FOOTBALL.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1222, 2 September 1911, Page 12

FOOTBALL.

RUUBY., , 1 1 .ONFALL AND DOWNFALL, , i

[Br Af.istobulus.] 1 J! . t

. t 'Japes and Jokeleis. Japss and jokelets have- been tumbling 0 down off tho hills since tho onfall of j Taranaki, and tho downfall of "Welling- 1 ton. One comes from Hamuli by wire. j The players in tho inter-island implea- j santness wcro dubbed "Tho Awkward j Squad" in The Domixiox, and the Ha- 1 muiv man's telegram runs as follows:— ' "Bettor join us now. —'I ho Awkward Squad." Ono is not prepared to say that £ tho Hamuli man is wrong. Anyway lie c is (as our cousins in tho Land of tho c Wooden Ham would say), "getting some s of his own back." 1 . . C From Duiiodin comes a sports edition j of one of the local papers, which adum- , bratesa black heading—"Decadent AAcl-* 1 lington." A covering letter also states that, when Wellington comes down there, • they will merely be towed out and . dropped oft a high place. The Scotch aro no doubt estimablo people in then , way, but it must bo admitted that when their somewhat massive bands descend 011 tho key-board of humour, they havo a j rather disastrous touch. ' e E. M'Kenzie—A Real Referee. * . Mr. E. M'Kenzie, who acted as referee j ill the Wellingtou-Taranaki match on f Saturday last, knows his business thor- 1 ou"hly, and, after some of tho referees J that wo havo been accustomed to watch- f in" at the Tark this year, it was indeed.ll ji ■pleasure to noto tho capable way 111 ] which the visitor frcon tho -Waivarapa controlled-tho game. Without any spe- , cial effort, Mr. MlTenzio always kept up with tho play, aixl, ,iu the case of any t infringement of the rules, his whistle c ~always sounded proa.-ptlv. It was ap- :■ patently a surpriso ito the Wellington men, when they worebrought un sharply . 'for "lifting" before the ball entered the . pcrum—ailth'omoroso.of course as alargo proportion of tho locui referees have not : this season enforced tho rule as it should ' have been enforced—possibly through ig- , norance of the laws of, tho game, though (and this is worse) -through an overzealous wish to pleaso everybody. { But then, there are a, number of \\ el- : lington, referees who .-probably, J IC 2, cr - handled 'a football until tliey. joined .tho ' Referees' Association, whorcas Mr. M iven7,ie was a famous play 21' of a famous football family, and, in his day, ho could punt tho bait about twice as far as it travels from one of Stohr s place-kicks. It may be mentioned that., whcii Haia- . inff's English team toure-i New Zealand they looked on Mr. M'Konzie as facile princeps among our referees. Ho oluciated in tho match Knglisli team v, Mana-watu-Horowhcmia. Tho Selectors Stride out into the Gloom. A. number of interested ' pcoplo were looking for the three Wellington reprc- | fientatfve selectors towards flic, closo of tho gamo last Saturday, but the ldttar were not. easy to find. No doubt the 1 selectors were hoping. against lions tor t Wellington to come with a late rush, and ( then tho'trio could'have come out into ■tho open with a late rush also but, when the chosen,, .fifteen failed to. do what was required, then tho. | ; three "choosers" somehow' (jiiiotly told-, up their' tents like tho Arab, and strode ' silently .on into the gloom. . Sir. J. Sweenev was seen on the far side of the field about half-time, but was not much i in tho "lime-light" after that. . Mr. Lvnskev is reported to havo. sat tmietlj { very quietly—in the stand, while Mi. H. . D. Thomson assisted to caiiy an injured man off tho field, and did not rcairn. ■ ■ Talking about selectors; it really seems as if tho sole selector ought to bo given \ a trial again. The system of three never - Boems to have worked satisfactorily at least not for some years, Ihere was a lack of harmony last year, and, . when two" resigned and left the work ill the golo hands of Mr. Thomson, tho latter placed splendid teams in the held to do battle for Wellington, ho doubt either Mr. Sweeney or Mr. Thomson would da good work this year as sole selector,• and : it would bo m.ueh more satisfactory then the present system of selection. how Mr. Lynskey has qualified for the position of selector this season the writer fails to see, and it cannot be denied that ' the teams that have been chosen to represent the city this year have not been n°orlv so gocd as those that took the field "last year. Certainly they won all matches up till Saturday last, but their victories were never convincing, v;lulo their defeat on Saturday was most decisive. The Details of the Dor/nfall. Looked at from any point of view, it must be admitted that Taranaki beat Wellington in every department of tho. eimo In the serums ihe local men were beaten, on tho, line-out they were hopelcjilv outclassed, while . their fielding, kicl.-'iii"-, passing, and tackling wero all inferior to that of their opponents. Before the match had progressed far, it was evident that Mynott was 111 good form, aiul that his gcueni.ship was going to prove cf value to the visiting team. "With I'. ttobercs missing from the \*<Hlington ranks, thero was no, one to anticipate or cheek the ' plans of Mviiott. who made the local captain (ltvan) appear as nothing, and, all tho gamo through, it was difficult to tell what the famous All Black was going, to do. : Now he would kick for the line; then kick across held 10 his backs. Or, perhaps, he would run or pasi, and, c-nco or twice, lib rosortcd to "speculators," but always it was the fitting .plan for the occasion. Mynoct, in his best fi/rni, was trouble enough for Wellington to contend with, but, when they found that, in addition, Stohr was showing his best place-kicking, it disheartened them altogether. On tho other hand Taranaki played with great confidence, and, from the time that Stohr kicked tho second goal, the loeal_ men never appeared to have a chance. Neither did they have one. .They received, m i'act. the most crushing defeat known in the history of matches between the two, unions. . . ' There are differences of opinion as-to whether Wellington's wing-thrcequarter, Cook, is really fast or not. In tho writer's opinion Coo!; has plenty of pace, but does not always make the most use of it. Ko fault, however, could be foniul with the speed which he mustered up to score liis try 011 Saturday last. Still he is not tho same fast runner on tho football field as men like G. W. Smith, Cameron, am! D. M'Gregor. Another fast wing-threc-quarter, who frequently fails to make the most of his pace,, is Stohr, of Taranaki, but this weakness 011 his part may well bu overlooked—at loast ill every match in which ho kicks fivo goals. The Wellington' team is badly in need of a forward who knows how to throw the ball in on the line-out. On Saturday the Taranaki forwards not only got tho ball when Coleman threw it in, but also on most of the occasions when a Wellington man threw it in, and Smith's try camo from a throw-in by Hills. It was another example of how thoroughly the visitors mastered their opponents. Special reference has already been mado to Mynott and Stohr. of the Taranaki backs, but all tho others played sound football, and never failed when tho occasion required good defence. Cameron was in his best form, and never mado tho slightest mistake, llis second try was an especially brilliant one. Coleman's play at wing-forward was splendid right up till the time that 110 was injured, and a better display had not Ikhmi seen at tho I'ark for many years. Of tho forwards, Smith and Yoling wcro perhaps tho best, while Co.in was also responsible for sonio good work. Of the Wellington backs, Mitehinson and Kinvig wero tho most reliable, while King was tho best forward in tho team. A Shower of Suggestion. Naturally enough tho selectors—poor fellows—are now in much tho same as Biillen's old bull-whale, at tho bottom of tho ocean, A3 soon as barnacles begin

to grow on his face, the young bulls rn?h in with destruction in their hearts, up above wo havo given onr own view ot tno position, and now make way for s'K' l ™ letters receivcd\dnring the week. i|ll V are as follow:— , T "Want to Win'-' states :-Might 1, as a •Jollower of the game, suggest that oa. weakness as shown at tho Athletic laik last Saturday, lies, in. tho tuct of our selectors coniining themselves too niueli to tho park. Next '$aturday the} (trie selectors) will bo there ug.am asi usual to witness a match (ill which o'llj toui of last Saturday's players will take part), played by two teams'.\Yhicli. havo bee under tho selectors' eyes'.,on many occasions. Sir, much good material is i mining to wasto uusoou by tho powers that be. If'the selectors will stroll out to Miraniar next Saturday, 1 am suro the> will bo profitably employed. 'As one nav ing seen all tho teams play, on and off the park, I bo.lieve our representative team can bo much improved by ' tho selection of good men . which aro to-bu found in club teams well down tlio li.«t lot tho championship. I suggest lor their coilskleratiou the following team to plaj Auckland: —Full, Kiuvig; Grace, Mitchison, Evenson: live-eighths, 11. Marshall, F. Robertsj luilf, E. Roberts; winger," L. Camobcll;. forward;.•lrvine, Kcady, Curtiiyne, Sullivan, Dent, Wilson, King. . ~ "Ex-Itep" sends in the following view of the situation. He states: The following team, if selected, should meet, with general approval, and I trust you will publish same, .as it may bo of use to tno selectors ne.xt Saturday night, when they are sorting out the team' to; meet Auck-land:—Full,-J. E-ynn (Petono); . threequarters, Cook, Evenson, Hawson; hvceighths, Mitchinson and Bradley; halt, I l '. Roberts; wing-forward, Gardiner (ho should havo been there lous ago)3J6crum, Terry, Ready, Sullivan, Gillespie, Moffitt. King, Wilson. Emergency backs, Roberts, Kinvig; forwards, Levick, M'Earlane. It may not be . generalt} known that Terry is a 'splendid hooker, aiul has played as hooker for tho \\ at. I'.U. touring team on several occasions. Athletic-Ori.wi.al To-day. Touching the important club struggle to-day betvran Athletic and. Oriental, the sollowing itoms will, no doubt, bo or interest. Tho Athletic mrai (one would think) have tho advantage as to lasting it out," because they began serious tramin" later ih tho season than Oncnial did, and soma of the Oriental forwards aro now reported to be showing small signs of stateness. On the other hand, Oriental havo been roinforccd by two newcomersTower from Auckland, aud /Loss from Marlborough. These players will make their bow in a AVellmgton amphitheatie to-day, and there will,, consequently, be a, re-arrangement of Orientals light di\ision. Unless further alteration happens it will play as follows Roberts, half; Ross, live-eighths, with MLeod, Sturrock, centre; Tower and Matheson, wings; Kinvig, full-back.