The Champion Polo Team.

Manawatu Herald, 10 April 1894, Page 3

The Champion Polo Team.

- ♦ In last; week's Christcburoh Press there appears a capital photo of the first teajof of the Bangitikei Polo Club. In referring to it the Pres* say the team includes four as keen sportsmen as ever crossed a pony's ' Th« captain of the olub is Mr, •« Pan " Biddiford, who is also the MwtßlT'oi the Bangitikei Hunt ( Jflub. Biddiford plays No. 2 in the t«am» aplaoe ha is thoroughly suited to, for he is a hard hitter and rider, and »n v excellent shot at gaol ; as No> 2 is, what I may term, the free

lance of the team, generally playing the attacking and rarely the defensive game, these qualities are absolutely necessary. Mr Eiddiford is always well mounted, his two best ponies being Sam and Misty, but besides these he has many more that any polo player would be glad to own. In this year's tournament Mr Riddiford played an infinitely steadier game than last year ; he shows a marked improvement all round, and is now certainly one of the very best players in New Zealand. fjftit Bill, ? who plays No. 1, \jt "another keen sportsman, and hunts the hounds for Mr Riddiford, and has doTTff'sofor some years. He is a capital horseman and handles his ponies really well ; he is also a clean and hard hitter, and rides very hard, but, to my mind, does not " ride off" sufficiently, although several times during the matches he did so to perfection, thus enabling his team, who backed up well, to score. Mr J. G. Wilson, No. 3 of the team, is as much at home on the polo ground as on the floor of the House of Representatives, of which he has been a member for many years, never once having been defeated for a constituency, and always, even in the maddest gallop "or hardest " ride off" at polo treating his opponent in the courteous „and fair manner for which he has become noted in the political arena. Few players know more of the science of the game than Mr Wilson, and this, combined with plenty of dash, unselfish play and straight hitting, has done a great deal towards making the Rangitikei Polo Club the premier club of 1894. The full-back, Mr Blundell, is an excellent man for the responsible position he occupies in the team, hardly ever missing a backhander either on the near or off side oi his pony, and, when he hits, the ball has to travel, for his hits have something like fourteen stone behind them. E£e has, however, one fault, via., he rides to meet the ball too often, and tUis is a decidedly risky thing to do. Another thing strikes an onlooker, and that is, he is inclined to take matters too coolly ; this, however, is hardly a fault, for oan a back in a polo team be too cool ? Taken as a whole, the team is a very strong one, and whatever teams oppose it next year may be certain they will have to gallop fast, play with combination and hit both hard and straight to wrest the Cup from ,lfte .winners of the Savile Cup Tournament for 1894.