TOO MANY PROTESTS?

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 543, 21 December 1928, Page 6

TOO MANY PROTESTS?

NOT IN THE BEST INTERESTS OF SPORT PRACTICAL REMEDY PROPOSED Mu»t people in close touch with .sport will agree with Mx. Harry Frost that one of the most lamentable things connected with Rugby football is the protest. It is not confined to Rugby football only, but in the present instance it is football which has to be j considered, the veteran executive head | of the Auckland Rugby Union having : .sponsored some proposals by which it is hoped at least to cut down the j number of protests to the barest pos- j sible minimum. It is a stiff problem J to solve, because it is impossible to j lay down any hard and fast rule to vajt a club must not protest, but Mr. Frost has had the pleasure of seeing a number of useful provisions passed by a general meeting of the Auckland Rugby Union. It cannot be too strongly emphasised that the biggest factor in the success or otherwise of Mr. Frost's proposals is the manner in which they will be received by the clubs under the jurisdiction of the union. The Managament Committee must have the co-opera-tion of the clubs, and Mr. Frost, no doubt, realises fully that it is on their good sense and sportsmanship that he must rely to a very large extent. Mr. Frost does not say so himself, but many sound judges who have been in close touch with the national game tor a long period of years unhesitatingly say that there are more appeals and protests than there used to be. The lamentable sequel to the Ranfurly Shield match between Hawke’s

RACING PIGEONS RELEASED AT SEA FOR LONG FLIGHT The Marama, which left Auckiandyesterday, carries an unusual freight—two boxes of carrier pigeons, which were to be released rr near as posisble to ths Three Kings at 7 a.m. this morning. They belong to members of the Palmerston North Pigeon Flying Club, which is holding a race from the Three Kings to Palmerston. The airline distance is in the vicinity of 600 miles.

Bay and Wairarapa a year or two ago is still fresh in the mind as an example of the heat and dissension that is all too frequently met with in present-day Rugby. Old-timers still tell the story of a famous old Rugby . lub, probably the oldest in New Zealand to-day, the club captain of which was approached by one of the junior captains with a request that a protest be made against another club. “The club never protests,” was the firm .inswer, and as far as the writer knows this unwritten law has been preserved ~s one of the club’s most-prized traditions. There is one sound provision in the rule which lias been adopted by the A.R.U.. and that is the outlining of a practical method whereby any known reason for a protest may be dealt with before a match starts, and if the team protested against is able and does remedy the cause for complaint, no further action shall be taken. There is sound wisdom in that. It will place i bigger responsibility on the teams, ;md if the two captains and a responsible official, the referee or A.R.U. member, can settle the point in dispute on the »pot, it will tend to promote a better feeling, and to a large extent eliminate the necessity for recourse to an appeal to headquarters, which is almost invariably productive of club feeling and dissension. It is to be sincerely hoped that the Auckland clubs will give Mr. Frost’s proposals the practical support which they undoubtedly deserve.