FOOTBALL.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1467, 15 June 1912, Page 12

FOOTBALL.

[Br Akibiobumjsl

Jftie Irksopw T«J<ifie writer of this paragraph appeals for sympathy, sweet sympathy, universal sympathy. Hβ has to write a note about what is technically known as ."the Mel-Tose-Victoria College Eugby match." It would bo much nicer, nnd very much easier, to write a note about a wax vesta than about the kind ol "match" which ■has to be Teviwd; but here goes. The affair started shortly after 8 p.m. last Saturday and finished shortly before 5 p.m. tho same day. In between those times Melrose scored 12 points and College 8 points, and the tally of casualties was about even. As the "match" was played at Karori only three of the fleventcen spectators braved tho elements —the weather and tho play—right through. The other M discovered a tea kiosk on the premises. Tho three who persisted "in .freezing in tlie . middle of the'paddock were the referee and two line umpires. There will be monuments erected to their memory at Karori some day. . . .

Who Sayeth? • . Who sayeth that the anclont war horse will not enuff the 'battle from afar ? On Saturda-y, Dent of Petone was up at the park with his hoots under'his arm —wait, ing (some say praying) for accidents, so his chance might come. It is reported— credibly, too—that, at one stage, when a Petone man was "stretched out" for-a few , minutes, he called, (in a voice that . been heard back of Karori),. ' "Where's my togs?"- ■- ■ .'. Impotent Auckland Control. .:;.. ' The incident of the Ponsonby Club refusing to play' at Auckland last Saturday: under the referee appointed serves as another instance of tho weakness of the control in Rugby football.in'many par,ts of New Zealand. Tho club refused to take the field because of an alleged old standing grievance between the club and the referee, a grievance which arose out of a tjuarrel between the refereo and; u prominent player in the Ponsonby team. The union knew of the trouble, but had received no official communication about it, and the Appointment Committee, allocating the referees very rightly, took no account of mere gossip. So it was that the Ponsonby players pot into playing rig 'and sulked in their dressing-room for a quarter of an houri allowing the match to go by default. It now remains with the local union to inflict adequate punishment. • The true story of the business is not in circulation here, but the refereo to whom exoeption was taken," Mr. "Jack" Williams, is known in every centre <in Mew Zealand as an erstwhile good player, a competent referee, and an; all-round good sport. In aquatics he won.some distinction, his last performance of,note'being to stroke tho Dunedin Amateurs' boat' to victory in the pairs championship at Picton in 1905. Mr. Williams is not the kind of man who might be expected to be mean or spiteful in, the exercise of a referee's duties.'- .. -

Whatever happens now it is practically certain that tho Ponsonby Olub will' go over to-the League. .There has been' any amount of professionalism in the ranks "6f the first fifteen hitherto, which has been: connived at by the union. League organiser, George Gillett, was a Ponsonby and. ho has been taking people, into, his confidence about: what used to come his wav, v There have no doubt been others likeMmn, fftjndUner will ..not be very much out ;of"the r element in the professional game. ■ " .J™ V ro - y ? fI "L, the , club hM been threatening to join the "pro.'s," and now it •seems highly probable that the threat will be earned into effect. Players hive already said something like this

The Fact is that theVfayers are not Dis. ciplmed. in Auckland at all

Of course, it.will be made to appear-that nobody is to blame;, but the fact is thit h,/A ' i Yl pla * el ? liave b «n ablo l,v 1 a \ h ? y lik f' W l tlle >L in H f h' 1 mo ? fc of them as memt.ers so that the union has allowed the seeds of; mutiny to germinate and strike tn l *™"! i " e ff l,laTi «« had occurred hitherto, and if some good players hud not been wouw s n otl FT" 3 - this i oolish w>aS would never have cropped up. PerhaDs

Oriental and the "Hard Luck" Story. Amongst tho watchers in the stand S't , wer <> advanced for Oriental on Saturday. When one rush, £1 X &i K -softer melted away before the superb defence of the Petoni arietoad T^u d ck^' n,I - 6kl " 2"r en a • Pi nt i^ * rand fißht, but they ,«oro solidly beaten by a better team. J .Inat tho heavy Oriental forwards did nob get under way mo re often was due to the fact that they were . faced by smarter opponents, who made up by skill and individual dash for weHit On tho performances of the day it certainly appeared that Petono would have Kained the upperhond easily in Eoo d

Few of Those Oriental "Marks." Honest .toil was a player's best asset at. most stages in the game, and strategy was not appropriate. There were indications in the early play that Oriental hoped h> gain something by.the policy of marking, which they applied eo .,, su f c ,? 3 . sf " ll r in their recent contest with Athletic. .On .Saturday attempts of this kind were a failure. Petone charged like Grenadiers, and the man who essayf(l to take a mark usually got rolled over for his pains. One back-it looked Jike MLeod—set himself for a niark, but was bowled over without getting it. andpiny as a result moved many yards towards the Oriental base.

Discouraged in this way, the marking' Industry .fell away to a minimum, arid Doon ceased to be a feature.

Unthankful Job of Full-back. Some criticism was directed at Carrad, the Oriental full-tack, but it was hardly merited. Ho was a trifle slow at times, nud once or twice fumbled the ball instead of fielding it, but on other occasions he stemmed rushes in splendid style. One way and another, a great deal of work came his way, and the bulk of it wa3 creditably performed. •

Ryan, Roberts, and Co. -■'■■' Jas. Ryan was remarkably sure-footed on the slippery field, and relieved many tight situations by clover cross-kicking and kicking for tho line. For Oriental, "Fred." Eoberts played as much of his ■usual good gamo as tho weather and pround allowed. Ha was tireless in defence, and Pet one—a team of line tacklora —had no one who surpassed him in that department. Hβ averted at least one score by a quick tackle when J. Ryan .was all but in and over on the wing. Murphy and Townsend were prominent in the forward rushes which, if they had been persisted in, might have gained for Oriental all that they lost.' Kinvig played a good game, and was responsible for eome serviceable line-kicking, but at times was overwhelmed by the headlong attacks o£ the suburbanites. Daley and Bamsden were amongst the backs who rendered good service to Petone, but neither team carried any paseengers. An impression About Metrose. There is an impression about town that Molrose play a much better game against « strong team than against a weak one. ,I'or this reason many look to tho Mel-Vn-.-e men to place a stubborn defence to the I'etona attack this afternoon. Tho (,'3-iuv, it is said, will not be one-sided. Wellington Wins at Hawera, Kvcryoiiß will bo well pleased that the tivo friendly rivals, Wellington and Tararmki, provided a. good exhibition of Rugby at llawera. on Wednesday. A match betwoun those- provinces .is usually worlJi teeing; Wednesday's was particularly, bo,

Wellington backs seem to have thrown tho ball about brightly, and to have worked in harmony. Of course, this may liavo been permitted by the Taranaki men being slow to get on to the Wellington rearguard. However, let us give Wellington all credit for having worked together well behind tho scrum. ■ Mr. V. E. Meredith, the selector, witnessed tho match, and as the backs were in use a good deal he should have learnt something which will help him in the selection of future teams this season. Wellington has a fair number of more or less sound backs, but it is the tendency to play men out of their places that so often works disaster. For instance, one of the most valuable combinations in a team is ft pair of firstrate five-eighths. Tot how often have wo seen tho five-eighths positions filled by, say, a half-back and,a centre threequarter. In very few cns«s will either of theso men make the great openings that a good five-eights can create. Let us take 1\ Roberts nnd James Ryan as examples, and piny them at five-<sights. Both will kick nnd collar well, and both will take a pass and send on a good pass to the nest man'; but neither will make the openings which first-class five-eighths get tho opportunity of making—open'ngs so big that their side winds up the passing rush with, perhaps, a conple of men to spare. . ...... The point for Wellington is that it as better to play the' Petone nve-eighths (Ramsden and M'Kenzie) in the representative team than to look abroad for men who are more renowned for their play in other positions.

Past and Present. Five-eighths play is a branch uf the game which is not flourishing just now. New Zealand has produced some brilliant five-eighths, and some dazzling hve-eighth combinations. Among the most notable of these'was the Taranaki couple—Hunter and Mynott. In their day they were truly /Even last year when Mynott (somewhere noar 40 years of age) turned out to play after having decided to retire, he showed that in many respects the present-day backs could not touch him. And Mynott was the lesser light of the two. Mynott, game, deadly, dashy, and heady, was a great tactician. Hunter was all that, and, ■ besides, was as fine an individualist as ever got inside a jersoy. His famouß corkscrew run was as dazzling and amusing a thing as any footballer ever deyelopeU, his working of tho "blind Bide wonderful. , ■Brft his most extraordinary feat was the dive. How often, even when-playing on grounds which were not home grounds, has he sent thousands of spectators into a frenzy of delight by scoring where a try seemed au impossibility, per medium of his tremendous dive.

Wanted, a Bold' Five-eighth. ■ But, jwhat is more to the point! Cannot 'some:of our five-eighths of to-day develop a combination something on the lines ot Hunter and Mynott? It is needless to talk of the openings for their side which this pair made, or to tell how they inade them. Everyone knows they m-ide them, but the five-eighths of to-day seem to be .content with taking the ball and firing it along to the three-quarters. That is exactly what is hampering out . three-quarters—no one to make openings for them. You cannot expect quarter to niako his own openings and •score as well. First-night three-quarters are too scarce for that. Aβ the science of spoiling has been developed, the science of making openings has gono back, but a bold live-eighth would give present tactics a,.rnde awakening. : ' iyVVV^.;,,... •::[■. j .■■■"■ Stohr: and Roberts, Taranaki's outstanding backs this year are J. Stohr and E. Eoberts. Both were always most promising players. Stohr is exceptionally fleet, he is weighty, and he does the right thing, and, better still, the thing which ie unexpected. Jfynott took an interest in Stohr some seasons back, and the Stohr of to-day is the result—one of the best backs in the Dominion. His kicking is a_s good as ever. Wellingtonians will remember what he did to their team last season when he spent an afternoon at Athlotic Park kicking goals at Wellington's expense. That was phenomenal kicking—goals from halfway at any angle. In Wednesday's match Stohr had threo shots. With two he succeeded, and with tho other he failed bv. a few inches.

Roberts was a top-notcher even as a schoolboy, , and tlio result of Ms trip with the Taranaki representatives last eeason is that he is now a back of very great merit.

A Point of Law. • The following question has been asked of the New Zealand Union: If a player is ordered .off a playing field by a referee, can ho play again in other matches until the Management Committee deab with tho matter?

The union's answer is that the player ia entitled to play again until dealt with, unless tho union's by-laws provide otherwise.

The by-laws of some unions contain a provision to this effect.

Not Above Mediocrity. The town of Petono must lave got niucli the worst of tho heavy hail and rain storm last Saturday for the ground there was certainly in a worse etato than most of the other fields. ,

It was a ground for forward play, and Poneke forwards, being the stronger, except during short spasms of liveliness of the Southern scruramers, won the match, i'ho scores all came from the Petone backs, but it was the forwards that tore up th 9 defence and made scoring easy. The .only player who stood out prominently was Morris, of Poneke. Hβ scored two tries, and was directly responsiblo for two more. Those who remember this player last season as a. clever baik with a bad habit of doing the wrong thing in an emergency, must notice a wonderful improvement in him this year. In this match it appeared that ho could not help doing tho right thing.

The Californian Project,

Referring to the New Zealand Rugby Union's decision not to join with. >,ew South Wales in sending a Bujjby team to California, the "Arrow" says: The Queensland Union is agreeable to let any of its players join the team that the New South Wales selectors consider fit for selection, and no doubt the 6ame procedure will be adopted as in tho case of the "Wallabies" tour. New South Wales will have solo charge of tho trip, and the bulk of tho players will be chosen from this State. This is much more satisfactory, as the blending of the New Zealanders and Australians in play and team formation would have not been easy to the organisors of the side. Some very promising players ehoiild find their places in the combination, and the educational effect of the; tour to the more , youthful members will do a lot of good to football generally.