Notes and Comment.

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 995, 11 June 1930, Page 13

Notes and Comment.

Charges for admission at Carlaw Park next Saturday will be: Men 2s, Women 1s; grandstand 2s. New Zealand Team The climax of the series of trial matches which have been in progress throughout the Dominion for weeks past will be reached at Carlaw Park ..n Saturday, when the final trials of the series take place. The North - South Island match is. of course, the big fixture, but no little interest, will bo taken in the possibles-probables game, as the elect of the three northernmost Leagues in New Zealand will there be seen in action. The New Zealand selection committee, Messrs. 'W. O. Carlaw, E. K. Asher. A . Ferguson. J. K. Worrail and W. Murray, will have a busy afternoon finalising the 22 names for the Australian trip. Selection of Team It is anticipated that the selectors will have made their final selection by Saturday evening, but neither the players concerned nor the Press will know what the selection is till it has been approved by a full meeting of the council of the New Zealand kugby Football League. This meeting may take place on Saturday evening, or it may be held over till Sunday morning. Thus the council has taken final responsibility for the personnel of the side to be sent across the Tasman. Sailing From Wellington It was originally intended that the New Zealand team should assemble at Auckland on Tuesday, June 24, and undergo three days’ intensive training at Carlaw Park before sailing from here the following Friday, June 27, for Sydney. There is, however, no intercolonial passenger boat from Auckland for Australia on that day, and thus the team will now leave from Wellington. The Auckland members of the team will leave for the South on the evening of June 26, and no combined training will be /undertaken until the team reaches the “Dooley” Moore was elected vicecaptain of the Ponsonby team last Saturday and took charge in the absence of Delgrosso. South Island Changes Changes in the personnel of tho South Island team owing to the injuries to two players will necessitate corresponding alterations to the possibles and probables teams. A Pahi takes MeKewen’s place behind the South Island scrum, and T. Mason, the West Coast threequarter, will replace P. Dougan (W.C.) as the emergency back. Mason will take Dougan’s place in the possibles three-quarter line for the preliminary match. Managers for “All Blacks” The council of the New Zealand Bugby League at its last meeting appointed Messrs. W. J. Taylor (South Auckland delegate on the council) and A. Ferguson (Otago delegate) team manager and financial manager respectively of tho team for Australia. For length of service Mr. Ferguson has every qualification for his job. He is the only man in New Zealand today who has been actively connected with the. administrative side of the sport continuous!; since its establishment, just on 21 years ago. Mr. Ferguson has also a good knowledge of playing conditions in Australia. Mr. Taylor is one of the younger brigade of League administrators and ably handled the New Zealand test teams two years ago when they went South to play the Englishmen at Christchurch and Otago. * * * Gregory Now Available C. K. (“Pope”) Gregory, the brilliant Marist nlnvfM- who at first was not available for selection for the trip to Australia, has now indicated that he will be able to go if selected. Thus his name appears in the list of players for the possibles - probables match on Saturday, and on the form he has shown to date this season - _— he must be one of the first men selected. Gregory was a member of the 1923 team in Australia, and thus his knowledge of Australian conditions and his versatility should be of much use to the JUnzed team. Mr. Arthur Hennessy, the wellknown Australian coach, has been engaged to coach the New Zealand players during their tour of Australia. A Dunedin exchange says it is quite likely that G. Blazey. who. In spite of •* ri injured leg, played in the South Island possibles-probables match, will quite probably have to give up the game for the rest of the season. Marist’s Big Win It was generally expected that Marist would win its match against Ponsonby on Saturday, but few thought the margin would be as wide as it turned our. to be. The Marist team has struck its traditional late-season form earlier than usual this season, and Ponsonby. largely as a result of injuries, has not maintained the form it allowed against Ellerslie In the second match of the season on the Domain. It is likely that both the Marist and City clubs will lose several of their stars for two months or so with the “All Blacks” in Australia, and thus the competition should be evened up again. Getting Down To It After its display of lamentable form un Saturday Ponsonby is getting down to hard training again, and when it meets Devonport on Saturday week expects to be at a higher pitch. Delgrosso will probably be available by then, and the other members of the

team who are still labouring- under the effect of recent injuries should be back in trim also. An Improved Team By beating Kingsland-Athletic by 31-10 on Saturday. Ellers lie demonstrnted, in no uncertain fashion, how much it has improved on last year’s form. Last season the team from the racecourse suburb lost every senior A game it played and only retained its senior grading by defeating the winner of the B section, 3 :, oint Chevalier. Thus far this season Ellerslie lias two victories to its credit, including one over Devonport, one of last year's best teams. Ellerslie’s Fullback Last season a rumour was current in League circles that Dufty, Ellerslie’s fullback, was going to Australia to play the Australian rules game. The fact that he did not go is fortunate for Ellerslie. The big fullback is a tower of strength, to the young team. His defence is sound and his kicking power saved Ellerslie from many a ticklish situation on Saturday and added several points to the home side’s total. Championship Table The following table sets out the positions of the teams on the Auckland Rugby League’s senior championship table a.t the conclusion of Saturday’s matches:

Best Threequarter Ever The best wing-threequarter bad? Australia has seen!

There’s a theme for the man who has seen most of the stars that have twinkled on their feet in the scintillating procession of years from faraway IS9O down to up-to-date 1930 (writes “The Cynic” in the “Sydney Referee”).

Just sit back, close your eyes, and in fancy picture that procession of the pyrotechnicians. Or. the guernsey ■ is changed to blue.

and Charlie White has Opai Asher, the mercurial Maori, as his vis-a-vis. They crash —and the acrobatics of Wirtli’s Circus are a mere circumstance to the Rugby- indiarubber gyrations of the pair, with Opai as hard to keep down as a jack-in-the-box.

And so the scintillating procession of stars of the wing goes on, as the smoke from one’s pipe slowly curls in rings into the air, its clouds peopled with the great wingers of other days. Alas, the dream has ended! The smoko has vanished. Our story is to tell of the greatest wing-threequarter backs we have seen—Colquhon, Moulton. Wickham, White. All were great in their times, but there were greater. Harold Horder was the most glorious ever. Opai Asher was a fine winger of the jinky runner type, who bumps his way ahead, and is a tremendously hard chap to down.

Points Ch. P. W. 1j. D. For. Ag. Pts. Marist ....54 1. — 84 44 S City 5 3 1 1 OS 58 7 Ponsonby . . 5 a 2 — 55 74 6 Devonport .5 a 2 — 5!) 52 G Ellerslie .. 5 2 2 1 65 56 5 Newton .... 5 2 3 — 63 GS 4 Kingsland 5 1 4 — 30 S2 2 Richmond ..5 1 4 — 42 71 2