TASMAN IN BETWEEN

NZ Truth, Issue 1237, 15 August 1929, Page 16

TASMAN IN BETWEEN

All Blacks Were Annoyed With ■■■ Unfair Criticism I

SIDELIGHTS ON TRYING TOUR

(By "N.Z. Truth^" Special Rugby, Writer). .. Touring teams have been glad to hjit the . shores of New Zealand, bui no more pleased combination has arrived back thin the 1929 All Blacks. '

OLD Man Sunshine deserted them as they left WelHrigton,aria:fi v onr that ■day on they ran.' into everything but a streak of good fortune.' The further they went the worse it became, and m the hope of getting a sight of that elusive silver lining they all got cricks m the neck., - ' . Even when they got back home, they could; not keep ; out of it — their train had to be delayed for some hours. . And so fhey disbanded^ . . That the tour Has "made" the union game m Sydney and Brisbane was the unanimous opinion of the tourists. Wonderful crowds, and naturally wonderful gates, greeted them everywhere, and the game has been brought back to its pre-war level. In' pertain' quarters, while the team was away, it was the fashion to castigate the management, and some of the critics went berserk. Read this:

"The story of the tour of: the 1929 All Blacks w»ll go down m history as one of the worst managed m the long record of* tours abroad.. It did not appear to be a very united family from tho outset."

.Written from a desk a thousand, odd miles from the scene of operations it was easy to pen such twaddle,, and it is just as well for the writer that the team is a gentlemanly one, or; else he might haVe had his trio so' tweaked. ; " W h a t rot. Thore was never a cross word," said t ho. manager, Jiiiv MrTj-'eo d, when. spoken to. "We hud .enough trouble to occupy o»ir minds \yitliout getting into domestic . arguments." Captain .Cliff.

Porter and other members of the team bore', out., the manager. .'< ' '

v j "We were' just 'dead stiff — with just aii ounce Of luck we would have won the Tests."

Manager McLeod was loud m his praise of Herbie Lilburne, who was the hero of the tour. "It's a big thing to say, but I make the statement that Lilburne is the best inside back New Zealand has pro-

played., and be not objected to," Porter showed; • •■•■ -

He was penalised , once , on. the tour and "on 1 that occasion' he, kicked the ball out of the . half-back's hands. So he could hardly have been, off -sldi6! ". The. team tells the story of one referee who got a little bit upset when he heard the call of "Mai Mai." This was a code word, used v by either the wing-forward, or the half, when he wanted the forwards to put the ball at toe and dribble through. The referee reckoned there was more m this call than met the eye and' said so. . - The Towers incident, m which the New South Welshman was made to say thiit he was deliberately put out of action, wns put down to so much sensationalism. ■■'■.'■'.• Both the. inanagor and Ihci captain wero willing to take an oath that Towers never made, any. such assertion. It was a pure accident that. Towers wiiK struck on the face by one of Caiieton's elbows. „.....-. , In view of the visit of the Englishvne'n" next season, the tour, was most instructive, and going on what could be gathered the picking of the inside backs is not going to present any difficulties. That is, of course, if the players keep th'ein.fbrm. :' .

Dalley will be the half,- while lalburne isa certainty for first five-eighths. The trip d*V c1 o ped Charlie Oliver and

he . will probably get m as second. Cook, out at Centre, will give him sonic room, while either Nepia or. Stringfellow will, be right for the custodian's job. It, Mas the general j ohinion that the } finding of ■wings ;will exercise the minds of selectors. .■.'■■■•■ And. m ■Miientioning wings, it is worth stating that Nepia gave it out that the • hardest

man he has ever tackled is the Bay bpy, Ruru, who showed such great form against Wairarapa. ■

Those who witnessed the matches over the other side were unanimous that the wingers wearing the black jersey were not up to international standard. Grenslde was the best of the bunch, for he was trying ail the 1 time, but Waterman was too uncertain m taking passes, ami Geddes showed a disinclination to put his ears back ahd go. /There has been a paucity of really highclass wingers for years, and though many have been tried most have been found wanting. So far as "Truth" is concerned, the best winger to come under our notice since the war was Percy Storey. The country has that type — men with pace, brains and weight— and the selectors will have to get busy and find them. Since the war, tours to Australia have not met with the newspaper support they merited, the other code getting all the publicity. This is all altered now. The press, wherever the team went, gave columns, and even journals, which, hitherto, had been opposed' to the Union game, came into line. According to the manager, the reporting of matches , was, m most Instances, first-class. • ... Some of the papers complained on the lateness of the publishing of the New Zealand team, but as things were it was not possible till the morning of the match to say who would play arid who would not. "For instance," said Mr. McLeod, "Strlngfsllow went to bed the night before the second Test, as fit as he ever was, yet early on Saturday mornIng I was called out of bed to him. "He was m agony, suffering from Bulli poisoning. He had been announced to play, only at the last minute to be put out of action." In conclusion, the team were mighty glad that on arrival m Auckland they did not. have to meet a picked Maori combination', as the New Zealand Union was so keen on them doing. SaW one player: "We were a sick and sorry lot, and, feeling as we felt, the Maoris would have made a job of us. Had that happened all our good work m Australia would have been for naught." Truly spoken. . .

The New Zealand Union should never attempt that stuff — the lesson of the 1924 All Blacks on their return from Sydney should have been enough for the executive to prohibit such fixtures in' the future.