THE WORLD OF SPORT. FOOTBALL.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1132, 20 May 1911, Page 12

THE WORLD OF SPORT.

FOOTBALL.

« ' RUUBY. [Br Anisioßcura.'J Poneke, Down and Oui! Poneke, ,who at the beginning of theDflason were looked up-Jii as "possibles" inr premiership honours, dropped another two points'in tho championship se:ile last Saturday, when, they were trounced by Athlotic, and they are now d*wu and out as for 'as first place goes, unless something very unusual happens. Tho gamo provided goqd, hard, exciting football, both sides being in excellent condition. The Athletic forwards wero keener and more versatile than their opponents, showing a dash and initiative that was lacking in Poneke., b.ut the solid plugKin,!,' method, of the latter took a lot cf getting over. As in tlie match against Oriental, it wes the Poneko backs who were the special weakness. As a. defensive combination they did some really good work, but their outstanding weakness was on tho. attack. It must have been gall to a hard-worked forward brigade to see their best efforts discounted as they were, when the backs were called upon to do their'part on Saturday. '.Tho addition of "All Black" Mitchinson to the Poneke rearguard wad expsctcd to tono tho backs up, and give them the scoring dash they lacked tho previous Saturday, but Mit-ehin.-.on was obviously, out of condition, and was hardly seen throughout the game. Walsh played a capital defensive game, but persisted in hanging on too .long whep he got possession. His dash and undeniable ability 'would bo much more useful if he played wing-forwnrd. ';Morris, alsq, did some clever saving, but his judgment was again at fault when he was in a good scoring position. Tilynrd '.was at'his best on defence. Sotheran, the new Poneko forward, mado au im.'pressive first appearance. "Athletic's Best to Date. Athletic played their best game to date, and it was hard to believo that the fast, vigorous team of Saturday was the same 'combination which'had floundered about 'the field on the previous Saturday, when opposed to Victoria College. _ The backs showed glimpses of attacking form, .which augurj welt for the fu■ture.: M'Vnjy half-back, is a featherweight, but is .a plucky lad, who used his •bead to advantage. Ho is.a quiet unostentatious worker—quite the opposite to his clubmate S. Wilson, tho flashest of tho Hash, who does the simplest things with a sweep and flourish that hiakss them appear difficult.-! Wilson'is Hie gallery man •par excellence, but this does not mean tnat his work is net good. Some of it was excellent on Saturday. Evenson'a .linofinding and high punts were a feature ~of- Saturday's game. Go-sling played a good all-round game as futUbaek for Athletic. ;■■■;,. ■ . .In A. Wilson,' Bell, Cnmiingh'ini, and Irvine, Athletic- had a couple of brace of high-flyers, who-were a. constant source of -trouble to Poneke. Lcviek, a sunny-, haired young giant, was another tireless one; Ho did excellent sorvico.'- - - - Murray, the Athletic 'wing, is, on Saturday's play, the stamp of wing-innn who could be set up as/ a reason whv the wingforward should not be abolished. Ho was,' to all intents ,ia.nd .purposes, an extra back, apd he handled the ball and tacklod as surely as the best back. Moreover, he played the ball, and not the man; and was one of tho best all-round'men on tho field. ':■''..,. '' ■ ■•■ y..<->0 Won by Place-kicking. Victoria College have taken to heart tho things that havo been said, about them—, truo things they were of their want of f: jmina, wretched condition, and their dejected jog-trot demeanour in second spells. For on Saturday' 'last at Hutt against Old Boys they were out as-win-ners, inspired with unfamilinr. dash and daring, swooping ■ about like ' hungry wolves right up to the bitter end. Alas! yes—bitter end, for College had .too well learned how to lose and it was too much to expect the leopard to chang9 its spots •all in a moment.

' On tho afternoon's showing they wero •'winners, but it'was just that scoring ability .at. the last moment, that failed them. Several times they, should have ■been over the margin. No .particular player seemed to be to blame. Almost ■ all the backs lost first their heads and then the ball; sometimes both 'simultaneously, when., after working up to ' tho line, a little cunning would have got ■mem across, Poananga, Fair, Harle, and .jthat extremely useful frve-eighths, Ryan, ■"all transgressed. Even tho memorable passing rushes towards the endi of . th« .fiame had a lack of methodical, neatness /about it that made it appear rast a rush. iTheir forwards, howover, of whom M'Cor.■mack, Quilliain. Fathers, and Wells, wereythe bone and sinew, galloped and fought ,-with delightful determination. They also (had acquired moro of tho art' of getting !tho ball. But, alas! College had no placejkicks; Old Boys had, sp Old Boys won, ,a,nd that's the match in. a nut-shell. ;Johnston, senna-half, was- sometimes .•brilliant.; but Ryan and Poananga wero •the pick of the backs. , Old Boys were game fighters. Early in ythe game Drake scored three points with' a kick from a penalty.. Later Drake kicked another goal from a penalty. iDTako won them tho match'. After jßrake, tho next most useful man was .Grace, the stalwart centre-three-quarter, vwhose line-kicking and general defensive ..■tactics wero pleasant to see. 'Picot stood for. dash, and Picot once or twice, had fha boen better snpported, would have 6tood to score. Patterspn, as a touch-lino .sprinter, generally after tho ball and not ,-with it, was oocasionally a prominent ~ngure. Poole also did some good work ■as a five-eighth, and Bernard now and Then showed natty' and neat work behind jhe scrum. Dawson, wing three-quarter, sound football, but he also lacksupport. There was nothing exceptional about tho Old Boys' pack. Moro jthan three-paTts of tho gumo Old Boys •■rceie defending. Five are Bettor"Than One, /' Southern showed themselves to bo much abetter footballers than Wellington on vSatnrday's form, and yet they only won fhj sis points to nil. Why? Want of (Concerted action. If. tho accomplishment ■an average player is capable of-is a given • r imount called 10, -the accomplishment of /fivo players, would, arithmetically, bo SO ■This may not work quite right on tho Ifield, but tho illustration serves tho puriposo. Five men are better than ono I unless four are {haf- bad that they ■ shouldn't bo in-.the team. Tho Southern ;• backs work as- units disjointed. The ''dash'of Johnson and the energy of Bradley wero wasted more than once on Saturday, and others ■aro ;open to tho samo ■Tcmark. '~ It was not always the fault of tho man ■ with tho ball that individualism was so prominent: sometimes a man was forced ,tj go alone- becauso no .one was wide -enough awake to keep within a rango at which to assist him. That showed a lack of a common understanding in the team. The lack of a common understand iug was no advertisement for tho training. Take What Comes. AVellington have not a robast fifteen. They aro devoid of science and poorly trained; but their play was much better last Saturday thaniin'the previous games. For a light-looking team .they held Southern well, and as a wholo didn't shirk, as they soraot,inves do. As regards shirking, ono of three-quarters might get more out of himself, and - bo of moro service to the. team if bo was a IHHa moro desperate in any determination he ever, lias to tako a risk or two. Rugby has i!.s risks. If y.ovt go on tho field', take your share. If you w-ant to avoid the blimps, do it on tfio sideline, no! on the fid:!. While you arc on tho fiild you've ..! to take th<nn if they come yony way. ... I the man who has only half his at-■.-■ion on the business- of 'tho moment, ...-'' :ho other half on keeping his skin w,i-.■•.". iint only. get;! L'«i>eii in the movsnifiifc lie is contesting, but' often gsts hurt it:; Wi-fl. Weilin'.'.'.in Mimed on a new fnlLhaek--3, Ryan. I'.yaa is youthful, and not very

ft WEEKLY RECORD OF SPORTS AND OTHER PASTIMES,

substantial, but got ou.t of somo awkward corners. His kicking is weak, but ho seems to stand up to his work in a middling way, and to be fairly brisk in' what he does. Bradley Still "Doing Thinfjs." Many senior players, backs particularly, could take a lesson from one of the most pleasing features of the Wcllingtoni Southern match. Tho reference is to . Bradley's line-kicking; it was splendid, and hnlf the llight was not wasted by the ball going into the next paddock, or ; the nearest frog pond. A practiced kick, in form, eau find the line with about a ; yard to spnr-e almost every.time—but practice is needed; the exactitude cannot be acquired by aimless kicking when thero aro opportunities for practice. St. James, who have several good kicks, might improve considerably herein. Thomas has a forceful punt, but ho generally _ aims more for tho moon than the touchline.. Got most out of a kick is the game: not ; tak-o tha most out of xonrsslf by kicking thirty yards to gain fifteen. A Great Fullrback. A. Hargrave, whom Taranaki-itas used to claim a few years ago, was the best full-back in New Zealand, is leaving New Plymouth for Auckland, and it will not bo surprising if he is soon seen in tho ranks of the northern "pros." Hargrave said good-bye to amateurism a fewseasons ago, and Taranaki has not bad his equal as a full-back since. There was more than talk behind Taranaki's claim as to-Hargrave's rank; he was at least among th-3 best.. Ono of his greatest games "was when, a few seasons ago, Taranaki defeated Auckland in New Plymouth. Auckland had tho usual flying forward division. Time and again the northern cavalcade swept down the field with the ball, and just as often the ecol and confident full-back gathered the leather and drove it back almost half the length of the field. Hargrave's kicking that day was extraordinary. The ball was soaking wet, and frequently ho had little time to get lvis kick in. Yet few of his kick's appeared-to go less than fifty yards, and the beauty of them was that almost every yard told for Taranaki; with raa,cliine-like regularity the ball lauded only about a foot out of touch. It was heart-breaking to Auckland, and tho Auckland forwards said after the game that that one man's performance was mainly responsible for their defeat. Their forwards ran themselves clean out without result. They put all their energy into a hard gallop, "and were driven back fifty _ yards. Hargravo's magnificent, kicking ..kept tho northerners out of striking distance. That was the chief value of it. That is the cliief value of. long-distance punting by full-backs. Hargrave, is the possessor of a Royal Humane Society medal. Ho canned it eight times over through rescuing people who would otherwise havo dro.wnectMn the surf about New Plymouth. The Man Who "Plays the Man." There is often to be found in Rugby ranks a type of forward, who is never seen with the ball in his arms nor at his toe, but whs makes himself conspicuous by occasionally throwing an opponent down with great violence, alter the latter has got rid of the. ball. At least one player of this type was in evidence in tho St. James-Oriental, match at Petono last Saturday, and, though, warned by the •referee on .one occasibn,'.r.he escaped notice more than once. -It •■ was wonderful how this individual kept-clear of his bigger opponents, and pounced on the smaller men just: as they had got in kicks, and were more or less off their balance. As for any real service to his side, well, he, might have been left out of the team without his absence being 'noticed. Confusion Over Five Yards Line. It scarcely seems a good idea to have tho five yards' throw-in line , marked off in the manner' that "it"was marked on the Petono ground on Saturday last—that is, by an exactly similar line to the touchline. Excellent as 'was the linekicking in this match, if-would possibly have been better, but for the two lines being so alike, for more than ono player stated - that', he was - confused by tho inside line. AH that is wanted to define tho 'fiva yards is just a faint line that can be seen at close range by the players. [A^red or blue line would servo the purposo equally as well as. white, which should be reserved for' marking off the tbnchlines,..and.the,half:wa'y, and twontyfivo. limits.... . . ... What Won it for St. James? If the question is asked, what won the match for St. James, the answer must be their dashing forwards, though the backs also more than held their own with those of Oriental. Provided the men keep in training—"provided," mind—the St. James pack will be very difficult to beat this season. They got the ball very oiten in tho ' scrums* on Saturday, and the way in which they scattered the Oriental backs, when necessary, was a treat to watch. Now Mofiitt headed the rush, and then King, but always the rest followed like a pack of wolves (without claws, ■of course). Hoaro looks a weak man for 'lock," but his fine play in the loose makes up a good deal for this. King and Mofiitt both showed";top form, and tha former was especially good on the line-out;, and always appeared to do the correct thing. There is no need to individualise tho others. They wero all well trained, and worked honesfly. While the St. James backs were individually all Tight on Saturday, thero was a lack of cohesion among them,, but this should be easily enough remedied after another match or two. Then, if tho team has no ill-foTtune in the way of accidents, it may reasonably be expected that thoso backs will give one or two "fireworks" displays before the season oloses. Heketa and Cook, the two wing-three-quarters, are very likely men. Tho former did capital work on Saturday last, but tho latter did not get many chaneej. Ho made one mistake, by giving away a free-kick in front of tho goal iu the second spoil, but, luckily, no points wero scored olf it. The rest of his play was sound. E. Roberts, at half, played ono of his best games, adopting different methods of attack that appeared to suit the occasion, and showing plenty of resource on defence. H. Roberts, Oewes, and Thomas wero all safe, though the passing of Crewcs was » trillo wild. Perkinson is not quite'at home yet in his new team, and he made one sorious mis'tako on Saturday, which gave his opponents, three points. Still thero is noth-ing-in his play that cannot be rectified. Our Friends "The Magpies." Supporters of Oriental were inclined to beocvo that, with F. Roberts playing, the team would not have suffered defeat at the hands 'of St. James. It cannot be said, however, that the backs were weak. Their efforts at passing wero nullified .a' goad deal by the fast St. James forwards, but, once or twice, pretty passing rushes were brought off though they never carried play across the scoring line. Prom tho scrum, Carrad, M'Lcod, and TCihvig worked happily enough together, but the three-quarter line was not quite as efficient. Murdoch was fairly safe at full-back. Kinvig hid a good chance to win the gams by his goalkicking, but missed a cuuplo of shots which looked simple for him. Then, towards the closo of the game, he registered a kind of paradoxical performance by potting 'a goal from well over halfway. His line-kicking was 6plendid throughout the game. Among tho Oriental vanguard, the consistent Perry stood oat by himself. Ho was generally in front of the rushes, and did good business on tho line-out. M'Bain is an improving player, and Buuckenburg is showing his usual for-m. General Jottings of Interest. W. Hapdham, who injured his leu a couple of weeks ago, is still in bed, and it is quite, on tho cards that ho will not olay again. His loss will bo severely felt by Potone. "I 1 red" Roberts, who was knocked-ont in tho match against Poneko, will be playing for Oriental against Petonc. Sturrock is entering the active lists again on behalf .of Oriental. He has been persuaded to come out as a result of the. loss of Pylo, transferred to the south.

Things aTe all assuming an interesting complexion iu the senior championship. In the event of Oriental and Poneke winning to-day, Athletic, Oriental, Petono and St. James will lie level, with one loss each, and Poneke will be next. Iu view of the southern tour having been fixed for Into in September (Canterbury, September 23; Southland, September 27; Otago, September 30), there is a probability of nearly two full rounds being nlavcd in the championship. The St. Patrick's and Wellington Colleges will play earlier than usual thin year, viz.: "June 24. In past years, on account of vacations happening at different times, it usually occurred that the match was played only a week or two after one ar other college returned. Welliugton College are on vacation at present, and St. Patrick's were to have gone on their vacation about June 17. St. College have now agreed to postpone their vacation for a week, so that Wellington College will hare hail time to get properly going- again by the time the match is played. Among the spectators at the Park last Saturday were "Mr. G. H. Mason (chairman and president of tho Canterbury Union), W.~G. Garrard (secretary of the Canterbury Union), "Dutchy" Evans, of refereeing fame, and J. Stenhouso (delegate from West Coast to N.Z.R.U.). The visitors were impressed with tho display of forward work given by the Athletic team. The annual general meeting of the N.Z.U. is a great gathering of old Eueby enthusiasts. During the day preceding tho meeting and the dny thereafter the air is thick with football talk—past, present, and future. Many and varied are the anecdotes recalled by these old players, who are now taking their part in the government of the sport. Old friend Georgo Dixon was down from Auckland, and the delegates paid him a well-deserv-ed comnlime.nt in electing him president of the N.Z.U. for the coming year. Harry M'lntyre, George Mason, and "Gun" Garrard were also there. Mason has been chairman of the Canterbury Union for H years, and president for tho last three years. Garrard has been secretary since tho early 'eighties, and is as keen on the game as ever-. Ho has never yet missed an annual meeting of the N.Z.U. Lou de Verc, who represented Wellington as wing-three-quarter some seasons back, was there from Buller Union, of whose teams he is sole selector. H. Harris, selector of Otago, South Island and N.Z. representative teams, represented Otaeo. Other familiar faces were those of M'Grath (Hawke's Boy), Powler (Horowhenua), Cargill (Taranaki), and a number of other veterans. The W.R.U. has got the clubs thinking. A motion was carried a couple of weeks ago requiring all clubs to send in their books of the union far tho purposes ot audit. It is provided in the rules governing club contests that every player's subscription must be paid before ho takes part'in a match. This rule was passed with the object of doing away with tho "defaulters' list,'] and to heln tha club treasurers in getting in the subscriptions. Triplicate receipt books are supplied to the clubs. One receipt is kept by the club, one is given to the player paying the subscription, and the other must bo in the hands of the secretary of the union before the matches begin. Tho rule has been dodged by tho receipt being sent to the union whether the player hns paid his subscription or not. Now, however, the clubs must show their cash books and bank balances at a certain date, and if the cash in hand decs not tally with tho receipts as shown bv the receipts in the hands of the union,'there wHI be a reckoning for somebody. The elubs aro net at present taking kindly to the innovation, but they will find that it will be beneficial to them in the Ion" run.