FOOTBALL.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1473, 22 June 1912, Page 24

FOOTBALL.

[Br Ar.isToßur.us ]

Inside Story of the Hav/era Match. ,lt : scorns that the criticism of the Inst three years has had effect, and, out of a 'network of circumstances, which it would be tiresome to state in detail, 0110 summary stands forth: Heaven and earth were to be moved to win the match against Taranaki at Hawern, and win it .by.; good play.

' "Out of the mass of ymnmerers, quidnuncs, opportunists, and so forth, who batten 011 .Rugby, one good man came to the rescue, 'i'iiis was Air. V. If.. Meredith, the selector. By his direction tlio team were brought together fur two nights in the "gym" at-Wellington and then, when the team reached llawera, tlio local horse bazimr was engaged and tho team met, twice more—the night before tho 'match' and tlio morning of the match. .'.Now is..not this thoroughness the very thing which "Aristobulus" has been fightj'iig .for?.. Before it was mentioned in. •these columns no. • one ever gayo it a thought. lOaeh Saturday eleven players oil: one- side, and thirteen on the other were regularly mentioned for "good piay'' and, as our'expressive American cousins put it; "that was all there was to it." We want a further improvement in the direction of greater honesty and thoroughness.

A Stolen Name. ■ .Tho Athletic.Club's Management Committee ore just now a little bit perturbed because a recently formed League Club has adopted their name and jiayiilg colours. At the moment it lias not been definitely decided that anything shall be (hue about the affair, but the amateur club's committee are ..discussing whether or-not they should fake action to lestraiii 'this "new club from using _ their name. Of course the question will rcißlve itself into a legal one if friendly negotiations'fail. T'he Athletic Club (the old one)-" is registered as an ■ unclassified society.

AthlcticVNew Gymnasium. v.Tlie : new gymnasium now in course of construction in Arlington Street for the 'Athletic Club should be out uf,the builders', hands, and ready lor use by the end of next month. Tho building is' of brick, and the; main hall -will be 70 feet by-36-feet,'exclusive of dressing-rooms..

The site was purchased by past and present 'members of the club, lor «£3o0; and the ;buildirig contract' jvas let for .£550. The gymnasium should be/one of-the best and .most'-centrally-situated training halls in tilts city. / ... .... . V"

• VJ.'he 'club are now ; using -the Poneke Club's Kail"' at', Kilbiraie, ibiit "the ..results liavo not been. ..'altogether, satisfactory. The Athletic Cliib attaches-, a great-deal of . importance to'.player's in the -boys' grades; and boys cannot always afford to Attend 'practices at a distance. -This was the,. nijiin reason tor -tlie . Athletic , Club being unable to-put a.fifth and a-sixth grade team in the field. -Probably-more good .playere, have, graduated through the ranks of -,the-Athletic Club than of any other,club,'ilt Wellington, and thc.acq'uiring (if the new training shed should do pood to tlie game generally, as well as to the club. .'

Petone 'Council's; Eye on the Rugby-Union. Quite .an :Open eye' is/bcing kept on the Wellington liugby Union by the l'etone Council at present.'' There'.hiis been troiiH.le between these bodies in the past over fixtures and "gates," and, this time, "eternal l'etone" ii'js its cannon fairly loaded, l'etone is waiting. At the last meeting of the l'etone Council, a letter was received from the Wellington I'ugby Union slating that the Weilingtou-Petone fixture would bo played at I'etor.a to-day. As soon as the letter was read half tho councillors jumped v.p at once in protest. ' -

It was, in fact, a deeper offer it looks—a. sort of "Greek gift." It pave the council two matches running 011 their own-ground,but the "drawing power" of Wellington. v. Petone is insignificant, :i:id the ;council.at;'oneo''saw it. \ They apprehended that the' liiifjljy Union's next communication would, in effect, state: ".Now, Friends of the Petone Council, have .wo not already given you two matches Tunning in your village? Wo too arc desirous of equal treatment. Givo us two matches running '011 the Park!'" And then the union might have nominated lliem—Petone v. Oriental and Petono v. Athletic! These will 110 doubt be about th<f greatest "clraivs" of tlie year. If the Itugby Union persist with this the council arc quite resolved to take strenuous steps to resist. Probably the Itugby Union will drop it.

St. James Must Have Been Disappointed. Considering the condition of the ground at Athletic Park on Saturday, the few Itugby enthusiasts who went out to seo the match between. Athletic and St. James were fortunate in seeing as much good play as they did. The field was practically under water, and N higlj : class Kugbv was not to bo expected, but yet at times the back play of the St. James team reached a shade of brilliancy, while some of the Athletic forward rushes were magnificent.

Prior to the start, there was a <}uiet confidence in tho ability of Athletic to win, but some of the most ardent supporters of the Blues must have experienced a nervous feeling when in the first ten minutes St. James led by 0 points to nil. Something like half an hour had elapsed before Athletic scored their first try, but it was scarcely recorded before they 'had' crossed tlio 'lino again, and taken tlie lead by two points, while the second (spell served to make the victory a convincing one. In the first spell, St. James had more of the play than Athletic, but they failed to ..push home their advantages. That is iwsactly where Athletic succeeded. They took, their opportunities, and, after all, that is the way matches are won and lost.

< St. .Tames must have been very disappointed with the result. Hero ivas a Mam often pressing,' especially in the first half, and yet at tho finish I hey were 11 points to the bail. Their defeat must lio attributed to lock of finish in the forwards, and to 100 much' passing on an tiDsuila&o ground by the Lacks.

.Value of Captainship. The success of Athletic was mainly due to the superiority of their forwards and to captainship. Given other things equal, captainship will bo tho deciding factor —the controlling- mind, which en?bles a well-trained team to select the particular style of play calculated on a particular occasion to defeat opponents equally well trained. Belying almost entirely on forward rushes, Athletic kept up a Tare pace that proved too much for their opponents, and a faculty to seize chances and make the most of them enabled the Athletic men" to score five tries against the other team's two. / .. ' However, it certainly seemed as. if the losers should have doubled their score. When the game came their way, the forwards should have been sent into the breach. The passing by the backs was much overdone, ami it failed ipore or less. Some of if was good, and one bout ending in Young's score was brilliant. It. is alwavs.spectacular,-but it will not win matches on an unsuitable .ground, Brilliant passing was the forte. of a New South Wales combination that travelled through .these islands ten years ego, but was it of any avail? In Sydney recently the passing rushes in the League in ai c, he* came a? a tonic, but (if reliable exchanges'are to be believed), the struggle for supremacy in the club championships ha*s lesulted in oven the league teams drifting back to the clo?e play as the 1 «nfer method. Whim tin* crowds 'call for passings they ever will-the exigencies of the giuno jn;tV call for something else. TJiero remain then t-iieso alternatives, closo play as the safer method on-many grounds, or bright' pacing and the risk of defeat. St. eudeavourcd to-open up tho game b.-t Saturday. In doing so, they pleased Ihe spectators' .immensely at times, but iiit-y courted defeat, and there followed liio inevitable result®

The Place-kick Wonder. Wellingtonians know ivell enough that John Stohr, the young Taranaki representative, is a wonderfully good placc- • kick. It has already been stated that out of three shots at goal which ho had in the Wellington-'lWanaki match, which was plaved at ilawera last week, he was successful witli two, and that with (lie other one ho tailed only by a few inches. The following from the Taranaki "Herald's" account of the mutch describes the shot which failed, and emphasises the. good quality ol' Stohr's kicking:— "Kiown tool; a mark from the line-out, and Stohr made a splendid effort to goal. The kick was taken from close to the touch-line, against the wind, and just 011 Ilia half-way, line, yet it failed by inches only, the ikll sailing post-high at that. It was a big kick even for Stohr." At the risk of being inaccurate to the extent of a couple of yards or so, the writer is of the opinion that Stohr is liable to score by goal-kicking, even against the wind, when he is within 7t) yards of the goal. With the wind in his favour lie could surely do better still; and with the wind and a little exaggeration wo could probably get any patriotic New l'lymouthite to admit that he could kick them lroiii the pavilion.

Move Stohr. Without wishing to . lie too lavish in praise, we may as well give Sr.ohr his lull due, and quote this other extract from the "Herald 1 .-," report:— "Stohr brilliantly intercepted _ a pass which M'Kenzie meant for Kami'den, and after beating three of his opponents, .nut racing over half the length of 'lie l-cl-I, •scored the most sensational try. of the day, the effort being loudly applauded. He put the finishing touch to his utrk by placing a beautiful goat from tlm tcmililine."

Was There Foul Play? . Tho "Taranaki Herald" states that a Wellington player, whoso name it gives, in the recent Wellingtou-Taranaki match was guilty of deliberate foul piny. The paragraph runs: "Just after the kick-off knocked Brown out by charging him when ho was not near the ball. It was a deliberate piece of foul play which should have been taken notice ut' by tho referee."

This seems to he a matter for inquiry, so that the Wellington man may be cither exonerated or punished.

The Lax Old Union. It is pleasing tD hear that H. llynott, one-time "All- Black" live-eighths, still follows the game round. Hyilott was lineuihpire in .the -.Weilingtcn-Taranaki match last week. It would be wise of the Now Zealand Union to .avail itself of Jlynolt's services. Every.now and then the union requires a team chosen to represent tho North Islc.ml. Why not llynott, or J. Hunter, as-selector ? -

I'ow men in. New Zealand are better qualified' to. be selectors, and that fact is common knowledge: so well-known is it- that it is not too much to expect the New Zealand Union to be aware of it.

Yet the union goes on blindly appointing llr'. D. llalonc as selector year after year. Jlr. llalone may do his best, but he is not .qualified 'as Hunter and llynott.are.' 111-fact, the difference between his qualifications and theirs is so great that the. matter is worth drawing attention to. The fault,is not 111-, llalone's; it is the union's. The sufferer'is not the union; it is liugby.

"Out in the\ Rain and the Hail, and the — J ' . :Whnt a day and. what a ground for the Petpne-ll elrose encounter at l'etone last week! Would stiyone but the Wellington liugby Union ! have asked a dog to plav in such weather? It is very doubtful.

There was no liugby; it was simply out of tho question, and the few spectators wero treated to eighty minutes ol slippery "soccer." Scrum, line-out, or rush, everything was the same; nothing but rain, wind, and real slush. The ground was not even stodgy. It was a sheeuy bit of water and as the gome went on it got worse. AH that the backs did on both sides was to sow the seed of an attack of .rheumatics.

If the Itugby Union expected a gate they v,-ere disappointed, and if they mil the game as a business and say ("rain or shine") that the producer—the playeris to turn out, then it is time wo turned our thoughts to other sports. After ail, Eugby is only a sport, and as amateurs playing purely for nil wo are proud of it, but do not let the business element creep in. Cut the Saturday out, and go on with the fixtures 011 fine days.

MERELY BANK GOSSIP.

SOME OF THE CLUB HAITEiYI.XGS.

[Br iP.ISTOBULVS.I Wilkes, who played for Auckland University last year, and who subsequently was selected lor the North Island team, will be playing five-eighths for Wellington against Petone to-day. Earlier this season, Wilkes did some excellent work for the Christchurch Pool bail Club.

Tho takings at the gate at Athletic I'ark on Saturday did not reach J.^o.

A Dunedin paper credits J. L. Henrys with playing for the AVellington Collego seniors. Ko doubt (he College team would bo glad of his services, but tho writer rather fancies there would bo difliculty about the question of a trausfer.

Mention of Henrys brings to mind that he will be playing in his old position of wing-forward at Petone to-day. Miller, Wellington's usual winger, will go into the scrum.

Many of the spectators wero of opinion that Hills, St. James hooker, scored a try under the posts in the first s|vell of tho match against Alhletio last Saturday, but tho referee thought otherwise. At the time referred to, St. James had a forward rush in progress, and after the ball had been carried over the line, Gosling (Athletic, full) attempted lo kick tho ball to the "dead ball" area. Ho was unsuccessful. Then Hills touched it with his hand, but was immediately pushed over, and an Athletic player fell 011 the ball.

AV. Roberts, 'Poncke wing-forward, who injured his shoulder in the first match of the season, lias again stripped for action. As a result, Gardiner will again tako a place in the tliree-riuarter line.

Puniour has it that F. Jlifchinson, who is at present tilling the soil at Rae'.ihi, is about to return to the city. Inquiries made during tho week failed to bring forth anything definito in the above connection.

J. Calcinai has taken the place of Chapman as lock of the Poneke scrum.

"For meritorious service rendered in scoring a try." So runs the inscription on a huge bronze medal presented to Elliott, Poneko Club and Wellington representative, by. a number of his facetious admirers.

Several Rugby men at Petone, who had virtually decided to cross over to tho League, have now resolved to "hang on a little longer."

This afternoon's matches conclude tho first round.

I'aire, fast man off the mark, is going up to five-eighths for College to-day. Walker fakes Fnire's place on the wing. Miller, who has been playing near tlm scrum, is going back to centre—his position last- year.

Japes on the state of the grounds last week have been numeious enough, but un instance is recorded (Poneke-Oollege) where the leather, on being put- into a serum, found itssif really afloat in four inches of water. Imagine the wild and savnge struggle for "possesion" which would ensue over a floating ball!

"Injured leg" threatens to deprive Oriental of tho services of Georgo Murray for somo time.

St. Jameo are also going to bo minus Leggatt. He lias left for luvercargill, where, it is stated, his father is seriously ill. "Algio" Thomas, full-back for St. .Tames, figured as a forward du Saturday .last.