FOOTBALL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 119, 27 August 1910, Page 3

FOOTBALL.

•NOTES ABOUT THE G-AiOE. (By Spectator.) j le ~a ' r Taranaki to-day fe. full of ootiball 'theories, and the street* Cull of haT™ I'" 7 ° f the football theorists but whT P a football in lives. ■ ",,'t matter? iSome of tliem ste«cl n the same hotel as a touring foobbaji j team once, whilst another may have tra- ! , ed from kiU ivvi to Manutahi once ia I All.n ilm rh tr;UU aS o,l '- Side Mac or «»>P ! Allen. Ihese are the men who will tell | you that the Taranaki backs should have ibeen given a chance, and that had Mynofct worked them more, Taranaki would have won Thursday's match. The only thing that could have worked the ' oracle for the home team was a big slice ot luck, or for Wellington to have been a very much weaker team than -they actuajly were. Taranaki lost, and there .is no doubt that on the play the Amber and Blue representatives got their desserts. I

It is conceded that we had a weakened team. Cameron was still suffering from influenza, and this must have ati'ected Jus play. One or two of the forwards had had. the ''grippe" too, and Tamu was reported to have been anything ibut well lately. Franklin's nerves were evidently all of a tremble, and the theorist diagnoses his complaint as stage fright. Besides, three good men were unavailable.

! As a matter of fact, the Taranaki team wasn't fit. Is it too much to expect j a possible or actual rep. to look after /himself when rep. teams are wanted? is it leasonable to suppose that a man can dance through Wednesday night and ibe fit to last out a hard match on Thursday? Can a man ibuilt for a 14-stone weight skip about a football field tor an hour and a half if his frame carries ( about lo or 10 stone of fleshy tissue? Or, can a footballer do justice to his pro 'vineo whtu ho won't mind his "ps and ' q's," even when supposed to be in fu.{ training? j The average Taranaki footballer doesn t take football seriously enough. He 1 is keen enough about "getting °ofi" to play a match, and the mere matter ot I an employer's convenience is not considered here any more than in other districts. The player is generally ready for the weekly match—ready inasmuch a? he has appeared in the regulation costume. But 50 per cent, of the men arctotally untrained for club football, n

s Oil record that the fittest back player n the Tukapa Club when it played Stratford in the second round was the /kipper, who had jumped oft' the Aus-,l-alian steamer into a motor-car at Welangton, travelled all night, walked seviral miles in the rain to catch a train, irul walked from the train to the foot jail field! Within ten minutes of the start of that match, many of Mynott's nen were "blowing," for the simple rea;on that they hadn't trained a minute luring his aibsence. There has been one loticeable exception in that same team ihroughout the season. This remark can nasily be made applicable to the reprelentative team. Smith admits himself ;liat he is too heavy for football. He lays that his work doesn't'tend to keep lown flesh, and he hasn't a elubmate landy, so he isn't in form. He will tell *ou, too, for he is honest about it, that le doesn't believe in the big forward, but •eckons\that a forward should be nimble md nuggety. It was evident on Thurslay that Cain was not in form, and Mar;in appeared to be stale. Whittington vas fairly fit, and Osborne as hard' as a laid, he having been taking great care 01 limself. Tamu was "off," but possible le wasn't well, and Milne looked as ;hough .his. weight could .have been reIticed with advantage to himself and to ;he team. Of the backs, none was fitter ;han the skipper. Contrast this with the :ondition of the Wellington team, everv nan of them fit to play for his life. Tin. nan who is hard scarcely feels the knock -hat nearly flattens out the fleshy chap. He doesn't puff and blow at the end of i sharp sprint, and he isn't continually praying for the whistle to go. Can the r.R.U. take up the position that it govjrns football in the province, and is able to dictate to players under its jurisdiction? Can the selectors show that backbone which enables selectors elsewhere to put out players who don't show iby training that they appreciate the honor :>f representing their province? Bv so doing, and ignoring the "reputation" men, they will encourage the younoplayers, who will quickly recognise, when the selectors recognise, that brains and muscle count for more than beef and reputation. The Taranaki team lacks combination as well as condition. The position is difficult, of course. In Wellington or Auckland the reps, can meet night after night for training. Here the men are scattered over the length and breadth of the province, and a day's travel is necessary before they can assemble at any headquarters for training. But could it not be made a condition, when selecting forwards, that the_£* should assemble at some centre for four or five days' training? Unless a man can get in touch with his fellows, learn their style of play, and receive some instruction from the captain or coach as to the lines on which the team proposes to operate, that man must be to some extent a passenger.

The Tarana'ki forwards failed to heel out the ball. The hookers were doing well, but the ihn.il hung in the back vow of the scrum. Before it reached the backs Avery had got in amongst them. Then the man with the ball would kick, either to line or centre. If he lined, well and good. But the centring wasn't good. The kicks were too long, so that the kicker had very little chance of being with the ball when it landed, and the opposing ibacks were given plenty iof time for their return. "Kick high and under," isn't a bad war-cry, 'but condition is wanted for that style of play. The winning try wasn't scored in view of the reporters' table. One or two of the union officials, tremendously interested in the progress of events, blocked the view of the pencil-pushers, and it was impossible to know why the Taranaki forwards were so lackadaisical just then. A spectator in the vicinity says that the Wellington man was three or four yards off-side when he received his pass, and the Taranaki men waited for the whistle! They must have been getting very tired. Cameron's attempt to tackle Mitflhinson was a one-handed effort, and of course it failed. Of the winning side, it can be said that all the backs played well. Roberts played liis first rep. game, and showed that there's something in a name, despite the poet's assurance. He made some clever openings, and his tackling and kicking were clean, whilst he had a hand in many strong rushes. Ryan, Evenson and McLeodi were very prominent, too, and Ivinvig gave a fine display of 'kicking. Avery, as wing forward, easily outclassed his vis a. vis, and headed most of the forward rushes. Leahy and Irvine were his most frequent comrades. On the Taranaki -side the two emergencies, IMoir and Franklin, were weak. The three-quarters plated Well, but their opportunities were not frequent The passing was erratic at times. As n defensive player, tMcLpod was the best of them. He (had hard lucik in being beaten bv the peculiar bounce of the ball when 1 .AYfiJJiufitoa got its lint score. Mvnott

played sound football. ]t must have I been galling to him to shuul there waitj ing for a ball that the hack row refused Ito heel out. Time and again, however, | he "cut in," but there was a screw loose , somewhere, and fjis passes were not I taken. The three-quarter Jine wias play-1 I ing close up, and straight across the field. I and a rapid approach put them oli-side ,in "next to no time." Brown, at half, I was badly hiandkiapped, but still played ] a fair game. The forwards did their best, but it wasn't a good best. Dribtiling rushes were started, but generally ended in a stupid forward booting the | ball into the arms of the waiting backs. The footwork on the whole was unskil'M. They are capable of far better things, and we may see those better things \ et—if they train. The T.R.U. management isn't famous for its promptness and completeness. Tales are told of final play-oil' matches being set down, and no referee appointed, and of • the 'Referees' Association being called on late in the afternoon to arrange for a referee to take a match down the line next day. Worse than that, no referee for the Wellington-Taranaki match had 'been arranged for on Wednesday morning. Had Mr. Williams, of Auckland, not ibeen available, efforts would have ibeen made to secure a man from Wanganui. But why wasn't the RefereesAssociation approached formally on the matter if

The conversational manner of conduct- ' | ing the Taranaki Rugby Union Manage- • j ment Committee meetings doesn't appeal to the president, Mr. Felix Bellrmger, who occupied the chair at the meeting on Thursday. In the first place, there was no minute-book, and the meeting had to trust to the secretary's memory for the gist of the correspondence that had to foe dealt with. The Committee was asiked to decide a matter that should be governed by the rules, but no one had a ruie-book. Mr. Bellringer promptly ruled that it was useless to discuss a technical point under such conditions. He had 1 frequently to call members to order in order to "get something before the meeting/' and thus have the discussion under control. Perhaps if Mr. Bellringer could manage to go down to Stratford oftener to the meetings, there would be less laxity. The writer remembers him as an excellent chairman ot the committee, well versed in the rules of the game and of the union, as well as in the laws governing debate—firm, yet courteous; in fact, a capital man m charge of a mteting. Ernie .Steele didn't advance his causo

very much when he told the Management Committee oil Thursday that they were inconsistent in their punishment 01 rough play. Me cited instances of men who had' done tilings equally as bad as his offence, who had been cautioned or otherwise lightly punished, whilst he had '"gone up" for a year for his first offence, without even ■ having 'been warned. The fault lies with some of the referees principally. Either tliey don't see enough, or they don't recognise rough play when they see it. The president of the Union, whilst not backing up iSteele in his request for leniency, or in his address to the Committee on sentences generally, said that he had felt himself, as the pu'blic seemed to feel, that there was an apparent inconsistency in the Union's dealing with rough pliay. In one year the Committee was strict, and in the next year offences were looked upon as less serious, and incidents punishable 'by a term of disqualification in one year earned only a. caution in the next.

Mr. Cargill, chairman of the Management Committee, explained that the sentences had 'been uniformly severe where the charges made had been proved. Where there was doubt, the men could not be punished so. severely. Wellington and Taranaki have met 18 times. BiU'h has won eight matches, one was drawn, and one abandoned. The following is a list of the matches:— IS.;4—At 'Hawera; Taranaki won, 6 points to nil. • 181)5—At Wellington; drawn, no score. 1'8!>C —At New Plymouth; Taranaki on, 0 to nil. i 1897—At Wellington; Wellington won, 3 to nil. 1898 —At Hawera; Tarana'ki won, 6 to nil. 189!) At Wellington; Wellington won, !) to 5.

1000—At iHawera; Wellington won, 8 to 6. —At Wellington; Wellington won. •20 to 3. 1902 —At New Plymouth; Taranaki won. 6 to 3. 1903 —At Wellington; Taranaki won, 5 to 3. 1904—At New Plymouth; Taranaki won, I I to 3. ' I'9os—At Wellington; Wellington won, G to nil. 190G —At New Plymouth; Taranaki won, II to 3. | 11)07 —At Wellington; match abandoned. 1908 —At New Plymouth; Taranaki won,' 15 to nil. 1 1908—At Wellington; Wellington won. 131 to 8. (Really a scratch match.) 190!) —At Wellington; Wellington, won,] 15 to 6. ' | 1010—At 'New Plymouth; Wellington' won, 11 to 0. I