FOOTBALL NOTES.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXX, Issue 8411, 27 April 1907, Page 7

FOOTBALL NOTES.

(By All Black). NEW ZEALAND TEAM'S TOUR IN AUSTRALIA. July 13th, v. New South Wales, at Sydney. July 17th, v. New South Wales, at Sydney. July 20th, v.JAustralia, at Sydney. July 24th,V.Queensland, at Brisbane. July 27th, V.Queensland, at Brisbane. August 3rd, v. Australia, ni Brisbane. .August 10th, v. Australia, ai Sydney.

■ The Rugby footballer is on the increase in Dunedin, and to ii)< <;t requirements it is intended to i s- iablish • a fifth grade competition. Tin re are now ten the First Guide, 12 in the Second, 10 in the Third, and nine in the Fourth. In addition there are 12 teams in the school competition. When all the teams "re in full swing over 1,000 footballers will be playing Rugby in Dunedin. It is stated that Peter Harvey, the well-known representative halfback will don the jersey for Christ- • church. Eric Harper played for the Christchurch team in the second-half of the : game against Albion, last and is likely to keep on playing for the remainder of the season. Peter Menzies has been playing Senior football in Christchurcli for .the past twenty seasons, and, according to a Southern paper, he still plays the same determined game which first characterised his efforts. The Senior matches in Wellington, to-day, will be as follows-Victoria College v. Melrose, Wellington v. Poneke, Old Boys v. Petone, Oriental v. Athletic. Fryer, the Canterbury crack, is still playing for the Christchurch 'Club. There does not seem to be any ' likelihood of his now going to Dunedin. Auckland, Wellington and Canterbury, will all visit Dunedin this season. Otago will be a hard team to beat on their own ground. Gilray, of Otago, is not likely to be available for , representative matches. He leaves for Englaftd early in August Tyne, the Canterbury and South Island representative, is playing for the Poneke Club in Wellington 'this year. "Scobie" Mackenzie, formerly of Dunedin, is shortly to be transferred from Auckland to Wellington. Rugby is getting a good footing in Western Australia. The game is expected to boom in Sydney this season. "It's going to be the biggest season on record," said a Sydney authority to a Daily | Telegraph representative the other day. ! The Oriental Club, Wellington, are a live body. They are acquiring a site for a gymnasium in a central part of the city. They are raising the necessary funds by means of debentures for 10s each.

The annual report of the Wairarapa Rugby Union, to be submitted to the annual meeting at Carterton, this * evening, states, inter alia:—Your committee, in submitting the annual report and balance sheet, is pleased to be able to congratulate the Ui.'ion on the great progress made] during the past two seasons towards a sound financial position. Last year- we were able to show a small credit balance of £1 3s Gd, which is increased this year to the substantial sum of £77 7a 6d. This is particularly pleasing, when it is remembered that last year's balance did not take into account several outstanding liabilities which more than swallowed Up the then credit- This position is due to the fact that grater care has been taken in tho arranging and taking of gates at the championship matches, and the secretaries .of the™ local clubs in the different centres deserve the thanks of the Union for services rsndered in this direction.. The fact that the sum of £97 4s was collected at championship matches shows what can. be done with care in this connection, and is an incentive to future efforts in the same direction. Expenditure has been low, and the small sum of £6 12s covers our entertaining bill, while a trip to Wellington for both seniors an d juniors, and a subsequent one to Palmerston and Wanganui, were un dertaken at an expepse to the Union of only £39 3s lOd. Your committee has, also, during the year purchased new jerseys for the'senior representative team, at a cost of £5 10s 9d. There are now no liabilities. Referees' expenses amounted to £5 18s lid, a small part of which amount will be charged to the respective clubs during the current season, and is a further contingent asset of the Union. The larger part of the amount represents dues held over from last season. Outstanding dues by clubs amounts to £7 3s, which is a good asset to the Union, payment of most of this amount having been guaranteed to the Union. Your committee has again to point out that this state of affairs should not exist, and clubs should be more prompt with their payments. The season was not a particularly good one from the point of view of representative matches and results, though the standard of the club contests, in both junior and senior fixtures, was very high. The Masterton Club were again successful in thejsenjor championship, after an interesting contest. The junior championship was again won by the Tuhirangi Club, who have now wori the Junior Banner. It is to be regi etted that this dub has now disbanded. This club has generously offered to hand back the Banner for future competition. It is to be regretted that the fixture with the Thursday Union was not arranged, .especially as our Union was entitled to the gate receipts. The weakness of Thursday football last season was the cause of the match falling through. An effort should be made this year to fulfil our Southern engagements, [should funds he available, and players should keep 'the prospect of a visit to the South Island in view. The junior representatives were unsucc< isful in the game against Wellinf on. For this meagre display thosr players who failed to travel must ! e held responsible. It is little en ouragement to the Union to arrange junior representative fixturesjif the players do not ■display a more lively interest in the games. The insurance fund is in •credit to the extent of £2O 3s, though

then; are some outstanding claim s chargeable against it. The committee recommends that the previous insurance rules be adhered to. The Thursday's Union's guarantee of £5 still .stands as a contingent asset for this fund, which must therefore be regards! us being in a sound position. Some temporary investment of this fund is recommended, such as deposit at call in a Building Society or in the Post Office Savings Eank. Seven meetings of the Management Committee were held, which were attended as follows: —Messrs A. B. Charters 7, G. W. Sellar 7, D. K. Logan 6, J. Nicholls 5, A. Balfour 4, E. McKenzie 4, D. Udy 2, T. Hoar 1, and T. IVlcMaster 1. The thanks of the Union are due to Messrs W. C. Buchanan, E. M. D; Whatman, J. McMaster, W. E. Bidwill, J. H. Pagni and J. Prentice, who gave donations, to the Union. Regret is to be expressed at the retirement of Mr J. H. Pagni as our delegate to the New Zealand Union, made necessary by his removal to Auckland. Mr Pagni's long services' to the Union in this connection should be placed on record.