LOOKING BACK

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 94, 7 May 1937, Page 11

LOOKING BACK

"Magpie"). , .

Happenings in Senior Club Competitions COMMENT IN GENERAL

(By

With f our series of the senior cluh competition hehind us, it is possible to do a little stocktaking, • and at the same time comment oh happenings in general. I do not expect that impressions fonned to date will hold thwmgliout the season, for in football, as in other pursuits, be they bnsines or sporting, it is those that apply themselves with intelligence who , progress. The first series of matches produced snch a high stanfiard that I was not alone in expectations of a really great season, but I am afraid that the subsequent matches have not quite corifirmed the first impression.- The play of those filling the full-back position in the various clubs has . been one of the bright featnres so far. There "have been tackling lapses, but' nOt in the great quantity of previous years. A full-back should always try to shepr herd the man.. with the ball towards the touch-line, and then tackle him side on. I always feel sorry for the full-back wtio is left unsupported to tackle an" opponent in midfield. The man With the ball should win nhie-out ten times; but if centre three-quarters would play their part and come across in support, it is a 50-50 chance, for the full-back, like the greyhound, may be able to turn his man and^ so drive him into the supporting centre. Dangerous Practice.

• I saw a Hastings full-back recently in defence kick across his own goalmouth — a dangerous practice, and more, particularly so if there are good backs opposite. There is fairly- c mon, too,. the practice of full-backs taking play away from their forwards and kicking the ball out on the opposite side of the field, thus giving the "pack horses" a 75-yard. trot across field for the Tesulting line-out. The nexfweek we jead in the Press that the forwards faded' in the second spelL A full-back • should study his forwards all the time and in xeturn he will be almost adored. The- best wing-three-quarter ' in the land is reduced to mediocrity if the centre does not do his job; properly, and, sad to relate, our clfib cehtres are not outstanding. The common fault is to lose touch with the wihgers or try to go too far, and then, having brought the defence across, pass to the win g, who is buried under an avalanche of opponents. Wing-three-quarters are attacking mediums, not defensive ones, and the main idea in Rugby is to get the ball out to them quickly in qrder that they can have room to move in and possibly score a try. If ,centre-three-quarters will bear these points in mind the lot of the wingers will be much more pleasurable. The Second Five-eighths. Second five-eighths are not . , outstanding either, but they are dependent on the first five-eighths, who, in turn, leans on the half-back. Here are three positions where, if the players who fill them would only discuss the points of play together, would evolve combination, and this understanding would make for greater oppoftumty for those behind them. To be quite candid. I do not think that more than one club in Hastings or Napier follows this procedure. Give me the half-back who can get the ball away to his supports with the minimum' of delay. Even 'if he did nothing else he would be worth his weighfc in gold; but our half -backs in the main f ail to rea'ise the value of speed; they fhihk that they must do something else before they pass out. They. run from tho scrum and then, having drawn attention from the opposition, pass on to the first five-eighths, and he is almost killed in the rush. A fifth' of a second saved by the half-back is an additional five •feet start that the first five is going to enjoy, and five feet on a. , Rugby field very often represents the difl'erence between success and failure.

Word to the Eeferees. I will write about the forwards nest week, and conclude now with a word ,'or two to the referees. 'From what I have seen so far this season, ' our whistlers are not improving; m fact, . they are going back. It is a duty of a , referee to see that Ihe spirit of Rugby is maintained by the players, and the introduction of anything .f oreign should 1 be dropped on heavily. The game is everything, yet last Saturday in Hasi- , ings and Napier were witnessed incii deuts that disgust and lessen the ap- ) preciation of onlookers for the- game. t Personally, I always value the' worth \ oi a referee by the positions he takes i up on the field. If, for iustanee, he i stands at* the long end of the line-out ^ I know that he is not pbydically fit, [ and that he is going to miss much : that he should not. . I The referee who gives the greatpst I satisfaction to all is the one who can i keep up with tho game and bbws bti k whistle for what he sees is wrong, and ^ not for which he surmises might be " wrong. Referees should traiu, co.nf .ceutrating on sprinting. I. wonder | • *how many of them do in these modern times!