FOOTBALL.

Putaruru Press, Volume VI, Issue 242, 21 June 1928, Page 8

FOOTBALL.

Waipa 14, Putaruru 3. The Putaruru representative team journeyed to Te Awamutu on Saturday last and were Deaten by Waipa after a fast but scrappy game. The sides lined out as follow: Putaruru (red).—Fullback, R. Dunlop; threequarters, McDonald, Paterson, Tanirau; five-eighths, Bullott, ■Waretine; half, Morton; rover, Belcher; forwards, M. Brown, Logan, Hodge, Taute Brown, McClelland, W. Dunlop, Ensor. Waipa (white). — Fullback, Quin; threequarters, Ellicott, Winter, Shepherd; five-eighths, Davis, Bell; half, Wilkes; rover, Kay; forwards, Bayne, Holmes, Fowler, Kerr, Cairns, Head, Thompson. Eeferee: Mr. Callas. Putaruru had first use of a diagonal wind, -and. After midfield play Morton ithrew a bad pass, when falling, and let Waipa in, the visitors escaping with a force. Logan and Belchers led a rush, and from a free Tanirau: Paterson intercepted a Waipa passing rush at the halfway mark, and on reaching Quin threw to McDonald, who was not quite up. An interesting situation •thus ended tamely.' Wilkes, Bell, Davis and Winter next handled, but tte ball came straight' across the field, the movement fizzling out through a bad pass from Winter. Kay was penalised for offside play, but Quin returned the kick. The white forwards followed a short punt by Bell, and after scrappy play hear the red line Fowler- was awarded a try after Ensor had apparently forced. Winter converted, Waipa -. Putaruru 0

Belcher hung on too long and the white pack, led by Thompson, looked dangerous when R. Dunlop got in a Big kick. Following a mark by Ellicott, Morton put the reds on attack with a great line kick. Kay was again caught yards offside, but though the angle was an easy one Paterson could not improve the position. At the other end R. Dunlop was penalised for holding, and from the loose Wilkes, Davis, Bell and Thompson handled, the latter dummying past Tanirau to send Ellicott over. The wing man, however, had stepped into touch. Following the line-out Waipa secured a free and Winter goaled. Waipa ; 8 Putaruru 0

A bitterly cold 'Win now set in and the ball became heavy and greasy. Winter found touch in the red quarter, but the visiting pack rushed the hall away and covered half the length of the field. From a free Tanirau missed with a good kick. Hodge then shone out with a well-judged kick and follow on, the ball going to toujcfisV Putaruru dribbled from the Wilkes picked from their toes and served Davis, who threw to Bell yards offside. Belcher gauged the wind well and scored with a good kick 15 yards from the touch line. Putaruru - 3 Waipa 8 The whites rushed from the kick off and from a scrum on the 2b Wilkes secured and cut in. Waretine got. him but let go, and Wilkes running on again got over for a soft try. Winter failed to convert. Waipa 11 . Putaruru 3

Taking full advantage of the wind the reds attacked strongly and securing a free in a line-out had another shot, but the wet ball skidded. Quin drove the visitors back, but Dunlop with a long raking kick from halfway found touch at the corner flag. Once more Kay was caught well ahead of the ball and Belcher failed with a long range kick. The Waipa forwards worked back, but Kay was again penalised. Tanirau secured Quin’s return, hesitated and then threw inside. Kay following fast secured and after running 30 yards touched down for Winter to fail with the kick. Waipa > 14 Putaruru 3

Play in the last quarter became somewhat scrappy owing to the greasy nature of the ball and the field. Both sets of forwards endeavoured to keep the ball tighter than in the previous quarters, and in exchanges the reds slightly more than held their own. The kicking of the Waipa backs, however, was better directed than that of the visitors, and this prevented the reds from becoming dangerous. Paterson and McDonald by bursts and kicks made openings, but the bounce of the hall was against them. Quin and Say drove the reds to their 25, and in the last few minutes Wilkes, Bell, JSUicott handled the wet

ball in clever fashion, but the defence prevailed at the critical moment. Final score: Waipa, 1 converted goal, 1 penalty goal, 2 tries, 14 points; Putaruru, 1 penalty goal, 3 points.

Comments. In one sense the score flattered the home team for there was little merit attached to any of their scores. On the other hand, though from a territorial point of view the reds had as much of the play as the whites, the difference in the scores about represents the difference in polish and position play of the two teams. Waipa’s big defects were lack of straight running by the backs—nearly every rush was across field—and offside play. Unless the latter fault is remedied the team will meet a whole lot of trouble with some referees. Kay and Thompson were the chief offenders. The rover nearly always came round the pack, whether the reds heeled the ball or not, and at times was standing by Morton when the ball came out. He must have been penalised eight or nine times, but he also got away with it at least a similar number of times. Kay is a fine stamp of player, fast, with keen anticipation and a safe pair of hands, and with this fault remedied should prove a source of trouble to opponents in Finlay Cup matches. Thompson seldom ran back when he overran the ball, and with another player, was seen several times pulling at a player in melees on the red side of the pack. A good forward, despite this weakness, he appeared worthy of a trial in better company. Bell at five-eighths has a neat punt ahead when the opposing backs are standing up, but all the Waipa insides were inclined to bore to touch. The home team and officials were keen to know what outsiders thought of their chances against Morrinsville, and the truth compels one to state that on Saturday’s form, against last season’s team which met Putaruru, they are 12 to 15 points down. However, should the ground be dry, the whites may improve to that amount. Offside play might then not be so much in evidence, while the backs showed that with a dry ball they might be nippy and dangerous. Their hooking, however, was weak against Putaruru, and the scrum buckled at times. Provided Morrinsville have a team equal to last year, however, the Cup should remain where it is.

Considering the Putaruru union, through the closing down of the mills, the shortening of hands at Arapuni and losing N.Z. Forests, were reduced this season to two weak senior teams, and had to compulsorily promote two junior teams to keep going, the side did well. Three last minute changes upset the original selection, and very considerably weakened the side. Harrison (a potential Waikato rep), wing .threequarter, Douglas, half, and G. Brown, forward, are proved players who would have been invaluable on Saturday. As it was, only three of last year’s side played, but the form shown as a whole gave promise of better play In the future.

Of the backs, only Paterson, McDonald and Morton showed rep form. The former wag one of the best backs on the field, and had he short punted when he got clear away, McDonald’s •speed might have scored a try which may have altered the game somewhat. As it was the centre can hardly be blamed, as it was the natural thing to do in the situation. McDonald was unlucky in that several clever things he tried to execute just failed to come off. Luck was against him. Morton worked like a trojan, and got down to anything and everything. This also applies to Bullot, who shines on defence. At inside five-eighths, however, the latter turned Waretine into a passenger. Waretine ran straight while his inside ran across and cut him out in most passing movements. With room to move Waretine is a very hard man to stop, but Bullot’s tactics gave him no chance. In the writer’s opinion Bullot is essentially a fullback. In view of last year’s play the selector will ver y likely closely watch Nuku, Waretine’s club partner, and Robinson, Arapuni, with a view to remedying this weak spot as quickly as possible. Of the two Morton, Nuku and Waretine appeals more than Robinson, Morton and Waretine unless the latter is dropped and McDonald again brought up. Tanirau on the left wing appeared nervous, and was fifty per cent below club form.

The forwards showed promise, and did very well on occasion, but !a:ked a leader. At times they hesitated badly with the ball in the loose, but on the whole heat the whites in drib-

bling. In the line-outs, and set scrums, however, the advantage lay with the whites. McClelland (Arapuni) controlled the wet ball better than any forward on the field, and if this ex-Soccer player gets better support in future matches the reds should do well in the loose. Tute Brown did not appear to be as fit as he was last year, and got no chances near the line. Logan and Brown proved great worriers, as also did Ensor and Dunlop on occasion. Ensor shone out several times by successful charging kicks, but has developed the bad habit of turning his back as he does so. Hodge did some good work, but was inclined to “ wing.”

All the Waipa tries were gifts. In the first score several visiting players appeared to hesitate when Ensor apparently forced. In the second Tanirau threw the ball wildly to Kay near his own 25 instead of kicking, while the final score was made by Wilkes running ten yards or so after he had been stopped by a tackier. With a few slight alterations in the side, more experience, and more determined tackling, a much better showing should be made in the next outing.

IMPROVING THE GAME. Interpretation of Rules. Travelling Referees. In welcoming the Putaruru team at the conclusion of the game on Saturday last, Mr. Quin, president of the Waipa union, thanked the visiting union for the sportsmanlike manner in which they had always played the game, and also endeavoured to comply ‘with the home union’s requests for practices before Finlay Cup matches. He understood Putaruru was up against it this year, and he promised every help possible, including a return match. He always enjoyed the games with Putaruru, and though the home team had won he thought they were the best team on the day’s play. (Applause). In reply, Mr. J. G. Gasparich pointed out that it was difficult for outsiders to realise the struggle they had, and he keenly appreciated Mr. Quin’s remarks. He felt the time had come to go into the question of boundaries. Tirau, though only 4J miles away as the crow flew, was in Matamata, yet their natural centre was Putaruru. Their record gate last season was round about £9 or £lO.

Mr. Quin: We have taken £lB this season. Continuing. Mr. Gasparich pointed out the Putaruru gate was for a rep match, and he did not know how the union managed to keep going. They had lost all the N.Z. FoTest players, and had practically a new side, most of whom were juniors. To keep going they had to promote two junior teams, and now had no junior competition.

Mr. Griffiths said he only spoke because he had a suggestion to make. Unfortunately when suggestions were made they were at times taken to heart in a personal manner. He wished it to be clearly understood that any remarks he made were solely for the benefit of the game. A lot of discussion had taken place in regard to the defeat of the All Blacks, and in his opinion one of the chief causes was our interpretation of the rules. New Zealand had got away from the rule book too much with interpretations not played elsewhere. This applied to Waikato, and facts had to be faced. The New Zealand Rugby Union had graded Waikato B.

Mr. Quin: That’s quite true. Continuing, the speaker felt they were actually only C grade, but he was certain everybody wanted them td be A grade. In his opinion the referee had been absolutely impartial —(Putaruru applause) yet had a Putaruru referee had the game there would have been a whistling solo. This was simply because different sub-unions had different interpretations. To assist in overcoming this, and to help bring unions and players closer together, he suggested that travelling unions take their referee with them.

Mr. Quin: A good suggestion. Bring it up before Waikato and we’ll support it. Mr. Winter strongly supported the suggestion. In his opinion there had been much offside play which should not have taken place, and though all agreed that the referee was absolutely impartial, this should not prevent them trying to improve matters. He agreed that the difficulties of the All Blacks were largely the result of our interpretation of the rules, and he urged the adoption of the suggestion made that night. It would bring unions closer together, and should result in an improved standard of play. He felt certain Waipa would support the suggestion.

MORRINSVILLE RESULTS. Seniors. Terriers 6, United 3. Kereone 1.9, Tatuanui 3. Juniors. Springdale 6, Terriers 5. Kereone 17, United 0. MATAMATA RESULTS. Seniors. Walton 3, Matamata 0. Hinuera 12, Raungaiti 0. Juniors. Walton 7, Matamata 0. Wardville 6, Patetere 0. Waharoa 14, Hinuera 0. Thirds. Patetere 9, High School 3. Wardville v. Matamata postponed.