in a similar capacity. How- . ever, ho should have-collared Dawson-onithe :.cccMion of his fensatibhal irun l - ■ '"'■'fc-'k'" •?'-!-,™ er^ badly^lat'down, especially decid«lly fir ' - S Sour ' V ' gUSOn ' '^ Wa3 .TO;®ot"at'.K6DM>':«ri thd wing,' <:j?t whon. -removed:. to..five-eighths - acquitted .: himself splendidly. . Both; his shoti at goal, , ('no of ,which was successful, were .fine efforts,' ; out of:: condition, • J 1 y played a sound game among : tho; St. / rwa ' being especially good on the . - •. R ' j' - a ■ : sromofed ; . fourth-class ' : playor, „ showed promising form. If. anything ho is ' i; '"»blo 8 His tackling is commendFor Old Boys, Thomson on' tho tW : §ua r t?rdino gavo;tho best display , among tho backs, dangerous - rushes. ■ wore stopped by him. s Dawson started off well, making sovoral was for three-quarters of tho length of tho gamo_ faded away. Ono of his runs, which , , was .for threc-quartera of the length: of tho : . fiokl, ~wijs. the ,best -offort in that direction ( au«ng tho.game.. : / - • - ;• . . Among .tha* forwards, Avory : on Ul6 winr; • and , Alexander. ui r the pack wore rmost' con;i Bpicuous. . In the first naif tlio former made - ioyoral etronuoiVs attempts to'sooro, but was: poorly backofl up. ' , , ■, AVlion . Soutfhorn mot Aihlotio at Miramar -."•..lasb featurclay it did not nood an export to • pick.tli© winner. -The only waythat aii export could show; his good judgment was: by ■: foretolhng tho margin.of,victory for Athletic,' -. and m this many. failed, for ".the Reds certainly did more-than was oxpected of them : - by putting on 10 points to thoir .opponents'. '.: 34. -Fon.this surprising- circumstanco Camoboll ;\vas responsible/ , Southern fell,-but If :. Campbell had, not come to - their aid thoy , would have been annihilated. - • : : , , It is no use. trying to detail tho bad points Jn tho Southern play or to recount tho weak

placos in the, team ; it is far easier to show liOff, Atlilotio wero superior, to toll how the Bluos won, rather than' how tho Reds lost. To begin, Athlctic had a much superior -vanguard, which, under tho ablo guidance of "Ranji" Wilson, ran all over the somowhat divided bunch of li-ed known as the' Southern pack. There wore heavy men in the latter pack, and there were, also active men, but those that possessed weight. were slothful,iiiul those that wore activo.had not sufficient force, to back up thoir attaok. . ' Thoro was otuy one team an it when tho ball wont to tho backs, and that team was not Southern. At times also it , appeared as if, not only one team, 1 but one man in that team—Evenson—monopolised tho play. Not ■that the rest of tho team were below the usual club standard, .but Evonson was above "it.'' 'i . M'Sift'-', WiJsbn;shoired : proimsing form, and Murray, recently transferred from wing forward, filled his position well, though he has not yet quite got rid of a rattier forward tendency. „ tbo ropprt of , the Oriental-Victoria College match the rather monotonous repetition of the names of. Fred. Roberts, M'Lood, mid Mutbeson gave a • good -, indication of whioh section of tho team did tho bulk of the work, -v' M'Leod was well to the for© in tho attack, and Roberts was. .on the spot whenever'ho was wanted; .His. tackling, proved a stum'bjing block Tvhioh'upset the equilibrium of.individual opposing players, and the equanimity of tho whole team. Had Viotoria College' played their proper ■game their defeat would not have been suoh a disastrous one. But they did not. They : madq two _ mistakes. . First, thoy. tried to play a solid gamo■ against a team much superior in this class of work,- and thoy nogleoted; to use .their; speed. Secondly,each member of. the fifteen appeared to forget that ho was.not,playing by himself.: There is .much good'material in the team, and there were some fine individual:displays. For instance, Goodbehero's sprint up the line was good to watch, O'Leary's attempt at a penalty goal was very .creditable, and the' way m which Prendorville wont down to. a forward rush would nothavo shamed any player .in- senior./championship, matches. ' But this /WdmduaJ .brilliancy was not ..combined; and wius lt.was that:the.scores.stood at.the conclusion, .or, the game,: 28 to hi] against 'the college. t • • : '■' ■, One branch of tho plav that needs improveS°j teams) is ■ the goal-kacking-Had Oriental been able to produce any talent in this Ime their ..margin of' victory - must nave been considerably larger than'it actually j was.". w .-\ . ■-. ■■ Onlookers at the Petono match last Saturhot mofethan moderately ehthusi- ■ Sir :T ? o j°® al °° lour s.had 110 place on the held, and Petono residents, as a rule, xaro : to barrack" for.any but their-own toys. As only o few supporters go;out with . the. Clw teams, it is- found that, on days whon tho. Petone pack are assigned a match in .town, tho suburban "gate" is poor. But the Mam on their own ground never fail to draw, ■.Herein lies tho motive of the stipulation to have the local senior team playing Satnrday 1011 Grotmd over 7 alternate ;': Wellington were completely' bafflod early in : t ? 0 :? a . m 6;..| Having exhausted themselves in a series of tolerably sound, but unsuccessful, aggressive tactics, ..thoir vim abated. Tho ™ un f asls M, struggled ■on bravely, :and it was duo to, their, efforts chiefly; that the .sAore went no higher than 23. They had a strong all-round team against tliom. As for tho Poneke backs, such puzzling manoeuvres wera never "seen. .' They dodeed and Wheeled,; passed'.'in v and out, watchfng cyrfry opportunity. - Using their heads, they l arted fl promptl yj v sprinting away /with remarkablo fleetnees when an opening ■ showed. ; The lellows were frequently left standing. Mitho troubled ;them ;So had tho; pace,.: and •- Wellington Mvor.soWe'l Th« fi^^S'fi on r ' a , E . h P. DeI 7 customer. Enable' associates, _ and Tilyard, too, that. useful half,: was piomment m many Walsh has'good speed for ono_of his; build, and ho takes tho ThisjfiTOjOighths kicked tho only ePAI. of;.the match. Tho. team would- be imSlSck; rlally mth tho a 'f^? n v ll;and 1 Sh: !.^ 0 l t tho pick'bf-tho iS fe ' , mOS , t o ,rhom P'ayed : . zealously. Jx two -' b«rly ; players mado several, valiant bo backs. could: not" hiivo'had with'a^?ilT'0 V(?m6 nt l' ad Mt fte y kept at it h/at °. f the first serum a Re<l man + a 'imaged opponent cried out Sirf w La f er on '' Hfll sorely »£ baH^ 0 n PlayCT ' Who Was with- ?- ay at a J a 'n to-day, against t-ho_ local team. is looked upon as on© ° i! 1 ' 3 43 tho round. , nnl J -i ollrt}l ,' e ra <Jo team of Petono Si? last Saturday. Sdnthern lZ H : R°. int ? ■ against -tho Petr «no lads ,(nil),_and this is the first defeat' suffered by a Petono team this season.