Personalities In Sport

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 429, 10 August 1928, Page 10

Personalities In Sport

English League Managers Have Fine Record of Service to Game.

Once a brilliant amateur sprinter, and now the team manager of the visiting English League team, Mr. E. Osborne is indeed a great sportsman and has given much of his time in the furthering of various branches of sport in England, especially the Northern Union game. In the early days Mr. Osborne was a crack athlete, and has now a large collection of big trophies, which he collected on the track. In the winter season he played a deal of Rugby Union football, and toward the end of his football career he went over to the League code. Thirty years ago he gave the game best, but still kept up a keen interest in the 13-a.-side game, and became an official of the Warrington Club. LIFE MEMBER OF W.R.L. Later he succeeded to the position of president of the Warrington Rugby League Club, and on leaving to take his place on the council of the controlling body, the English Rugby League, was made a life member. Mr. Osborne occupied every position on the council, including the chairmanship, a position which he held in 1926 when the New Zealand Rugby League team toured England. Mr. Osborne is well known in both Australia and New Zealand, for he was manager of the English team which toured in the Antipodes in 1924.

He is recognised as an authority on the League game at Home, and has had much to do with the amending of rules, while the keen interest he has shown and the hard work he has done within the last 30 years has meant much to the success of the Northern Union game in England to-day. Mr. S. F. Hutchins, secretarymanager of the touring English Leaguers, is another who has gained much recognition in Rugby League circles in England by his keen enthusiasm and untiring efforts to popularise the game. A REAL ENTHUSIAST For some time he was a prominent referee, and later, when he was appointed an official of the Oldham Club, he spent most of his time in bettering the game among junior players. In fact, throughout, Mr. Hutchins has left big football alone, although he is certainly responsible for many of the crack players in senior ranks, which he has handled when in the junior grades. Only a real enthusiast could have done the work he has done among the junior players in England. He followed Mr. Osborne as vicepresident of the Lancashire County a position which he holds at the present time, while shortly before leaving the Homeland on this tour he was appointed to the council of the English Rugby League.