FOOTBALL.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1419, 20 April 1912, Page 12

FOOTBALL.

[By Aristobulvs i

Turned Down. It is now certain that.there will be no All Blaclt team going to tho Iloiue countries to win more honours and dollars for the Now Zealand Rugby Union in tho season 3912-13. Probably tho rank and file of footballers do not know that tho New Zealand Union mado overtures to tho English Rugby Union ns to tho possibility of a series of matches being arranged for a visiting i.eam from here. First of all tho request was for matches - in all four .countries, and that request was refused. Then, apparently, the New Zealand representative in London, Mr. Wray Palliser, mado further representations about matches in England only, and that request was likewise turned down. It appears that the Springboks are going Home instead. It is certainly the All Blacks' turn to be receivsd, and the choico of the South Africans' offer must mean that the New Zealanders are not v,'anted in England any more. Last time they .went Homo thoy certainly showed very much better football form than the brilliant Springboks who followed them. Is there any other kind of form of which the gentlemen who play-Rugby in England take more stock!' No doubt tiiey have forgottei that it was the All Blacks' tour which mado a South African tour possible, and no doubt they lilco tho men I'rom the Caps better. They can win more matches against them, for oiio reason. The lot of the New Zealand Union lias been no easy one for the last lew years. Th-ern is certainly,a restiveness ' n;nong a section of players owing to tho (success of the League game wherever it is tried, and there have been secessions. In spite of that our union has spaied a visiting teani to go to Australia 'to hold up the Old' Rugby there egains-t tho incursions of; tho League gsjne, and they also entertained at considerable expense a very poor lot pf • American, boys—also to help .New South "Wales out of a heavy liftancial loss. .Their reward for this was that they liavo been financed out of their share of tho profits.. They don't protclnlto be satisfied, and they are not on visiti ing terms '.with New South Wales how, either. • Wo scenr to be/getting -unpopular. Seven-a-side Tournament. A seven-a-sido Rugby tournament is a strenuous thing at any timu, but this is particularly the case when it is'played by poorly-trained men on a harcl ground. For those who were short of condition on Saturday last, defeat came as a welcome deliverance from second or third games, but even for those who wero better trained and got through to the semi-finals and final, the afternoon's football was rather In truth, Athletic Park, with it? h-ard surface, is not an ideal ground for such a contest as Saturday's, and so, in addition to tho injuries that were previously reported, others have since heen heard of. The majority, of the " players have been suffering severely from a complaint known commonly as ''soreness," and one result of . the tournament was really to throw them back in their training. Whether, any actual benefit has been gained by thoso players who took part in the games is rather a. doubtful matter. Perhaps some of them have become wiser than hitherto. 'James Ryan'Rotiring/" , "' It is announced that James Ryan, the well-known . Petone player,-has retired from active participation in tho game. The statement comes rather suddenly upon Ryan's appearance in tho field last Saturday in the soven-aside tournament at Athletic Park. Ryan represented Wellington in many matches, and has also, worn the New. Zealand colours.., .v. Ho ;:was ~a, Petone. player from his-scUool'days oiie'of the most notable'. players^'who'-'hav'(>-cver been associated with tho club. In his best days his back play was often brilliant, and he was rarely below good. He usually played in the five-eighth or the three-quarter line, and he frequently captained club and representative. Ho comes of a family which is somewhat reinarkablo fo rthe number of good Rugby men it lias given Petone. 'Oriental.Club Arrangements. Prominent absentees from the Oriental ranks to-day will be Roberts and Carrad. The latter has sustained.au injury to his lenee, ojid will not be available for some time. Hopes are entertained yith Tegaid to Murray, .who figures to-dav as fiveeighths. He,' is' an Auckland player of gome note. ' Carmichael, a'.'.promoted junior, _ is to figure as full-back. Repute has it that ho la a good kick and tackier, and "not afraid ot it" when the 'whole avalancho of the - other side's attack comes down on hiitf.' Manning, hrothot to a well-known local player"of that name, is to figure on the wing. '--He- played for the South Island County': representative team last year, and his; last locale was Marlborough. Almost' Like Algebra—College Permutations. Permutations and combinations form a rather pretty bit in algebra, and College peem to have tried them on their first fifteen. The result is something like the oomin,g homo of "the long lost heir" 111 melodrama—nobody knows him. Collego of 1911, and College of 1912 are two very different combinations, 'l'ho team has .teen altered out of recognition. Seven of'tho V.C. fifteen have never figured as College senior mdn before. Theso ere Munro'(wing), Salmond (wing), Alexander (five-eighths), and M'Kenzie, Beard, Bovine, and Paulsen (forwards). Youth is said to be, chief characteristic of tho team. ' ' Of those wllo will no longer wear the Collego saddle-cloth in. the race Of 1912, {itainton and Johnston are stepping down on medical advice, and Hurlo has been lured by the call of his old club, AYellington. Poaiianga has passed over to tho ihefty ranks of St. James. De la Mare (has departed to figure as a solicitor at Port Chalmers. A temporary retirement :is that of Fathers, who is standing down for a Saturday to test an injured foot, l)ut hopes to bo fit for next match. Dundon and Middleman are absent on holiday. ' Asquisitions to the club as a whole— that is to say for all fifteens—are fairly jiumorous. 31. Alexander is ex-Otago University five-oig'hths. T. E. Beard played as lock for "Wellington College last season. Taken altogether, there are about 20 new members. Ivor Davey, who played for College in their first senior days, is club captain and Quilliain is deputy-cap-It is announced that the Sydney University team will visit Now Zealand this year. ,The Way to the Top, This winter holds for Rugby more than anybody knows about, and loss than anyone cares to think of. It holds the joys and the disappointments, but precisely .what they are Time alone will reveal. At present they are the inscrutabto Future. And not even a politician can tell us what is in that packet. But we do not seem to be starting the season with unythiDg to particularly fear, or much to rhapsodise about. 'Things will find their nai tural level in a few weeks, and then there will be some solid ground to write 011. One or two of the clubs have scored new blood of fair value, but the general policy of Wellington clubs is to consider their own members before outsiders. There is no certainty yet as to which clubs some of the more valuable newcomers are going to throw in with, 'the general opinion among tbo3e of the Rugby public who are particular club-supportcrs first, and Rugby enthusiasts second, is -that Athletic are tho strongest team in 'tho senior grade at present. Another common secret is that Southern are goiug to do well. However, tho way is open to all, and there is plenty of chance for the team' which tackle tho job in tho right way, There is 110 royal road to tho top of th< championship'ladder, but there's another effective way of getting thereby climbing up.

"On the Ball." This afternoon the blue and black, the black and white, the amber and black, the green, and all tho other relatives of tho rainbow leave tho wardrobe, and go into serious commission for the winter. To-day all roads lead to Athletic Park, and all Rugby-itcs take those roads, lodav good old amateur Rugby is revived again; the championship contest of 1912 commences this afternoon. Let us hopo for a good start, and nothing worso to . follow. Rugbv is our national game; let us keep its namo evergreen, lruly, wo shall go to tho Park iu thousands this afternoon, feeling that whilo "some talk of cricket, nnd some of lacrosse . . . there's no game you will find like the old Rugby cry 'On the ball.'" A Dreary Prospect. The state of the rival Rugby games in New South Wales may be gauged from the fact that the New South Wales Rugby Union's statement of revenue and expenditure for the year ending December '31 last, shows the receipts for the period to have been .£33 Us. 3d., and the disbursements M(tt lis., leaving a deficit, on the year's workings of .-C159 IGs. 3d. The union's assets arc £Wl9 Os. 2d. in excess of the liabilities. But .(says the "Referee"), tho annual report of the New South AValcs Rugby League tells of a very prosperous season in the city, and the growing popularity of tho game in the country districts. Tho financial statement discloses a' happy condition of affairs. " Thero is a balanco on the 'year's workings of .£2445 14s. 5d., which, added to: the credit from season- 1910, shows a balance of ,£3387 12s. sd. Tho finances of the English tour are not included. The Cash End. Francis and some other renegades from the -Rugby ■ ranks are to arrivo in Auckland on 'Sunday next, if tho Sydneycableman tells truly, and it appears that ho was not altogether willing to come back; According to tho "Athletic News," the tall New Zealander had fixed things to play for a Lancashire club, and had tho negotiations gone through satisfactorily lie would have been playing in tho Cotton County away back in February. The terms were a signing on fee of X 250 and a playing fee of £80 for the season, with a prospect of a bonus at tho end. But the Australian tram with which lis was on tour demanded a fee of £209 for his release, and Francis evidently decided that the loser's end of the purse left for him was not enough to make it worth his while. ' Savoury, another burly AuckInnder,- who is also coming home, is reported ,to have secured a place in the Glebe Club, Sydney, for - the coming season. He will not have to pay any transfer fees, for as ye,t there are no transfer agreements between Australia, and New Zealand. Real Rugby—And By Boys. The threo short exhibitions given by tho Wellington College boys in the sevenaside tournament on the Park last Saturday were a real treat. It was a great pity that we did not have tho pleasure of seeing- a meeting between these boys and a,team from "St. Pat's." In the games' they played the Wellington Collegians made all the play themselves, and provided all the brightness. They won as they liked, because they played real Rugby. The boys were natural Rugby-players, and there was nothing much the matter with their coaching. Their chief virtue was that they went to work with a, will. There was. great dash in their efforts, nnd they were keen. Besides knowing what to do and when to do it, they did it'with all 'their vim and vigour.' ' That is the way to play Rugby. Roughnes3_ is senseless, but hesitancy is tho assassin of the Rugby man's winning chance. Players need to clearly understand before taking tho field that they are going to play Rugby, not ping-pong. College recognised this, acted on it, and they won easily. ";tV[isceliaricous Notes: W. Sotheran, the well-known Poneko forward, who went to resido in Gisborne, is back in Wellington again, and will take his usual phco in tho red and black team on Saturday. Another valuable addition to the Poneke forwards will be F. Brough, formerly a Wairarapa representative player.