ALL BLACKS RETURN

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 735, 7 August 1929, Page 11

ALL BLACKS RETURN

not their lucky tour “LILBURNE THE HERO”

were very unfortunate in not able to use our best inmen. As a result of injuries t was rarely possible to field our □alley, Lilburne, Oliver, Carelton rombination. Had we been able to Ao so. things would probably have b Un different.’* Both Mr. J. McLeod, manager of the All Blacks, and Mr. C. Porter, captain, expressed this opinion yesterday. Looking fit and well, and with the mbers of the side almost recovered from their injuries, the All Blacks returned from Australia by the Ulimaroa. A big loss to us was the early injury received by Porter, which kept Mm out of the matches for most of the tour. We also lost his services as a coach, which would have been most valuable,” said Mr. McLeod. He said the injuries received by porter, Nepia, Bailey and Oliver affected the team most. Even in the ; as t test, Stringfellow played when, with his injuries, he should have been on the line. .Nevertheless ho played a great game. PRAISE FOR LILBURNE Lilburne was the hero of the tour, paid the manager. He stood up to everything and played great football. There is a big future ahead of him, ar.d in my opinion he is destined to become an All Black captain. Although oaly 21 years of age, he has a great football head. The manager also paid a tribute to the fine form showed by Oliver. “We heard that he had no defence, but he .bowed plenty on this tour,” said Mr. McLeod. The Lilburne-Oliver combination turned out to be first-class, but owing *to injuries it was unfortunate that it could not be used more. The manager stated that the Aucklanders, Hook, McWilliams and Palmer, all played well, McWilliams, in particular, prov ing a very valuable roan. Among the forwards lie considpred that Cottreil, the Canterbury booker, was one of the most promising. Another whom he considered a very line forward in the making was Mahoney. the tall Bush Union player. •Although luck was against us we had a good time and I consider the tour has done a great deal of good for the code in Australia. Kugby was jroing ahead by leaps and bounds, and in Brisbane, where it had pnly been going for two years, the game , was quite strong, many of the old hands having gone back to the game. While the team was in the North, one district, Warwick, had turned right over to the code. For a crowd of men to travel with you could not wish for better, he said. They are a fine, gentlemanly lot of men, and everywhere they went they made an excellent impression. It was undoubtedly one of the most popular sides that ever travelled Australia. Cliff Porter also paid a tribute to the excellent manner in which the team had been received in Australia. He thought that the team had made a very good impression both on and off the field and that a great deal of good would accrue from the visit. “With Cooke there we would have turned out a great set of backs,” he said. “As a matter of fact, we had a very fine back division there, but the trouble was we could not turn them out. Most of the time they were on the line.” The Australians turned out a good and very even side, and he considered that in view of the way the code was progressing there, they would always be hard to beat. CHAT WITH HON. E. H. FARRAR AFFAIRS IN SYDNEY T haven’t come over here to talk.” Thus the Hon. E. H. Farrar, Minister of Labour and Industry in the New South Wales Parliament, who arrived by the Ulimaroa yesterday to meet Mr. T. R. Bavin, Premier of New South Wales, who is returning from abroad by the Makura. But Mr. Farrar did talk. He had a great deal of praise for the All Blacks. “I have seen them in all their matches in New South Wales,” he said. “I have seen them on and off the field, and they are a very manly team, all good sports, very gyod company, and a credit to New Zealand. The positions of manager and captain seemed pleasant and easy ones.” Speaking generally of affairs in Sydney, Mr. Farrar said that the Civic Commission had done very good work, it’s term of office expired in October, and the Government would then have to decide on a policy of whether the commission would continue or whether a reversion would be made to the old elective City Council. Tho commission bad done very good work, and there <hd not seem to be any demand for a return of the elective City Council. There had been bad droughts in the west and south districts of New South Wales, but the late rains in July' •i<id helped things considerably. He estimated that tho wheat crop would yield 30 million bushels, which was much he low the average. Speaking of immigration. Mr. Farrar s -ud that there was no restriction on nominations, but fairly severe conditions had to be complied with. The ’ ommonwealtlx Government did all the 'election, examination and transportaJ° n from Great Britain and the various Mates nominated their immigrants and out the welfare work. The *eheme was working most successfully. ■Another successful scheme was that galled the “Dreadnought boys.” These boys were brought out and trained on overnment farm until they were able to go on the land. Over 7,000 of bad come out under the scheme, and after they had settled they' often nominated their parents or relatives. Building activity in Sydney was still motive. Six spans of tho harbour were complete and tho under,roijn<i *vas working. There were two stations in the city proper. Mr. Farrar will go on to Wellington Piorrow evening to confer with the Minister, the Right Hon. Sir Joard. He would not indicate nat subjects would be discussed, but *PUed that he would “Discuss all sorts of Problems.”