LEAGUE & LEAGUERS.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1860, 20 September 1913, Page 16

LEAGUE & LEAGUERS.

IBr iViziTToot."!

BOOMERANC THAT HIT BAOK.

The Boomerang. Quite a reckless speaker, indeed, is Mr. Morgan, manager of the Australian Rugby code combination whioh is now in New Zealand. As far as possible the League people are endeavouring to avoid anything in the nature of recrimination as between tho two games, but these repeated (and rather unsportsmanlike) attacks by Mr. Morgan at least call for notice. Tho following extraordinary remarks were made by him at,a recent football gathering at Dunedin:—

He had hopes that his team would have won one of the test matches, and if they hqd taken an example from their professional friends, and said to the selectors, 'Let us win to-day,' it would have done a great deal for the 1 game in New South Wales, but, said Mr. Morgan, ho was prepared to go down rather than descend to the practices that we know the other side do.

It is doubtful whether thia remarkable utterance came to the League men as-a shock or just plain vaudeville. At all events, Mr. Morgan is now to bo given a chance to make his words good, as will be seen from what appears below. ~ The Boomerang's Recoil. The managers of the brilliant 'Australian touring League combination (Messrs. S. Geo. Ball and E. J. Hooper) were asked to make a statement on tlio matter, and Mr. Ball said: "We have strenuously tried all the time to abstain from the unsportsmanlike practice .of calling names. Horo are two Australian teams, exponents Of rival codes, touring Now Zealand, and we would have liked to have carried on on neighbourly terms witH the Rugby men. We had a feeling—and I think a very good feeling—that,, after all, we were all Australians, and/ to that extent, brothers. , ~ "So far, so good. But, when Mr. Morgan goes on from centre'to centre throwing boomerangs, he must not complain if the boomerang occasionally comes, back, and hits the thrower, and, if Mr. Morgan perseveres with this pleasant little practice, he will find that ho will ho hit more and more.

"We Play No Fool Oamos." "First, let me speak broadly as to our keenness on winning. We have often been asked, when pitted against a weaker team: 'Why did you not let them down a.bit lighter P' To that I can.* say right out that it would be contrary to what one might call our articles of war. Wq have no wish to b&s our splendid combination deteriorating in its, play by paying 'fool games.' We are out to win every time, and, what is more, -to win by every point we can. People who go to' see us play may rest assured that,; in 1 every match—important and unimportant—we arO out after t&e main chance every timo. No tomfoolery in the League game is permiss- ' "We, (the managers) and our whole team are very keen on going back to New South Waleß with an'unbeaten record, and; naturally, the Now Zealand League players are equally desirous of defeating us. Both sides, therefore, are triers, and that, I think, is just what the public want. It certainly makes for good play.

Further Recoil of Boomerang. "As far as I can make out from 'Mr. Morgan's utterance, he : seems to impute tricky play to us," for-he certainly could,not mean rough-play. If that is his meaning, our. reply is this: We simply invite him to come along to our cainp and point it out. If ho can do so, he will be doing us a favour; if lie cannot his course, as a gentleman and a sportj is quite clear—ho ought to retract his words. "As to matters affecting general beliaviour of the men on tour> I can °niy say that wo have won very favourable opinions wherever we. have stayed, ana we have received many complimentary letters from hot&keepers and others regarding the conduct of the men in all the New Zealand centres that wo have visited.

Direct Challenge to the Boomerang Man

'"Lastly, as to play and prowess in the field: You know what Mr. Morgan has publicly said about what Rugby combinations could do to League combinations- if they mot in the field. Well, that's just what wo want. Tho Rugby challenge is accepted. We agree to meet his combination either 13 men or 15 men aside, and wo would like a reply before next Wednesday, as 9ur tour in the Dominion is now drawing to a close. To bo plain, we want his challenge now: wo do not want to road about it in the papers after we get back to Sydney." Saturday's Great Came. Unfortunately, this week "Fleetfoot" has not had timo to get together all tho nice things that ho would fiavo liked to liavo said about the great match which was played at Neivtoivn Park last Saturday, between Wellington and New South Wales. "It ran at sprint speed all the time, and it recalled the Rugby of 1890-95—that and better. Another great game follows on its heels to-day, and should bo worth a barefooted pilgrimage to see.