LEAGUE RUGBY.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 92, 25 May 1914, Page 2

LEAGUE RUGBY.

SATURDAY'S GAMES.

The following table shows the positions pf teams engaged in the Thacker Shield Competition:,

From the above table it will be seen that Sydenham, last year's premiers, are again to the fore, Linwood and Addingtoh tie for second position, with one win and one draw a-piece,' while St. Albans occupy last place. Next Saturday will probably see tlie newly-formed city team in the field, and if report speaks truly they are going to effect a decided rearrangement in the table before the competition, ends. a ding-dong go. ; ;

Though : Addington, as anticipated, emerged losers from; their contestj with LinwQpdvthey were not disgraced. Bight from the very ."jump ading-4ong go between the two • teams,;, ijifleed, at one stage it looked, very much as if, the wearers of the black-and white jerseys wojildi get home. (The game.. a rather, peculiar one, as the tide of battle flowed, first, one. way, and then another. A. score by«Linwopd. would be imih,e--diately by . a:score on. the part" of Addington; and so it went on. < Jt was anybody's game until H. Shanks put Lijiwood ahead by kicking, that last: goal ; of his, and Smith.'s try following settled the question [finally., - v IMPROVED BACKS. Back and forward' Linwood were a better team than they were when defeated by' Sydenham a fortnight ago, though it was in the former that one could detect the greatest ( improvement. 'TttSi'r . idea, of combination was • bxtjeL, lent ; but their actual passing liiig stilly leave ' to be., ,desir)B<t. Steady ; passing practice -would_ , work wonders. . -iow played a! rattling, gaflxe at ~fiveeighths, .and was full of dash from start to finish, thquglji; was still, a ten:, diqiicy 1 . on his jacr,6'ss of sit&ghC;.OjnljK at ifixmes, be it- said,; lipwfjver, at .centre three-quar-, ter, ran stlrongly, b'iitjjyas s,elfish' Jt intentietially, ; , per^ajp^' but ,he' ,oft^ ; waited,' just a,,SracjtiQn,,too long sending, the .to 'fijjfl, supports., M .wing" if .apt brilliant. Thefirst, try. .Linwood secujed came froxn i his determined -dash dowji tjie!,' judged cross-kick '/to, ..the centre- Lavery. .made a cool and, generally.; safe full-back.. lij. the forward? 8.. Shank,s and. H. Shanks were ever in the van, while A. too, battled hard, throughout.,, Like ; his 1 name§ake, , v however/. he .displayed , ah. ioy ejjrf tain try was lost by him '.through* ,'trns ; fauit, ;* .; v ": : The Addington backs were not ; .sure in. their combination as ■ were, Linwpod, whjle ; theii- handling .' was defeptiy.e. of the work fell on Hariling.r ham..|hougt he Vas admirably backed, U P .by Asiiton and Lugen, the latter, shifted from the forwards. Hardingham had a knack of turning up when his: services yfeve needed, as Stokes found to his qpst. • Watts ;at : half-back wa^ : nippy and. smart, but he was s4low,e^ t try which should jnever have been The ball had been, taken down to ;the Linwood line whep& Watts secured. .The whistle sounded .clearly, but" the Addington.half went straight on, and to everybody 's surprise, the referee ruled .a try. M'Gettrick, wing three-quarter, proved himself a good man at the end of a passing rush, and it was extremely bad luck for Addington when an injury to his leg. necessitated his retirement at half-time. Flatman, Nuttall and Reid were the pick of the forwards. Though Sydenham secured a victory over St. Albans by a margin of 24 points the difference between the teams w;as hardly as great as the scores woijld indicate. There was some excellent individual , play in the St. Albans raxiks, but they failed in combination, whereas Sydenham was particularly , strohg iii; combination and following up, though A. Smith was an exception on Saturday and Would have helped his side better if lie had passed more often instead of trying to get through on his own. W. Btissell/B.Bussell, W. Smythe ahd/E. ,Gasson did particularly good work for Sydenham, while W. Mitchell was the star player for St. Albans, his: effective collaring being largely the reason wlxy Sydenham's score was not larger. He was fairly well backed by V. Boon, P. White and Manehera, who were fine in defence. More active co-operation, however,:would have made them equally effective in attack. ■ • . ■

MEETING OF CANTERBURY CENTRE. The weekly meeting of the Canterbury Rugby League was held on Saturday evening, and was attended by Dr Thacker (president), Messrs A. 33. Hooper (chairman), L. F. Simpson, C. 11. B. Poore, B. J. Gapes, D. Buchanan, F. Moore, A. .T. Harper, F. J. Stevenson, A. Griffiths, H. W. Bryns, H. Falgar, and \V, Moyle. The secretary of\ the hew.ly-foririe.d City .Clu]} (Mr F.. D. Harvey) wrpte, askijiig for affiliation to the CentrQ. Mr Moylts moved, and Mr Stevenson seconded, that the request be granted. The motion was carried unanimously. The chairman then welcomed Messrs E. L. Button, F. D,.Harvey", and C. T, Taylor as delegates from the City Club. He congratulated them on their enterprise, and hoped that their club Avould have, a successful career, and that the members Avould do their best to further tlje interests of the League game , in Christchiircli. "Messrs Button .and Taylor briefly re: plied. ... i The .secretary of the 'New Zealand Council wrote that at the next meeting of the council a resolution would .be moved that the gross takings in Northern Union Cup matches be equally divided, each team to bear its owu expenses, ahrl that the 2i per cent, payable to the' New Zealand League be ■b'brne' equally.' ■ • At the previous meeting of the Canterbury' League it had been decided to Support a motion that 50 per cent, of the

'»ej K (5" *g'" JS.g % At ? '53 5 *• o V-t 03 Pts. ags Cup pts, Sydenham 2 -: 2 0 o. 45 ; 8 ,4 Linwood ... 2 l. f l 0 21 30. 2 Addington 2 l l 0 44 33 ' 2 St.' Albans , 2i , ' v o 1 2" 0 20 59 1 0