NOTES AND COMMENTS

Evening Post, Volume CXVII, Issue 148, 25 June 1934, Page 4

NOTES AND COMMENTS

THE PLAYERS REVIEWED

.Wellington Old Boys have frequently . beeritgiv'en credit for'being a team quick ipi take Advantage of opportunities preserited'|to thehi by, the opposition, but it is doubtful whether full recognition has been given to the cleverness with which many of those opportunities are engineered. Frequently in their match against Marist on Saturday Old Boys brought the crowd to its feet with moves which weie buiftly conceived and as swiftly exequted, only sound tackling and a medbuie of luck sa\mg Marist having their i line crossed more often. ' At one stage an exceptionally v ell-sustained attack saw the Manst line threatened at one point aftei another m quick succession,

A team ■nhich takes the field piepaied to fbllow.-'i a definite ;plan has its battle half won, and when- Old Boys opened out against Marist it was. quickly apparent that the playeis knew what was expected of them, and they- jiroceeded .to carry their instructions out in a manner that uas at disconcerting to their opponents as it was enteilainuiß to-ihe spectatois. "Follow up and back up" weie piobably their coach's last words, and, wjth an amount of dash that hab not been equalled in their recent engagements, they hained Marist foie and aft, so much so that though they were facing a stiff breeze they were mostly on the offensive. * * * •

At the conclusibh ' ofL^the ■ Old :: BqysMarist match a sectipn'of-thexrowd/roa'red "Well played, Sadler!" and the tribute, to Oldj'Boys' littleV._half-back was ■wellearned. Despite liis'trip to Hawera for the midweek representative match Sadler ■was a bundle of energyi-from s the word go, and the expedition with •which he got the men outside him under^-.way, and his general nip'piness, combined to make his display outstanding. '■<■"-£?• ■ . ■ ■.!.

.Whenever there is the::lik'elihood o£'% score the Old Boys forward, citf generally; be relied uponrto' be on hand, and on Saturday he would'!>have needed only-'-a'little', more luck td-^haVe, collected ■at least ■three: tries. Once'•■in'the first spell the referee, ruled that there .were too manyChands-pn.the ball, and ;;o'n,?another occasion'it. *as: ruled that McNeile lost possession' as* he was thrown overt on the goal-line. ■ '•."' !

Marist inust be considered a little unfortunate in finding Old7;Boys right on their game on Saturday, and; they deserve high marks for the manner; jii*\vhich they checked;.the many advances'-.made towards I their .line, and,particulai-ly-ipr the;'strongfinish, they made Hn;I'a^- gruelling ';■game. Though lacking their'opponents'- dash1 the forwards played a solid game, and won the! ball from a majority of the scrums. The backs were sound without being brilliant, although Robins' and rSlcGreevy provided some fireworks. '•' ~-'•■■' ;' ;*•'• :•■

O'Connor, half-back-for, Marist, was oveiv shadowed' on "Saturday by. Sadler (Old ■Boys),-but nevertheless herfollowed; sound lines, and was a"trier air:the'way.™ r He did his best to pull the game out of the fire by scoring .a try in the last minute, and previously Shad cruefi.'luck''^yhen he. broke "through with Fitzgerald :in ■support; ajid was':rpbbed'v6f a';try;.near.itlie posts' through the iliall bouncirig^-unfayourablyi, ,';>

.Stiver is'an extremely^ iiSeful utility man] in the Marist team. Heihas a .keen sense!1 of anticipation, and the speed necessary to turn it to the fullest advantage, and; can handle and kick with considerable skill. ' It was hard luck for Marist ,that after he had been moved to full-back to replace Ericsson, who left: thefield with an injured leg, he should himself have to; go off as the result of a* knock on the nose.- : ■. ."'.> i.; ■ ' \

Coulston was Hutt's outstanding.forward against St. Pat's and he worked tirelessly from start to finish. His hooking was almost perfect, Hutt obtaining the ball from every set scrum. In the loose play, also, he was particularly noticeable iand hia smart following-up was a feature ;■()£ the play." In this respect he setan^ex-l ample which could have been well emu-: lated by his team-mates. i

*-•••' j^AIs^ttie^a.^.line"»f'deWc'e^arl^&alJp:ut^ij did T all that', wa^:- required ofc^hirnj, -a^p ma'de'.no:'mistakes; Injthe first ■spell ;|fe-'i peeially he" was( given 'plenty'to'do and gained much territory by his forceful and accurate line kicks. His resourcefulness was"' well displayed when,''' with four "niinleft for play, he capped off a brilliant display by "potting" a goal from a difficult angle.

For the first, twenty minutes'of She first spell of the match between Athletic and Poneke at Newtown Park it seemed there was the possibility of a pleasing measure of the all too rare open -^typTe '% oi jplayi" There was pne try■■Vh'icH ■\Vate.:the;^ulminatiori. of a iinartly-execute'd moyemerit by the Poneke backs, the ball travelling out with snap and precision from Julian, the half, to the two five-eighths, and. then on to McKay, for the centre to make a/deep thrust and Ball to supply the finishing touches.' 'It was a' grand try. There was nothing like it, unfortunately,.' the remainder of the game; the rest was''just average, keen enough, • but with little sparkle. : » .

Playeis promoted to fill gaps have recently been giving good service for Athletic. Forbes, Berry, and English playedtheir respective parts well on Saturday. English's .appearance" is- apt to be a little deceptive; he is rather more virile than perhaps he looks. ■ ; n

Poneke suffered two casualties and there were others who had to receive attention in- the game with Athletic; and yet there was only one incident—during the second spell—to which a section, of the spectators took exception. Crichtpn and Stone, of the Poheke pack, were injured, and left the field.

TheEastbourne inside backs. Diamond and D. Plank, were good on occasions. Plank shone in some fine solo dashes, but was inclined to crowd his outside.men by cutting across the field.

Page played,at ; centre for Wellington in the first spell of the game against Eastbourne. He was too well marked by Foley, however,' to have much, latitude, and after the interval shifted in "ito second five-eighth. J. Dellabarca proved a thorn in his side in this position and he had few opportunities to do much.

McGurk was impressive on the Petone wing against University. He took advantage of any opportunities that came his way, and put plenty of dash into his play. He was presented with a. "gift" try early in the game when Cormack punted; the ball into his hands, but later on the fullback brought the winger down a number of times. * Euru was again the outstanding University back, both on attack and defence, although he^was, inclined...to kick to.,the. line too much instead of feeding his wings. He has considerable penetrative ability as centre':I' three-'q'uarter': * Rafe, 'as half-back, stagedva return to form, one or two of his runs being brilliant. Thurston, the first five-eighth, also, showed out:': : ; * * ■ ■' '*"" "»'••' ■'-■ Jack Lamason; has gained a reputation recently for, playing a type of game/at least approaching that of the unpopular wing-forward, but on Saturday Old Boys' official rover was • Grenfell, who made a good' showing. Lamason, McNeile, and Bj'dder, as well as other members of the pack, saw to it, however, that; Grenfell did not have to\ operate on his own. : • * .* * '■;■■'■ Several times -i an excellent sense of' anticipation was shown by Ward, the Poneke forward/ against • Athletic. But! for his skill in ithis connection, nothing would have prevented Diack, the Athletic wing-three-quarter, scoring on one occasion. Of the other members •of the Poneke pack, Quaid and Ongley were usually in the thick of things. ■ ■■ .' '

Leahy was one of Marist's best forwards against Old Boys, and if he continues to show his.present form;he will have to be considered for representative honours. He is of the robust type that the Wellington scrum requires, and is a very heady player.

• No, player Jin the \Hutt-St; Pat's match, deserves more credit than" Stevenson, who gave a dashing display and was brilliant .on-defence, -5 JJ= 3Eas-onl^v.the • speed..andJ

quick thinking on the part of Stevenson that averted many a. .dangerous situation for. Hutt. ■ Unfortunately, lie was riot'afforded many opportunities in the first spell to test the defence, but his powers "of penetration were well manifested in the latter part of the game. "" '■•■• '■,'■