LEAGUE BREEZES

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 15, 8 April 1927, Page 12

LEAGUE BREEZES

DELEGATES DIFFER HEADQUARTERS OF CODE SOUTH’S EYES ON CONTROL “That the headquarters of the New Zealand Rugby League be located in the South Island”— straight speaking was the order when the foregoing remit, sponsored by the Canterbury League, was discussed at the New Zealand Rugby League Council’s annual meeting last night. Mr. F. V. McKeon, Canterbury, speaking to the remit, said the time was opportune for a change. Since its inception the headquarters of the game in New Zealand had been located in Auckland. He affirmed that the principle of a change was right. It had been said —with what justification he was not prepared to say—that the New Zealand League Council was Auckland and Auckland was the Council. There must inevitably be a certain amount of natural prejudice. It might be said that the same bias would exist in the South. That might be so, but the Northerners had to remember that they had had their innings. IN THE FIGHTING ZONE The League code in Auckland, he pointed out, was strongly entrenched and removal of the headquarters South would do it no harm, while the process would assist the game in the South. It was in the South Island and in the southern half of the North Island that the fight was on. Men who sat round the council table had said to him: “For God’s sake take the Council out of Auckland.” But he was prepared to bet that they would vote for the existing order of things when the matter went to the meeting. Mr. W. J. Hhmmill: Someone must have told you something. (Laughter.) Mr. McKeon: The game has got to progress in the South and if it does not progress in the South it is going to become stultified in the North. You cannot always play among yourselves. Mr. YV. E. Webster, West Coast, seconded the proposal. Mr. E. Stallworthy objected that the proposal was too indefinite. Would the headquarters be at the Bluff, Invercargill, or where? The President: The motion is quite in order. Mr. J. T. Cooper, an Otago delegate, expressed the belief that Wellington, as the geographic centre of the country, was the ideal place for the code’s headquarters. A DELEGATE OBJECTS Mr. Stallworthy, who strongly opposed the proposal, questioned the sincerity of the sponsors of the motion. Mr. McKeon rose to a point of order when Mr. Stall worthy made reference to the finances of the Queensland tour. The Chairman: Sit down. I know how to conduct the meeting. Mr. McKeon: Did I impute that you did not? I object to that remark. I consider that the Queensland tour is foreign to the discussion. Mr. D. W. McLean, a vice-president, characterised Mr. McKeon’s proposals as very vague. With regard to Mr. Cooper’s remarks, Mr. McLean said the League Council had been nursing Wellington for years, but the League there had not reached the status to justify its being the headquarters. Mr. McKeon, replying to his critics, particularly Mr. Stallworthy, said he had not come 600 miles to fiddle away his time. The place of meeting was invariably Auckland and it was on the South Island leagues that the heavy burden of expense fell. CUT AT THE FUNDS Mr. McKeon added that the Auckland League would not have been able to borrow money from the council if the headquarters had not been in Auckland. If the headquarters were shifted the boot would be on the other foot and someone else might get a cut at the funds. When the issue went to the vote the remit was defeated by 8 votes to 5. It was noticeable that Mr. G. Rhodes, a Canterbury delegate, did not support his colleague, Mr. McKeon. Mr. McKeon: I do not wish to raise discord at this juncture, but I would ask that Mr. Rhodes’ vote be recorded. The Chairman: No delegate can record the vote of another. It is a matter between Mr. Rhodes and his League.