English Leaguers Say “Au Revoir”

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 431, 13 August 1928, Page 16

English Leaguers Say “Au Revoir”

TEAM LEAVES FOR SOUTH MANAGER REVIEWS VISIT Amid cheering, the express pulled out of Auckland last evening bearing the members of the English League team away for the South, to continue their tour of the Dominion. Their next game will be against Buller, at Westpor,t to-morrow afternoon. “Before bidding you au revoir, I must say we have all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves during the stay in your beautiful city, and Auckland people have - treated us exceptionally well,” said Mr. Osborne, the team manager. “We are leaving with excellent impressions of the high standard of football here. Of course, the wonderful weather conditions have been conducive to good football, and I feel sure that the big crowds which attended all three matches must have been very pleased with the exhibitions given. GOOD FEELING BETWEEN CODES “There is one thing I am very pleased to be able to say,” continued Mr. Osborne, “and that is, at the various functions arranged for us at Helensville and other places, which we visited outside Auckland, there was a Rugby Union representative present who welcomed us warmly. We all appreciated this, for it shows the good feeling which exists between what I have been led to believe on many occasions were two extremely rival codes. “I would like to thank all the Auckland papers for the splendidly fair and impartial hearing which they have given the team, and especially The Sun for the tactful manner in which it dealt with one incident of our visit here,” concluded Mr. Osborne. N.Z. PRESIDENT PLEASED “The Englishmen s tour to date has been a great success, and the council of the New Zealand Rugby League has overcome any loss that was suffered through the regretable incidents of the 1926 League tour of England,” said Mr. Cyril A. Snedden, president of the New Zealand League. “They are really a very fine crowd” was how Mr. Snedden described the tourists. He had seen a great deal of them off the field, and they had proved most courteous and only too ready to fall in with any suggestions made by the New Zealand Council. Mr. Snedden also remarked that it had indeed been a great pleasure to meet the managers, Messrs. Osborne and Hutchins. They had done everything possible to assist the council in making arrangements for the tour, and they promised that in the future, as members of the controlling body at Home, they would keep in touch with New Zealand, and see that it was well informed regarding alterations in rules, etc. In the future, therefore, instead of being isolated, New Zealand could feel that it was closely in touch with the imperial controlling body.