FOOTBALL.

Otago Witness, Issue 2894, 1 September 1909, Page 60

FOOTBALL.

FIXTURES. September 1. — Otago team v. Sydney University, at Dunedin. September 4.— New Zealand Universities v. . Sydney University, at Dunedin. September 11.— Otago v. Wellington, at Dunedin. September 18.— Otago v. Canterbury, at Dunedin. OTA.GO TEAM'S GOLDFIELDS TOUR , September 2.— Tuapeka South, at Lawrence. September 4.— South Otago, at Balclutha. NOTES B¥ FULL BACK. Duriug a flying visit to Wellington last week I renewed pleasurable acquaintance with quite a. host of old-tiime players and -pMeewt-day footballers. One of the first I met was Dr M'Evedy, the vice-captain of th»» British Rugby team which "toured New Zealand last year. Di M'Evedy, now practiertig his profession in Wellington, is looking particularly well and prosperous. I had a long and interestintr chat with him on --football matters, and memories of the BjrJtifch team's tour in Maoriland were revived. Though keen to play again, the "viofc-captain of the Anglo- Welshmen has decided not tc turn out. While in Australia he had the misfortune to break his collarbone, and was "crocked" for three weeks. After a holidaj in Australia. Dr M'Evedy ieturned to New Zealand, and some monthb ago tool a medical partnership in Wellington The associations at Guy's Hospital (London) are still very real with him, and thougih New Zealand life has it« obarm there are feelings for old student days which cannot be smothered. A fellow passenger by the Maori from 'Wellington the other evening was Chae. B-. Andrew, an ex-Otago University player, who has just returned to New Zealand after an absence of five years spent in England and South Africa. While in London the old university footballer, aseociafed a good deal with Several ex-'Vaisity men now at London Hospital — Alan Adams, MacPherson, Percy Foote, Harrison, Lind«*y. ar,d others— Chapman anc 7 Palmer, too, of 'Varstfj memory. In one match there was a great gathering of old Otago 'Varsity students. Ou£ of the 15 olayers no fewer then 10 claimed Otago *VaTsity as tßeir Alma Mater — a unique representation, truly A match was arranged between a

fifteen composed entirely of ex-Otago 'Varsity students and a fifteer representing the London Club, Richmond. Uwing to the weather the match had to ha abandonedBut it is probably a record for New Zealanders that a full 6>de of ex-students from Otago could be got together on the other side of the world to line out against a foreign team. Co/in (Illray was to have come down from Oxford to play for the ex-Otago Tarsity team. The back -division included such wellknown players as Heale, Palmer, MacPhersoa, Adams, amd Gib-ay, and amongst the forwards were Lindsay, Mehaffy, Percy Foete, Harrison, Andrew, and Chapman. C- R. Andrew, ex-Varsity student and footballer, returned to Dunedin on Tuesday, after a*i absence of five years spent in South Africa and England. While in the North Island last week I met M'Lecd. the ex-Alhambra five-eighth, who ;s; s now a Wanganui representative. M'Leod played for Wanganui agaisjst Tara : naki on Thursday last, when the Wanganui representatives defeated the side which lined out for the amber and blacks. Young Stohr, the 19-year-old Taranaki crack, who has been playing such phenomenal games for Taranaki this season, is legardad by those who ought to know as „cmc of the comin.g backs of New Zealand. In addition to his other qualifications as a footballer, he is a wonderful place kick — outside the half-way Sag ie not too great, a distance for the youth fiom Taranaki. Young Stohr claims football ancestory. His uncle is no lees fehan our old friend Teddy Sto!*J", o£ Otago Hig-H Sciiool na-emory vwlxeai ! that institution turned out football giants. Patterson and Paton, the two Otago representatives in the South Island team against the North, played in Wellington on Wednesday last, created a great impression in the Empire City. They were easily the best forwards in the South Island team, if not on the ground. They were in the van in eveiy forward rush, while their play on the line-out and in the loose was good to watch. I have never seen Patterson and Paton play so well. They showed form quite above themselves. If a New Zealand team had been selected on the form displayed in the North-South Island match tha South would have had a considerably .greater proportion of players in the team than the North. Of the backs only Cameron (three-quarter), of Taranaki,, and Green (hcjf back), of Wellington, would •have had any claims for the North for inclusion in a New Zealand team. These players did make some" show of intelligence and initiative in the. game, ■ and played themselves sick. For the rest— they were hopeless — a band of incompetents who did not appear to know the first rudiments of the game. j Mitchinson, the Wellington centre, was right off his game. He was shifted up to five-eighths, but could not get into harmony with his threc-quartef line. Obi viously his place is centre and not five- ! eighths. ] Morse and O'Leary, of Auckland, never ' showed to advantage, and as backs are not ' anywhere near the first flight. Their play ! throughout the game was mediocre to a j degree. \ The full back for North Island, Meuli, I of Wanganui, is physically a fine type, and ! has a great reputation in the river town. ! Against South Island he was over anxious in his first big match outside of representative football. While making no serious mistakes, Meuli gave a colourless exhibition, and on his play was a second-rater. The Wanganui man had too much to do, the three-quarters and five-eighths "letting down" badly, the brunt of the work falling on him. Meuli was bustled, too, by the South Island forwards, who swept down on the full back like a battalion. The impression Ivimey, of Otago, created in the South Island team against North last year caused inquiries to be made in Wellington last week concerning his form and his non-inclusion in the South Island team this season. It is generally believed by Wellington critics and followers of the gams that if there are many better forwards in Dunedin than Ivimey Otago must have a very warm division. Wellington was assured that such was the case, and the authorities have selected the best forward pack possible to be got together to line out against the southerners. Reverting to the selection of a New Zealand team this year, if one had been necessary, nearly five of the South Island backs would have had claims for inclusion. These -Fuller and Fryei in the three-quarter line. Gray and Weston five-eighths, and Burns half — hail from Canterbury, whose rear division this year is something exceptional. They play with snlendid combination, and there is not a loose cog in the whole engine. Otago will have to remember this when they line out aprninst the Rod and Blacks on September 18. Burns is a clever little half, who gets the ball away in great stylo to the ihe-eighths, who harve a perfect understanding w ith the three-quarter line. Ind-ecd. I have seldom seen a back divis ; on in which the harmony was co marked a feature as that of the Canterbury backs in the North-South Island match. My advice to Otago is to keep the ball away from the Canterbury rearguard — in that lies the only safety. Once in possession the Canterbury fliers are always dangerous, and the most dangerous of all are j Fuller at centre and Fryer on the wing. \ These two players, particularly the former, with Cameron, of Stratford, stood out bril- , liantly in the : nter-island contest. On the form in that match a New Zealand threequarter line would read — Cameron (Taranaki), Fuller, and Fryer (Christchurch). As Otago does not meet Taranaki this year there nosd be no worry about Cameron, but the province must look to its def-encs whon lined out against Canterbury with such players a^ Fuller and Fr\ cm- in rhf three-quarter line, Weston and Gray at five-eighths, and Burns at half *

Enthus : asm! Bob Galbraith, the old-time Southland representative, who had never previously seen a Noriih-South Island match, j left Invercargill by the early express last Tuesday, travelling through to Lytte^on, where he joined the Maori the same night, reaching Wellington on Wednesday morning ; saw Bff minutes' inter- island football (two spells of 40 minutes each), caught the boat back to Lyttelton the same evening, joined the south express, and arrived ;n; n j Inveroargill on Thursday night. Over 1000 miles to see 80 minutes' football says much for the enthusiasm of the veteran Southlander. In order to enable the Auckland touring team to catch the boat across to Nelson last Wednesday two spells of only 40 minutes each were played in the inter-island match The match Wellington-Auckland, on Saturday, was reminiscent of the historic second test match against the British team at Wellington last year. The conditions were very similar. Rain fell in torrents, and the "ground, which had previously received a good soaking, was soon a veritable quagmire. Back play was altogether out of the question. Wellington made the fatal mistake of attempting the impossible by trying the passing game, and lost the match. Auckland, in its wisdom, kept the ball on the ground close at the feet of the forwards, whose rushes took a power of stopping Auckland won because they played to the Conditions. Wellington lost because they attempted fireworks, which proved j merely squibs; also, the powder was very W Tho weaker conditions on Saturday were altogether against a display of good football. It was just such, another day as that on which Canterbury defeated "tago a couple of years ago at Tahuna Park, in fact tihe rain fell dun-ing the course ot Saturday's game in even greater volume than on she occasion of riie Canterbury match. New Soufii Wales were unfortunate in having to face the heavy, driving, fine rain ir the first half, and were literally very much at sea till the lafcen stages of the initial spell, while in t.he second, their weighty forwards held ihe upper hand right through. The Otago men started off well, Uttley at five-eigbbhs kicking across to his wings whjti the ball came to him, a,nd as | a result cif this excellent method of attack j on the day, Orago scored their only try. Later on, however, with the tide of fortune setting in against them, the Blue backs tried to hand out the wet, greasy j ball, but their efforts in this direction were i quite abortive, and the same- remarks apply to the Colours' attempts in this direction. Once the Welshmen,, however, realised that the passing game was out of the question, a/md obtained their sea-legs, they changed their style of attack to a forwaa-d game, and at times quite overwhelmed the opposing vanguard. The local team, however, put up a>n excellent defence — in I fact, probably played their best game this i year. Of the local men, Borrie played a good solid gam« at full back, though he 'misses* Pockley badly when that player scored, aind. Dansey also put up a good performance, but dud -cot get far from the speedy Welsh three-quarters. Reid, who camfe on at halftime in plaice, of Millard, made a very j likely showing on the wing, while George | Uttley did plenty cf rush ©topping. George, howevsr, has become very slow, and in the second half made the fatal mistake- of trying to pick up the ball instead of dominothrough with it at his toe. Seed, Fenwick, arrad Potter were the most prominent in the forward Line. ' As stated before, the Overseas 'Varsity . teami are a fino, sturdy lot of men, with ' several typical cornstalkers in their ranks. ! Badly handicapped a^ they were by the soddan ground, once they got going it needed jio very discerning eye to see that, with ordinary luck, they would prevail in the end. Lane, a,t full back, got into and out of several tight corners, but considering the difficulties he had to contend with ! proved of material service to his side and fairly reliable. The Colours' full back, however, >diifl not give the impression of beinoa very strong kick, but .he heavy ball may ' have accounted for this. It is of .interest I to note tha.t Lane fa the only member of the New South Wales 'Varsity learn which visitea here three year? ago. Of the threequarters, the two outsides, Pockley and btagg, were the best, the insidee being unable to show what they were capable of owing to the inability of their halves to hand out the ball. However, this was an almost impossible feat owing to the conditions under which they were playing. • tagg, who was leserve, and came on in place of Ross, gave the impression of bein-r a dangerous man when near the 'inc. He is a ceo! player and. takes dvanfage of any opportunities coming his way. Martin, a tall, raking forward; Reynolds, who was excellent in line-out play; Clayton, and Maxwell were abour the best of a hardworking pack, though it i<? somewhat invidious to make this distinction as at limes it was quite impossible to distinguish the players, and H would be hardly an exaggeration to state that when, the two teams left the field even their own. mot.heis would not, have beer able to recognise them. ' The visiting backs demonstrated that they are a pretty speedy lot, and in any lunnmg back or forward for the ball they easily headed the opposing men. On the line-out, the allness of several of their forwards enabled them, to tecure pos£e«!<won, and Reynolds, their captain, knows when and how to jump to take the ball on the line. It \vj»s in dribbling, however, the visitors shone, and, given a fair foothold, their dashing, heavy (forwards should kejp th» opposition busy, am-d allow theiir rearguard an opportunity of showing their real football ability. The Visitors played four threequart ore, and the 3-2-3 formation in the fecrums. On the day's play, I consider the superiority of the New Zealand packing 2-3-2 andi a winger was amply demonst rated. When the Blues were hooking the ball in th 9 first half, it came out of the hcrum fairly accurately, but when the Welshmen secured it, it hung about the outside of the scrum, and by.rdly ever came out cleanly. In fairness to our local 'Va.rsity men. evpn taking into account the conditions under which the ga.me was played, and allowing that the Cornstalks were the tetter team, it appealed to me that the Blues weie the cleverer side — that is, behind the scrum, Still, it was not a game in which to make comparisons of either side's foofcbair prowess, and in to-day's match against the Metropolitan team, given fine weather, the visitors will no doubt demonstrate what they are really capahio cf as exponents of Rugby football Saturday iu> hardly a clay c\.pn for football. Much amusement wa> caused amongst c&a '

thousand or co of football enthusiasts who turned out to witiness the contest when Daneey, in trying to collar Pockley, slid past him and fell full length face downwards in a miniature lake. The 'Varsity wiimger, however, dfiln't appear to consider it in the light of x joke, and, after lying in ffali-e water for a secon<? or two, evidently debating- in his mind whether to swim out or wade ashore, uprose and chose the latter alternativeIn connection with the football match South Otago v. Ota^o at Balclutha on Saturday the Railway Department notifies that the train which usually leaves Catlin's Rher for Balclutha on Saturdays at 1.40 p.m will on this data leave Catlin's River at 12.35 p m.. and Owaka 12.50 p.m., so aa to allow residents of the Catlins district to reach lialclutha in time for the match. To afford ,the Catlin'3 River residents an opportunity of attending the band carnhal the same evening, the usual 8.15 p.m. train •'or Catlin's Rive* will not leave Balcluttia until ICO p m. After lingering for more than three years, Mr William P : ke passed away at Taihape last week. He was injured while' playing football his spine being damaged and he .became almost completely paralysed. He was admitted to the hospital, where he was an inmate for some considerable time, afterwards being removed to his home. O.R.F.U. COMMITTEE. The ordinary weekly meeting of the O.R.F.U. Committee was held on Monday evening, and was attended by the chairman (Mr F. H. Campbell), Messrs Harris, ' Sincock, Priest, Cavanagh, Dunne, Munro, Homel, Wilson, Low, Stuart, and M'acdonald. In regard to the disqualification imposed upon a Central Otago player by the Vincent Sub-L'nion, word was received from Mr S. Stevens, hon secretary of the subunion, that the player acknowledged having assaulted another player by biting him, but pleaded great provocation. — Further information concerning the player's past record was received by telegram. — It was resolved that he be suspended until the end of next season. It was resolved that Mr A. Downes be appointed referee in the Ota^o-Wellington match, provided that he be willing to act. The representative schools' match between Otago and Soithland was fixed for September 18, in accordance with a wish expressed by the Southland Union. R. M. Templeton, VVaikouaiti, wrote suggesiing that a banner be presented for uoaiperition by the Palinerston and WaiJcouaiti Second Fifteens next season. — Held over until next season. Tt was decided that a sub-comrnii.tce be authorised to wait on the Railway Department with a request that train arrangements bo made so that country people would be allowed to witness the OtagoWellington match on Saturday week. NEW ZEALAND UNIVERSITY TEAM. The following is th» team selected to represent New Zealand University in the match against Sydney University on~ Saturday week (September 4) : — Full back — Hay (Canterbury College). Three-quarters — Robinson and Wilson (Auckland), Mackenzie (Canterbury). Five-eighths — Reid (Otago) and Ottersen (Auckland). Half-back — Dansey (Otago). Wing forward — Wilks (Auckland). Centre forwards — Fenwick and, Watt (Ohago). Lock — Curtayne (Victoria College). Forwards — Grace, Young, and Williams (Canterbury), Brosnan (Victoria. College). Emergencies — Backs : Sinclair, Phillips, Wilson. Forwards: Bamfield, Seed. Robertson . METROPOLITAN TEAM v. SYDNEY UNIVERSITY. The following team has been selected to play a.gainst Sydney University at Dunedin to-day: — Full back— Bond (Union). Three-quarters — Davidson (Zingari-Rich-mond), Bennet (Alhambra), Dansey ('Vax6itv). j Five-eighths — Eckhold (Southern) and M'Donald (Dunedin) Half back — Kcllan (Zingari-Richmond). Forwards — Casey (Southern), Fitzpatrick (Dunedin). Wall (Alhambra), PatterFon (Zingaii-Riehmond), Johnston (Ka.:korai), M'Kenzie (Alhambra), M'Donald (Kaikorai), and Skinner (Dunedin). WELLINGTON TOURING TEAM. WELLINGTON, August 30. The following is the team selected to make the trip to the South Island as representatives of the Wellington Rugby Union : — Backs — Cunningham, Mitchinson, Evenson, Walsh, F. Roberts, M'Leod, Green, J. ! APKeuzie ; forwards — Dennehy, Irvine, A C. Wilson, "' lcangi " Wilson, Perry, j M'Kellar, Bruce, Avery, Tannahill, and j Alexander. | WELLINGTON RUGBY UNION. WELLINGTON, August 27. Tho resignation of the Selection Committee- of the Wellington Rugby Union has been received. It is understood that it was occasioned by a desire to pass over two players originally chosen as emergencies and bring in a third one to fill a vacancy that has arisen. One of the three selectors refused to agree, and this occasioned the resignations of the lot. The Management Commtitee of the union decided to fill the vacancy by appointing an original emergency man. It is likely that the taam for the southern tour will be selected by the Management Committee. SOUTH AFRICAN BOARD. LONDON, August 26. The South African Rugby Board has decided (? declined) invitations for tours of New Zoaland and New South Wales 'n 1910. It was resolved to ask the English Rugby Union to reconsider its deci-ion not to send a. team to South Africa next .-eason. INTER-COLLEGE TOURNAMENT. WANGANUI, August 30. The infcer-college football tournament was concluded to-day, when Wellington College beat Wanganui College by 21 points to 9. MATCH IN CHRISTCHURCH. ' CHRISTCHURCH, August 27. A match between Nelson College and the Bojs' High School was played to-day, the game resulting in a win for the former by 8 points to 5.