FOOTBALL.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 615, 18 September 1909, Page 13

FOOTBALL.

! RUGBY CHAMPIONS. : ~ SMOKE CONCERT OP PONEKI3CLU? The annual Smoke concert' of the' Pon'tike - Football Club was held.last evening in load's , Rooms, Cuba Street, anil wa? 'amended - dv i upwards of-80 ine'mbers; . Dr; Neiv-'ban '(p:i ; ?i-; dent) iVas. in ■ the chhit.' There weve also pre-' ' sent a.large number of ex-players • " 1 • In proposing; the toast of "The Pnneko'Clnb." < the president referred to tho splendid.record - of the club, .and expressed tho hope that he >' would Iwg be allowed to retain his position as • • -their president. Present members were riail to v see so;many.,veterans at tho reunion. Th-.v ; were 6ometimes called'Tias-beens," but it lias ; far bettor, to bo. a - "has-been", thin! a "ncvtT- ' ,v f s -" .(daughter.) Thero had be*.n a time ; when the club,'got about thirteen men in the Wellington representatives.: Tho teim. of to- , 'day'had shown themselves to possess the same [ dash which - had marked the matches of the , club ,m their previous brilliant seasons. , (Anplause.) . Since the team had "got guim*" they ; had_ not had a dry'day, but if .thjy had ban so. favoured .they would have electrified ev irvbody, and shown how a big score could be ob- : tained. (Applause.) ' f Responding, Messrs. F. Gardiner (captainl and-P. Mitchinson paid a tribute in the co-nh- : ihg, of Wallace and Pud»c<', and referred to,the advantages which the new gnn- . nasium afforded for training. ' 1 " 1 The toast of tho "Now Zealand Rugby ' Union" was proposed by Mr. W. I udey, who . speko of the efforts which Mr. B. D. Hobea had put forth, , against strong opposition,. to 1 establish tho union on a firm basis.. He warned t the authorities . against anything iji'at wfrald ;• :' e nd to encourage tho professional same.' i Mr. G. Dixon, chairman ,of tho Management..Committee'of, tho Now Zealand ..Union, : responded. ' He congratulated. the olnb on -its 1 achievement this season, and went on to say j that, although, football' should not bo" regarded as tho solo purpose of life, the 1 lessons learned ;. on the playing field'wore of the. utmost value. ■ He had not.a word'to say against, anyone who, ' :deeiding to play professional came out in the , open and made no secret of it. At the same time, ho .could i not narno any amateur, who , had diinc well after having "turned." In proposing "The Wellington Rugby Union," ; M'.;. M. . Marks, an cx-membor,said that the union were often criticised severely, : and were 1 seldom given .credit when they deserved it.' « rhp union had. certainly made a mistake in '. purchasing the l.easo of Miramar,- for '-tliey 1 had reckoned without the public. However, they had . been : actuated bjv the best motives, and they had retrieved their previous action by. having made such- oxcellent. arrangements regarding, Athletic. Park. He. hoped that tn. j' uuion would later acquire the. freehold of the 1 park. : - . . • ; ' i'Mr. S .Brown, chairman ,of , the Wellington' I Union, in the course of hi? response, outlined , the stops that had been taken to obtain the ' freehold of the Athletic Park. When it was , known that the . season bad - cost . ; tho union bC2SH)O, the public could quite understand whv . they . wanted , "star" attractions on the park overy Saturday. He understood that the trus- ' toes of tho. park, realising/that the public | was their sole support, were prepared'to'put a-top'on the grandstand. This would not be a profitable addition, but it would be for " theconvenience of the spectators. ! Cither toasts honoured were "Our Opponents" • (proposed'by; Mr.'"Brnssey" Whi'-e,'and iesponded to by Messrs, F. . Roberts and W. l' Perry),'.'"The Referees Association" •'(proposed , by Mr. J. J. Reich and acknowledged by Mr. , '1. Quinn), "Old Members" (proposod *by Mr. , W\ J. Wallace, and replied to by Mr. W. J. White), "Kindred Sports" (proposed bv Mr. Coffey and replied to by Mr. R. Brewer),' "Tho Ladies" (proposed by Mr. Mitchell iind replied to by Mr. T. AVnlshe), and "The Press." An excellent musical programme was con- ' tributed to by Messrs. C. Reeil, M. Marks, B. 11. I'arkes, H. Sisson, A. Griffiths, T. Walahi, ninl Carlyle.