FOOTBALL.

Taranaki Daily News, 22 July 1922, Page 3

FOOTBALL.

the rugby game. PLAY IN TABAXAKL TO DAY’S MATCHES. Senior A Tukapa r. Patea. at Patea. Okaiawa v. Hawera. at Hawera. Kaponga r. Clifton, at Waitara. Walmate v. Stratford, at Stratford. Senior B. Old Boya v. Inglewood, at Inglewood. Okato v. Lepper ton, at Western Park, New Plymouth. Eltham v. Star, at Recreation Grounds, New Plymouth. MATCHES FOR SATURDAY, JULY 29. Senior A. Tukapa v. Okalawa, at Recreation Grounds, New Plymouth. Hawera v. Patea, at Hawera. Opunake v. Clifton, at Opunake. Kaponga v. Walmate, at Kaponga. Senior B. Inglewood v. Star, at Inglewood. Old Boys v. Okato, at New Plymouth. Ekha«n v. Lepperton, at Eltham. POSITIONS OF THE TEAMS. The position of the teams is as follows: Senior A. %

REPRESENTATIVE MATCHES PLAYED. v. Wanganui, lost 12 to 9. v. Wellington, lost 13 to d. B TEAM. v. Wanganui, won 18 to 13, REPRESENTATIVE FIXTURES ARRANGED. Aug. s.—v. Wanganui, at New Plymouth. Aug. 10.—v. Manawatu. at Stratford. Aug. 12—v. Auckland, at New Plymouth. Aug. 19—v. Wellington, at Wellington. Aug. 23—v. South Canterbury, at Timaru. Aug. 26—v. Southland, at Invercargill. Aug. 30—r. Otago, at Dunedin. Sept.—2 v. Canterbury, at Christchurch. Sept. 16—v. Auckland, at Auckland. Home matches hare to be arranged against Wairarapa, and possibly against North Auckland. THE ALL BLACKS. DEPARTURE FOR AUSTRALIA. By Telegraph.—Press Association Wellington, Last Night. The New Zealand Rugby representatives who are to play a series of matches i& New South Wales left by the Ulimaroa to-day. They were given an enthusiastic fare Well. The members of the team are all in fit condi- , tion, V. Badeley having recovered from the injury received in Auckland. TEAMS FOR TO-DAY. MIDHIRST CLUB. Third grade team against Toko, at Toko, selected from Mayhead (2), Reid (2), Spray, ! Shotter, Carter, Leads, Martin, Mills, Whill-r (2), Jones, Baskin, Sangster, Adi am, Lash. PRIMARY SCHOOLS* FOOTBALL. At Okato, on Tuesday, a match was play’d between the boys of the Warea and Okato schools, the former winning by 20 points to 5. For Warea, Graham scored four tries and Duggan and Chapman one each, one betag converted, while for Okato, McCabe scored a try which was converted. TO-DAY’S MATCHES. Interest to-day will be divided between the two A grade match which are being played in South Taranaki. Though possibly a number of enthusiasts will journey to Patea to witness I Tukapa play Patea, probably the attraction for ' the greater number will be Hawera, where the 1 two old rivals, Okalawa and Hawera, will meet, i The struggle should be a great one. Both teams ' possess fast and dashing forwards and sound backs. In the first round Hawera won with a little to spare, but since then the Okalawa team has shown considerable Improvement, 1 whilst Hawera on the other hand appears to have gone back somewhat, and the Okalawa 1 men are sanguine of lowering the townsmen's colors and so keep within striking distance of • the top of the competition ladder. They will, ; however, find Hawera a hard proposition on their home ground. Tukapa journey to Patea, and on their plav | of the last couple of weeks, those who saw , the great fight put up by Patea in the first ' round are not too sanguine of the leaders’ , prospects of success over the men of the river port. Tukapa are weakened by the loss of Kingston, Hart, Ennis and Baird. Tukapa, however, generally play best when up against ; it, so to-day should see a good game. At Waitara, Clifton and Kaiyinga will try j conclusions, and a good game should result, ' as both teams have shown improvement of I late. Stratford and Waimatc will meet at j Stratford. The home team, comprised mostly : of young players, is showing marked improve- ' ment and should win, though Walmate will oe ' out to break their long list of defeats. In the B grade chief interest will centre I in the meeting of Old Boys and Inglewood I at the latter place. Old Boys Jiave won on the two previous occasions that the teams have met, and should they win to-day will have an outstanding lead in the B grade. On the Recreation Grounds, Star play Eltham: while at Western Park, Okato and Lenperton meet, and each contest should provide a close game. A QUESTION OF RESIDENCE. The matter of the case in which the Wairoa Sub Union protested against Sullivan and McLean, two players playing for Patea, whom they alleged resided in the Wairoa Sub Union, was advanced another stage at the Rugby Union meeting on Thursday evening. The Patea Club satisfied the Taranaki Rugby Union that the players in question were fulfilling residential qualifications in accordance with the Taranaki Rugby Union's requirements The Wairoa Sub Union has, however, decided to disqualify Sullivan and McLean during the pleasure of the Union for playing for Patea in the Taranaki district, the players being bona fide residents in the Wairoa Sub Rugby Union in the Wanganui district. At Thursday’s meeting of the Taranaki Rugby Union a letter was received from the Waagaaui Rugby Union, andoaing a copy of*

letter forwarded to the New Zealand Rugby Union in support of the Wfeiroa Sub Union's application. The letter stated: "The facts given were briefly that Sullivan was a farmer residing up the Waitotara river, and has never resigned or asked for a clearance from the Waitotara Club. On Saturday mornings he leaves Waitotara, proceeds to Taranaki, and plnys for the Patea Club, returning on the fol- ' 'owing Monday. In reply to a protest from the Wairoa Sub Union, the Taranaki Union .jas stated that the Patea Club claims that Sullivan is a- commission agent and complies . with the residential qualifications. McLean is I a farmer whose 168 acres lies across the Tara- | paki-Wellington Provincial boundary, 68 acres ■ being in Taranaki and 100 acres In Wellingi ton. The Wellington portion contains the i homestead, and the Taranaki portion, the rowshed. The Patea Club claims that to comply with the Taranaki residential requirements, McLean is sleeping in the cowshed. As, however, the climatic conditions in that district are more Antarctic than tropical at this time of the year, we think the Wairoa Union justified in looking at this claim with a certain amount of suspicion. Quite apart from the legal aspect of these cases lies th? principle of one union allowing a club under its jurisdiction acting in the way the Patea Club has in this instance. A conference between officials of the Taranaki and Wanganui Unions was hold on June 3, when an assurance was given by Mr. McLeod, chairman of the Taranaki Union, that none but bona fide residents in the Taranaki Union would be permitted to play in its contests. This assurance has ‘not been carried out. The boundary between the two bodies would be more workable if moved to its original place, the Manawatu •stream, and we commend this to the Boundary Commission for their consideration.” The chairman stated that the Taranaki Rugby Union under its residential qualifications could justify the claims of the two men to play for Patea, provided the evidence given by the Patea Club was correct. The drafting of a reply was left to the chairman and secretary. NEWS AND NOTES. Strengthened by the inclusion of Hickey and Coleman in their back division and having a hard battling pack of forwards, Waimate fully extended Tukpaa on Saturday, and, with a little luck, t'_e men from the plains might have turned th- tables on -the competition leaders. As it was the second spell was all in favor of the visitors, whose forwards, headed by McKay, who played the game of his life, and Birchall, gave a splendid display and had the Tukapa pack well beaten. It was again Tukapa’s rearguard who proved the deciding factor in the game and they certainly outplayed tl|e visiting backs. Hickey, who played well, was well marked and possibly did not extend himself seriously, seeing he had one foot on the boat for Australia. Loveridge, who had filled Kingston’s "possy” at fullback since the latter was Injured, was hurt in stemming a Walmate rush near the line and will not be seen on the field for a couple of Saturdays least. If Tukapa are to defeat Patea to-day they Iwill certainly have to play up better than last’ week, for the southerners have z dashing pack of forwards, whilst their backs are not to be despised. Perhaps the most-discussed topic in football circles this week has been the defeat of Hawera by Kaponga. After the latter team had been so overwhelmingly defeated by Stratford the previous week, there were few who thought that Hawera would be seriously endangered by visiting Kaponga, even though they were not represented at fullest strength. The uncertainty of the game has, however, again been demon- I strated, and once again has a team well down the ladder spoilt the championship prospects of a leading team, for by this defeat Hawera are now practically out of the championship running.

Kaponga’s victory was full of merit, for, granted that Hawera were without the services of Robertson, Paterson, Osborne, Hunt and Lavery, Kaponga also were weak, being minus J. Hammersley (the representative hooker). Bell and Guthrie. Their places were taken by P. Hammersley, Brown and Kilpatrick, ail juniors, who had just played a match again rt Okaiawa. Kaponga, however, played a surprisingly good game, their backs getting In some good attacking work, whilst their defence was solid. Jim Hammersley, a brother of the

"rep.,’’ played a great game in the forwards, whilst Thoumalne was. solid and M. Malone played another fine game ns rover. He had West as his vis-a-vis, but he played the Hawera man. at five-eighths got rid of the bal®pnartly and made the game open. DymocWwho has been away for a week or two, played well, running straight, but being inclined to give bad passes at times. Briggs and McCarthy proved a very useful pair at wing-three-quarter, the latter holding Wilkinson safe.

Stratford's ill-luck seems to stick to them, and again they were defeated by a very narrow majority. It was certainly very hard luck. After leading by 5 points to 3 until the ball only had to go out of touch to end the game. H. Masters got offside, and the resultant goal saw victory snatched from their grasp.

The Okaiawa-Opunake match at Manaia proved disappointing. Play was mainly confined to the forwards, and was at times very strenuous. Okaiawa backs should be able to shine in attack, but seldom did their speedv wings get going, R. Roberts repeatedly cutting in. Mostly, the backs kicked and marked, though at times Johnson and Guy sent some heady kicks across to Rye, who scored from one of them, though Hohla proved equal to the occasion. Of the Opunake pack, none played better than Norgate, and he was well supported by Glentworth, Mcßeynolds and Bowman. Lusk played his usual solid game at full-back. Of the Okaiawa pack, Brien and Harris were the pick. Johnson, Taylor and R. Roberts were the pick of the rearguard. B. Roberts had to retire early owing to injury and Taylor went up to five-eighths, being replaced at full-back by Tuke, who had played earlier in the afternoon, for the juniors at Kaponga, and played a solid game. Kingston, the Tukapa and ex-New Zealand full-back, who was seriously injured in a mo-tor-car accident while returning from Kaponga on .Tune 17, is making good progress towards recovery, and expects to be able to leave the hospital shortly.

Marks, the Old Boys five-eighths, who has been off the scene for a few weeks owing to an injured shoulder, took the field for his team against Lepperton, and played a fine game. Fit and well, he should be hard to keep out of the representatives. The next representative 'match is against Wanganui, at New Plymouth, to-day fortnight. After next Saturday’s matches, the selectors should make known the personnel of the team, and considerable interest is being evinced as to whether there will be many changes.

By the time the southern tour comes along Taranaki should be able to put a good com-’ bination in the field, providing all the men are available for the tour. The Wanganui, Manawatu and Auckland matches, to be played a few days prior to leaving, should get them in good form.

The appointment of C. Brown as coach on the tour should have a very beneficial effect, as the Tukapa ex-New Zealand half assisted A. L. Humphries in so successfully preparing the team to meet the Springboks, and with the exception of that general, is probably the best man in Taranaki for the position.

It is pleasing to note the keen interest that is now taken in primary school football right round the mountain, and practically every school game is flourishing. A promising sigu is the interest taken by teachers, and where there are no teachers available, by outsiders, in coaching the boys. This is particularly noticeable at Waitara, where D. George has taken the boys in hand, with the result that they have not yetybeen defeated, and at Warea. where Mr. Richards, an ex-Wellington player, is coaching the noys. The play shown by the lads in the primary school representative match must have been very gratifying to those responsible for teaching the boys, and it also augurs well for the future of the game.

e 1 & s s C* b G G 2 5 Tukapa .... . 11 10 1 119 56 21 Okaiaw-a ... . 11 9 2 — 120 54 18 Haw era .... . 10 6 •» 2 97 56 14 Patea .. 11 •T 4 —— 62 41 14 Clifton . 10 5 5 —— 106 67 10 Kaponga ... . 10 4 6 —- 73 108 8 Stratford .. . ii 3 7 i 68 64 • Opunake ... . 11 1 8 2 59 136 4 Waimate .. . 11 — 11 —■ 45 159 0 Old Boys .. Senior . 11 10 B. 1 107 37 20 Inglewood . 11 8 2 1 81 48 17 Eltham .... . 11 4 4 3 59 59 11 Okato . 11 3 6 • 27 83 8 Star . 11 3 6 2 60 59 8 Lepperton .. . 11 — 8 3 52 78 3