RUGBY UNION.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 10 September 1924, Page 4

RUGBY UNION.

MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE MEETS

The management committee of the Taranaki Rugby Union met at Strat-ford.-last night, when there were present: Messrs J. McLeod (chair), L. J. Furrie, E. H. Young, J. Goodwin, A. Davis, B. Saunders, A. J. Papps, A. H. Guy, A. o.'Casey, F. M. Whyte, and J. Gai’cia.

Mr. M. A. Chapman, (Rahotu, wrote stating that he desired to present a shield to the wining junior team competing in his district or division. The w iniung club would be expected to add a small silver shield each year. —The offer was accepted with thanks. An application for a contribution towards the Red Cross work in New Plymouth was received from the New Zealand branch' of the British Red Cross Society (Wellington branch). —It was decided to suggest'that application be made next year when, funds would be available.

The president of the Wanganui Rugby Football Union wrote expressing appreciation of the consideration given to his team during its recent trip to New Plymouth. He would 1 also be grateful if the union would convey to the referee the Wanganui team’s appreciation of the way in ' which he had controlled the game.—The letter was received, and it was decided to convey the sentiments expressed therein to the referee, Mr. H. Whittington. The union’s grant of £4O to the Primary Schools Union was increased to £SO.

The Taranaki Referee’s Association wrotp forwarding the following resolutions passed at a meeting of delegates from the three divisions: “That this meeting of the Taranaki Referees’ Association would ask the Taranaki Rugby Union to meet them in conference at their next meeting to discuss the formation of a tribunal to deal with punishment for players ordered off the held by a referee.” Also “That as trouble is frequently arising between players and referees on playing grounds improperly protected from encroachment by spectators, this conference wishers to bring before the Taranaki Rugby Union the necessity for proper control of playing areas by club officials.”

A deputation consisting of Messrs J. H. Thomson and G. Hopkins, representing the Referees’ Association,.then waited on the management committee, Mr. Hopkins stating the case as follows: “The reasons for asking for this conference with the Rugby Union are, in the first place, to endeavour to get the union to see the referees’ point of view. Secondly, the referees are of the opinion that the penalties as meted out by the union during the past season are not of an adequate nature, as no matter what the nature of the offence has been, the maximum penalty appears to have been two weeks. Thirdly, to discuss with the union any other matter which will bring about a better feeling between the union and the referees. It has been stressed upon the referees that' they should make absolutely sure before, ordering’ any player off the field that the player so ordered off is the right man.' We therefore feel that when a .player is so ordered off the field _ there should be no doubt , about the identity of the player (we would refer you to the case of Moran ordered off during the season), and we claim that it is a matter of fact under the rules, and it should be treated as such, and the accused should not be able to plead mistaken identity. He can, however. if the circumstances are such, plead provocation, and this should be taken into consideration when passing sentence.

“In reviewing ;the past season’s offences we find they range from abusive language to threatening the referee, and in practically every case the sentence has been the same, namely* two weeks. Now, in our opinion, when sentencing players the view should be taken in the manner taken in civil life, and the punishment should be such as to deter others from committing offences, and in our opinion this is not being done. One can read almost any paper and find that the game of football is not being played in the spirit of sport as it was years ago, or for the love of the game itself; the spirit seems to be to win at all costs, and there are not a few players who will go to any length to gain this end. Bearing this in mind, it leaves the referee no alternative, when he sees rough play going on, to look for the offender, but it is obvious that it is no use the referee taking action unless he knows the offender will be dealt with in a manner befitting the offence. It has been pointed out in the press that the making of the game free from any unsportsmanlike. actions lies entirely in the hands of' the referee, and that if the game is to be kept clean it will be necessary for the referees to use their authority, or the game will receive a very severe set-back. In this matter we will do our part, but we feel we canont be wholly successful unless we have the support of the union to such an extent that any player will think twice before he faces the stigma of the punishment the union may mete out to any offending player. With the object of bringing about a better standard of play in the game we ask leave to put forward the following suggestions: First, that a scale of suggested penalties he drawn up, with a minimum and maximum disqualification for offences. In support of this we feel that if this were done and the penalties were of sufficient severity players would be on their guard against offending, and in consequence the game would be free from many of the unpleasantries of to-day Secondly, and as an alternative to the above, we further suggest that a board be set up to consider the merits of the cases and submit a report to the union, who will pass sentence. In this conenction we feel that as the union is comprised solely of delegates from different clubs a delegate should not have a voice or a vote in respect of any offending player who is a member of the club which the delegate represents. ' '

“On other matters, and as representative of the Northern Division, I would place before you the matter of fixtures for the junior matches. During the past season, and particularly the latter end, i£ has very often happened that we have had no fixtures to enable appointments to be made, and at times they have been conveyed to us by telephone during the progress of our week-, ly meeting. It would be of' considerable assistance to us if the fixtures were made available earlier, and we respectfully ask the union to assist in this connection.”

Mr. Hopkins’ remarks were backed up by Mr. J. H. Thomson, and in reply to the last-named gentleman, the chairman said that if a referee thought it was necessary he was quite entitled to be present at the manage-* ment committee’s meetings and state his case. Continuing, the chairman said that the union still stood by its decisions as regards the punishment of nlayors, except in the Inglewood case. In connection with that case it now appeared that when the matter was

dealt with the union was not fully aware of the position. However, in all other cases the union had imposed in accordance with the referees’' own reports. In connection with the Inglewood ease, the referees’ delegate had not intimated to the management committee at the time that a full meeting of the Northern Division had been held, and the delegate had been instructed to advise the committee that it was a very serious case.

Mr. Hookins said they felt that there should be some difference in the sentences imposed. The opinion of the referee should be taken in each case. The referees were dissatisfied with the sentences as a whole, and-he considered that the sentences in the case of Courts and B. Rbherts should have been heavier, and the sentence in the case of B. Roberts’ brother lighter.

In reply to further remarks bv Mr. Hopkins, the. chairman said he did riot agree that, the spirit of the game had been lagging. ' Mr. Hopkins considered that this was the case throughout the Dominion.. and the reason was inadequate punishment.

Speaking on the denutation’s requests, the chairman said that firstly the question of cause and effect should ho considered: The intention behind the mind of a player who committed an offence was not always the same. As far as the second request was 'concerned, that must be ruled out, as they could not depart from the laws under which they conducted the game As regards junior fixtures at the close ot the .season, he had to admit ,that there had been a certain amount of' inconvenience owing to the difficulty ot obtaining grounds. Reverting to the question of punishment of players during the past year, the chairman said m most cases the committee had tn come to a decision on a. report consisting of about four lines. The eircijm,stances surrounding the particular incident were the main thing in arriving at a fair deiesion, and on a bald statement .they eould.not arrive at the true position.

There was some further discussion aud it was moved by Mr. Garcia and seconded by Mr.’ Cisey. that a sub committee consisting of'Messrs'Mliyte Young. Fume and Papps be’ set up to determine whether it was feasible to bring forward a schedule of punishmeetfna th r€POrt t 0 a farther meeting of the management commit-. S ir .T f " n stated that the report which the referee wrote out after th« • inoidenh had occurred was the one which should come before, the manage“S«l‘hvrt, tto n ? ot the re P° rt tended, and the delegates SJ +v" fnr° , Co ” s H erat i°» some such method , shortening the meetings He did &>r n r stated that the matter \ - must he dealt with L n ' shm?Tlt ment committee h,,l th f m«nagegated to a sub-committee. • and Mr. Gareia’awotin^ Uss i°h. aml carried by 6 Vft then PU *