FOOTBALL.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 598, 28 August 1909, Page 12

FOOTBALL.

RUGBY.

Tho mighty -are fallen. - Tho Auckland, "-'.'''Goliath' has' been overturned by tho little i>: Marlborough David. But 'that is. not &11. From .the '©amp ■of David) which is Blen- ; : ieim, oomes 'a telegram -.to "Aristobulus/V perspective fully- ; ; realised j read Dominion ,of ..Tuesday..'' Just ■ ' Jo.' -have .it, and, deubt, iro deserved it. Might .wo now bo allowed join iii the . general congratulations . ol 'MaHborough, which are current on this j tide of Strait. " is afoot: for: a-.match: in 'Wol- . iingtou..'between :the crack Dunedift. team,. ;tho Allia«ibra, ; nnd ■ the • star/ local team, Poneljo, 11. is fthout eighteeil yeats tigo an' Alhambra team visitod .Wellington, and on . that' ■'<oocaSton :its opponents ; . wore , Athr Jetio. ' Daring the following season, Haster- ' ion ■ Went ; . down.: to v tyuneQin to 'meet !Alh&tnbra.- It '-would a splendid thing if those old-timo contests wero revived, «o y Jong: as the scheme "was not done to death. ' - (What i would make the: proposed■ match of • especial interest is the: fact:-that Alharflbfa and l'oneke adopt- a -somewhat. similar style >5 of rV-.k ; /f y f V-' ;

w The English Rugby T7mon;d<!6liii6B-to sasci fcion .New "Zealand's proposed', alterations in the laws of the game till the matter ' has < -been considered by;, tho International - Board, 1 Should' tlie Welsh team make its appear- ■ ■ bsce there - next season,, ■ ,the > ■ Australian ; toam Zealand- will probably is deferred till 1911. ..- .•The- following . resolution respecting ■ neuIral jodges'was adopted at. a recent meeting ■•of the / Welsh Rugby Union"That in,any match in .which •> touch-judges :..aro i-appointed- ;tho referee shall have power. .to, : consult,' ifv ho rlhiAk. a:toflcb-iuage •••,dpon !! (iny. poinUupon l which, ho is m doubt." -.••• ■a Owing to' ! tlie.resignation of the Selection. 1 Committee,;.it is . not uftllkflly.-' that- ""the sfielectkm of. tlio ttam to go onitour.Avill'oo ' madeby-ytho ? Management." Cotemitkc, n s there is hardly sufficient time to .call: a ineot-.| .• iwg. of . delegates to appoint .new -selectors., -: i Moffatt) •• one of ■ ~tho . emergency, forwards Sn the South - Island taanij' is; an ; ex-member, of the St.*-3ames Club, and now - residfes at Ximani.

Ho&rty congratulations to Poneke on being /Totirfined champions for, 1900/ .Out ..of:': 1G eam«B/th6 r '''BtafaV,. ttera: defeated. only: twice —once • by- Athletic, and once ■ 'by JPetoHe., ■Their :rficord, whioli is onC'df Which :ahy ■iteanUnugM: well; bo-ptoudj;is as v follOwß Played 16/- Won 14, lost. 2j: drawn D; : points : for 246, points against •* 61! a .bhafapioiiahip points. 28... who -were runners-up, also played 16 matches, .of ■ which , they won. ;,13. aad lost: 3, .whilst, they - compiled 268 pointe ; against ISS recorded .a»ainst-them,. : and they, secured -26 championship; points. - r lfr ia' hardly necessary .. to . reiterate-, ■ the -Joasonrwhy • o final WW necessary; v.■ One iwondets wiy tho ■ Poneke forwards: did > Hot appear in j their true ; colours earlier in • tho jseason. -Of Course; if th?y -had. done w, ; ihero . would liaVe been-no - and;if there : had been ■Bo . ? ■ Well, for ono thing the union .Would, have beoiiithe poorer, to-day by the amount of; last: Saturday's

.'fgate,':' whioh totalled.over £300. The -fact reAains tlkt'it twas. only when the champion*; -.flhip honorp Were in jeopardy th&t tho Ponelto. what they Could do. Their display (be it noted) was not only far ahead of thoir -previous; beat this season,. it Was -the finest;seen,in club matches this season; '■a -That., the •■: HienlWa; ofthe Selection Oom.tnittoe were not ■ a-. hippy: family- was pretty : well dcnowil. _ It •' is . freely stated that' the., composition of, the 'tsam' to meet-Auck-land was • only< settled after ■■ tittieh haggling; One;.of-tho selectors is reported -to .have .stated that "ihis^is/..tho..first, •occasion■ ion; which ,l hi 3 :-. ''fancied 1 '; ~ have , boon . chosen. :'Furthor,than -that,.- it is iallfej*ed : - that ■. ho threatened',that if ho did not get a lot ofi his;own way .hB 'Would!reßign....As Originally; i picked,? tho. team' was generally regarded as i the strongest: side'that has :been selected to ! Represent:tho province: this-season;■ ; • • ■'It was not until Thursday, when Green intimated that ho w<mld bo unable to playi &s a result of severe ; buffeting 'in tho inter- I feland-match on: tho previous day, that tho firm of Meredith, Pudney, and ;H. Roberts, fell l out. . Ab.' "Fred" ■ Roberts- bad agreed, to'go up , to- his old place ot balf, another-five-eighths was required. Now, it so happens that tho.'fcmetgfthcy ■ obaeks teera Harry 'Roberts (St; James) and (Pot-one); both of ■.whom ars five-eighths players-. It ■is

■; : , - - understood 'that it waspropoaedand seconded ■that Ryan should: be brought up from ■ full-' ■ • back to five-eighths, where ne usually acquits l;, hiifl&elf . With cfedjt,/hnd that ahother 'full-- •:! v-, pack bo . appointed •ih his j Btead; ■■ Buti'the .';-/;:\':i.;:Vnilflofity'r.:Bt(jutly:?tt!fnsed..'ti) give way on xhis occasion, -as lie . had done -oil a -AUfiiber .. jof timCS ". before. . His Contention was that ■ . flViHeighths /Vfas riq\li?ed, and t hey - had fleeted as emergency backs, two five-eighths ,\fho wcro ready and willing to play. • And ■■■. v- lh6 rfsulled thS resign^ , ing 'en masse, < When .-the-! Management _ Committee, were i i acquainted -of .turn.: in affairs, they hurriedly assembled. Beforo tho members Jay tho following epistle i — < "2&tTi 'AUgust, 1909 ''Tho Secretal:y W.R.iL, "Sir, —Owing to disunion in your "Selection Oatamitteo, it has been found : -:r.\: impossible -to -afrlve :ita, final selection .. : ef. ibe teiW ;to pky against Auiklofld; ■. • It is With oxtremet regfet: that .Wo tod> i it impossible to arrive at any concluslon. .As the teafn is practically.; all ' . selected) We trust - your, new selectors . ■ Will have ?no -difficulty .in . selecting aI : tca&l to-yoliri Satisfaction. - : ;i----"We therefore * tender , our resigna- 1 ( tions. ~ I "V. R. Meredith, i - ';j. Pudney. I ■ ( / "H." Roberts." 'After- sdlne discission it Was de6id<kl to adhefe'.to tho oiaergenoy list made , out) by . .the oS-selectors, ana as Harry Roberts Was first emergency, he was picked to play; iilte moat of Its predecessors) the final, for Jthe; championship ■ was -Hot treo from illegal /. pl&yi; viEspecially -noticeable - was ; the unlaw- ' ' lul- ; practice.-of: wilfully . obstructing on the r ; line outsi Why tho principal offenders were •: not penalised goodness.: only knows. It •is , ; :• a'nseomly play of this kind that robs a match of "much of . its -'enjoyment, not only to •-.-/•the:- conscientious biit also to true ~r ; lovers of the : gamoi.. Why everybody knows Pi .. tha't nothing riles ; the - playei-s- with tho best of tempers moro than . .to . find ' their arms pinned bofore tho ball gets anywhere near thenu: -The remedy lies, in; tha hands of the «■:■■■■ referees, and; the it is vigorously - applied tho 1 : batter it Will bo .'for Rugby. ■ . Reverting to the now reprosentativo team) ' / one may. be excused for coming to the con.- . elusion that the. mbthdds of the selectors - 'aro passing strange. To many followers of the game,' they blundered; badly in select-. ' ing, the team to meet Taranaki. and it would .' 'appear-: that/ ' they Wteh tumbled OW each • . other in their hnrry to put matters • right V foritho .Auckland match. . The good .players . -who were provibusly left out have doubtless • - a little "off celouf," and lack the.nnn- : .v : bination; which iliey: could: hove secured had they been playing in tho I'aranaki / match. .•■./ 'There is anotiior complaint; against the selec- : tors, viz., tbeir dilatoriness 1 . in giving out tho names of tho chosell plHyers for Jillßlioaiioni ■ In view of the importance of tho forthccnl■ing contest, and, mor6 6Sp46ially,: as radical : ulterations wore made in the tetimj it was cltafly the duty of the committee to.haVe facilitated th? publication of the nameß. " : Fortunately "for the players, Thk DoulJfidN was abld' to: thom unofficially, for Monday's Issue A prelude -I<)' th 6: intcr4skdd match on •J .Wdttesdaj;: btinyccu

a» AMSTOBCOTB.)

tho Wednesday and the'junior representatives. Early in tho game, sonio pretty passing took place among the Wednesday backs, From a scrum tho ball was, on one occasion, : sent out to the centre, Hunt, who cut in inicely, but was grounded after a capital }Un near, tho line. Shortly afterwards the Wednesday teata gamod a free-kick, and Parkinson s effort went within inches of a post; During thoj remainder of tho initial spell: play was open and . fairly interesting. ■ In the second half, the Wednesday representatives wore most. aggressive. Half way through ,tki spell they hemmed their opponents for. some time in their 1 25. , By good passing they just: failed-to get aoross. Then, from a scrum, Bowe secured possession, -and lodged over. Ferguson coined .-much appla'uso by converting against the ;wind> Play, was much, more strenuous during the test of tho game, hut uo further sOfito, took place, the result, therefore, being: Wednesday t representatives, 5 points j Junior representatives, nil. Sir. H. lloberts was referee. ■ • : VMere More" writes: This is the period when tho sowings of the small matches come: under, .the, sweep of the--reaper, iti the • big fixtures. And many aro the • disillusionments,There is quito a plethora- of big football in sight, aticf the last few days have produced much. Poneke-Petotoe final, causcd many persons to becomo positively self-opinionated for days prior to last Saturday, and so as to bo ia at 'tho death I bunked rhy shorthand class (ray ambition leans towards journalism), and. ;likewise a. promise to tako "Cis." to the hockey representative match, I am now wondering, whether tny time could not, have been more 'profitably, spent at tho hockey match. There wero occasions when the game was bright and nippy, but there were long, stretches of dreary tight play. Assisted.by the hurricane in the first Bpell,*Ponoke had a ten-points lead, but this Was regarded as by Bo:®eans a safe margin, aad the Red and Blacks reckoned that they were up against it.- -. iAnd so they would have heon, if-Pptone had been ablo to . open out play, \ but, following instructions at. h&lf-tihio, Poncho played the ; h'ne ftir all it was worth, afid sue?

seeded in bottling lit) the suburbanites' ener- : gies, and wmnnlg .tho chaiiijiionShip. It was i truly.ftoUchmg in the second spell after.each 1 Poileke -force-down, the Reds would casually .; march.OUt. to'.the .twenty-five, . and, after the -■ man with the ball had taken a calm and delib- : BTate survey of - his • mob, kick out. The exer- i :iso. of. such ■ extreme caro by Poneko appalled 'i 3VeU tho'Bioat arfailt stickler for tho rule ] igainSt a man in front; One of the i jest games seen for a long time was | loUbtless the' impression taken away by j :hose who visited Athletic Park on AVednes-;: '] lay to witness the future All Blacks struggle ( i or the honour, of their respcctivo islands. '< Seneral opiflioivhad it that North mould win; i is they have done on the majority, of meet; t ngs betiVefen the two Combinations, but: how - ar this was upset is told by the scbre—l9 i :o .ll) in favpur of the South. Those "in A ;lio know" saw m Gray, Burns, and Weston i

prospects of a solid showing l by the visiting } for these three players belong to the { one, club—Albion, Chnstchbrch—and have c played:together for several years past. But, 1 it w&js not. only the backs that won the i forwards were, a better-trained J and lot than _ their opponents,; c Fryer-received itho ball immediately after c starting, and made a Spirited dash fob the j line, and was :only brought: down, after he o had transferred neatly , to-a comrade." This t, piece of'play-caused'the spectators on, my , side to.,refer to the programine:for No.'.'4' t (his'number),-and Frver: was known through- £ out the.'gamo as A'Flier,'' and North Island , v supporters gave liberal advico to their repre- n sentatives to ; mark "Flier," etc; His first [j try was a brilliant effort, and his method- of . a getting down, the tolich'-line put wonder into' v many of the spectators' hearts. Right throueh tfie. first Spell the visiting backs ' s •played' splendidly—ahdVgavo qnd remem- ■„ branccß of the All Black combination. Burns" would get the ball awa^ Cleanly tp Weston'to; Gray . (who/had ( to, retire ,in- the 'first spell • .owing' to ,ail injuty),' and then, it would 'jf, flash, between ,Cdlvin, Fuller, , and Fryer,' -j and.-tho: last-naiined, two matlo . few mis-

takijs.. ,'Nortli : Island Supporters . wondered at Green's . apparent . dullness, but -the- little half played up to his usual form. One Is inclined to think that, Green is hsirdly good : enough for*. Island; representation. / Onlookers took his tactics'Of hanging, on to- the ball. and diving downwards as solfish; but those who hare followed-up dub football "in .Wellington) must know that this his. Usual mode'of getting : with, fair -Green niust remember ho \vasn't playing in Ordinary club football on Saturday.- Tile : other _ North 'Island backs played as Well as JiosSihle. under the circumI Stances. Tl\o fast following,up and deadly tackling, of. the "Middle Island" gave Mitchinson and Cameron' few •,chances of doing Anything niaterial. : Of the North baoks these two players with.M'Gregor were, i according to my view) the; bestr-,• North Island'e first .try' was : the "flukiest" , thing seen for a long timoi. O'Brien—the only weak spot in the visiting team—ninllcd whan attempting to i force ( .and tlie ball rolled away from him, and two: South Islanders 'and ono North'; Islbiider ratsed' together : foi'. the touchdown, nnd North Island got it. Westotii olio, dl the visiting. gained appkusd : for a particularly fine'piece of WOirk.' -. Receiving-, th 6 -boll ( in the'ruck, he; Sent it Wide ! out , to Fryer .with his left (dot , as' neatly as if sent on ,by tho hands. • I'atoii arid Patterson were quite/ the . best forwards on', the ground, atld assisted the Southefitors. greatly by their clever llfie-otit jilay. The l visiting forwards welro sUperiolr : to their oppo&enti in all departments of the gathe.' AlmoSt' every; linß-olit 6a,V . & White iJiajer (Sollth Island) come away with, the ball at toe Wd particularly Paton and .Patterson—and itept : . it going for quite'twenty or thirty .yajds. ®Ie temporary disablement of Patterson on Saturday bad- its light Side! Xittio Burns was ■attending to the towering forward) arid after gotting his charge on his feet''had to seek assistance) for wheii 'tatter- 1 son Sthggered, and WaS Wfeighiri'g:dotfMhis Jltniriutlfrfc "Wftrdeh" ''•.-.''Wfllffiigteji :.'foll&W6fs' saw an old Wellington player doii the jersey for-South Island,' when Ryan (Nelson), the emergency, came on in the second spell and replaced Gray. ; ./ •; -

.With regard to the alteffitlons in.the back' division of the representative tejim,. nothing buti good can b6' said. Tliat ■ B.; Rvan failed so badly dn Saturday , is just l as disappointing to largo. ntimbers of. followers '6f the game'as. to .himself. -. Walsh) who takes his i placet is .not specially fitted-for'the position, but lie cart ldcsk and tackle, arid even if ho is not too fleet of foot, ho has the advantage of being a hard mari to- "Ffed" rßoberta,.: tOEethor with his ohibrmate 1 '"DrtyfUS" M'Lood should fillly occupy the closest .attention',' that.,/the' visiting backs can', give. them. 'Their - -presence in tho team will also go far to make it a sfcroiig defensive combination. H. Roberts, who Will bo found in the five-eighths lulo, has improved greatly this season. ■ ' • What lieljSed Poheke to beat Petone was .hotter generalship, as well as better combinatioh. It was thought that I'etono v would "cOnje ~to Jight"; in the second spell,- when they had tbo wind in their favoilr, but, notwithstanding this advantage, t-hoy ultimately found that Poneke Was too stroiig for tliem. :Behind the- Wintiing pack) Mitchmsonj Tilyafdwfirid Slatct pdt m !i lot of. effective work. -.. Po/ soiho l-eason or aiiotlifii': the Petonc vanguard lafclfed dash, iind i did not work in uiiisori'.' , AVhat was most disappointing _iibOut' the Petone team, however, Was -.the";inferior display;given by the t .backs. As a matter of strict fact, this, division resolved itself iiito a two-men show, ill which the principals Were "Clem" Gfefiiiand "Jim" Ryan, It would be idle .to j ittenipt to detiact from the merit of tbe performances of these players, but still tlie fact ought to bo . emphasised Uiit tlife crowd tlrO of Sihgle. handed play agalrist a team'which is in tlin ascondancy. _ Of tlio "new": forwards in the representa. tive team, Avery, on tho wingi is expected to givo/a good ftcCoUitt 6f ltiihself. If ho is placing up to ;his best formj he will 'bo repeatedly seen at the liead.'of loose rushes* When occasioti arises lie will also nvail hfmsolf of opportunities to feed his backs) Which is another strong qualification. Delinehv, who replaces Houlihan iii tho frfiat ftthk, jglUged' liimsaU iiito :a,.rfa«!.Jaafc

when ha work€tl tirelessly .all through tho game. In order' to make tho front row tt complete success, it will be necessary, how* over, for his parthel", Ready, to drop the bad habit which- lie lias contracted, Viz., ol getting down shoulder on. Great satisfaction is expressed Upon the selection of Dent as ono of tho emergencies. Like most big forwards, ho is somewhat on tho clumsy sido, but ho is, just tho stamp of player who would provo j useful against Auckland's elect." ' , j