SPORTS TOPICS

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 58, Issue 281, 8 September 1938, Page 3

SPORTS TOPICS

ITEMS OF INTEREST. CALENDAR OF COMING EVENTS. (“By Flagpole.”) Saturday— Rugby Football (third grade matches). Men's Hockey. Women’s Hockey. Coif. N. F. Cooper, fornier holder of the Auckland one and three miles records, and also the New Zealand record over the latter distance, will leave shortly for the south, where he has accepted a business engagement. Lord Tennyson, former English test captain, who touched at Melbourne on the Empress of Britain, inspected the Melbourne cricket ground. Praising the appointments he remarked that he knew of no cricket ground with superior seating accommodation. C. H. Matthews the brilliant Canterbury, New Zealand and Empire distance i running champion had the misfortune to break his arm recently in Christchurch, and the coming track season is likely to be well advanced before ho is able to get into training again. The recent contest for the world’s 'boxing championship between Joe Louis and Max Sc'hmeling was supposed to have realised £70,000 for the former and £30,000 for the German. Jt is reported on reliable authority that Schmeling actually received 12,0(10 dollars, or £2400. It has not transpired what sum was paid to the champion. A member of the 1935 New Zealand Maori team, C. McKinley of the North Shore Rugby Football Club, will shortly return to Gisborne. He came from there last year and joined the North Shore Club’s senior team. As the team’s centre three-quarter he has played some excellent football in Auckland, and East Coast followers will welcome his return.

M. A. Gordon, the well-known Canterbury Soccer representative, is being transferred to Wellington. Gordon played in Christchurch for the Technical Old Boys and Western Clubs. When a member of the Western senior side, he assisted greatly toward winning the Chatham Cup. In 1936, he captained the Canterbury team that won the Football Association Trophy from Auckland.

Of the 43 points scored in the OtagoSouth Canterbury Ran fur ly Shield match recently., 34 were the result of goal-kicks, a rather remarkable feature. Eighteen of Otago’s 27 points came directly from the boot, two field goals and a conversion by Trevathan and two penalty goals and a conversion by Taylor, and South Canterbury’s 16 points were all produced by Morrison, with four penalty goals and one potted goal. C. Weller, of Palmerston North, holder of the New Zealand crosscountry title for the past two years, recorded another fine performance in retaining his West Coast title at Palmerston North recently. Ho is running in his very top form again this season and his comfortable win indicated that lie will take a lot of beating when defending his national title at New Plymouth.

The latest effort of the English middle-distance runner S. C. Wooderson in establishing a new world’s record of lm 49 1-os for half a mile stamps him as the outstanding performer in his class to-day. He created these figures on the same ground, Hotspur Park, as he made his mile record of 4m 6 3-5 s last year. In analysing W coder.son’s half-mile figures, it is ascertained th»at he covered a little over eight yards per second. This is only two yards slower than a sprinter who runs 100 yards in “evens”—a meritorious performance.

The New Zealanders regard Griffiths as their safest and soundest back, said a writer in the “Sydney Sun,” commenting upon the third and filial test between the All Blacks and Australia. He might be, but there is nothing inspiring about' his play. His way of getting out of any trouble, is to find the line. Good play for his side, certainly, but not for the onlookers. Griffiths was most to blame for the occasional outbursts of ironical applause heard from some of the spectators;

L. K. Heazlewood has created a New Zealand record in Rugby football in having represented all four major provinces. as well as both the North and South Islands. He first gained representative honours for Otago, and then Wellington, Auckland and Canterbury in turn. Heazlewood retired last season and this year took up the task of coaching the Linwood senior fifteen in Christchurch. He filled a vacancy on one occasion and then carried on, to greatly assist Linwood in winning the Canterbury Rugby Union’s senior championship. His form was so good that when Nolan, Canterbury’s fullback, was injured, the selector called upon Heazlewood. This honour forms a fitting climax to the career of. a. capable and verv likeable footballer.

Many of the players in the Indiart Soccer team at present touring Australia prefer to take the field barefooted. Slimly built, they possess a style different from any previously seen in Australia. Their tackling is unorthodox, for instead ,ol going straight up to opponents, they Must to their speed to cut across and take the ball in their stride. Their positional play is faultless and tapping the ball along the ground in clever passing movements, they take it close to goal before shooting. When hard, long kicking becomes necessary, these barefooted Indians can show points to those specially shod. The ball is irequently kicked 50 yards.