TWO MANY REP. MATCHES

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 459, 14 September 1928, Page 10

TWO MANY REP. MATCHES

TIIE manner in which club football all over New Zealand is bein" curtailed in favour of representative matches is a problem which should have the serious attention of the controlling bodies in all codes of football. It is essentially a post-war development, due in large measure to the elevation (or otherwise) of the game as a gigantic public spectacle, and it shows no sign of decreasing. Rather the reverse. In both League and Rugby, Auckland has had more than its share of representative games this season, and club football has suffered. That deadening “end-of-season” feeling has never been more in evidence this year, and many will breathe a sign of relief when it is all over. Representative matches, especially against country teams, are all to the good of the game. But there are too many of them. Before the war, a representative jersey was a much-prized honour; to-day it has become so cheapened that the question of getting leave to travel is more important than playing ability. Pollard Cups and Roope Roosters are, at the best, only a makeshift. Club football is the backbone of the game, and it should have first place in the programme for the season. In Rugby, there is urgent need for a regrouping of provincial and sub-union areas, to eliminate superfluous representative matches, and, in all codes, the club season should have uninterrupted sway till the end of July, at least.