NEARLY A FIASCO.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVI, Issue 183, 3 August 1915, Page 7

NEARLY A FIASCO.

NORTHERN TTNION FINAL. SQUABBLE OVER THE REFEREE. THE HATCHET BURIED. '" Five minutes before the kick-off a deadlock which threatened to make .Saturday's final of the Auckland Northern Cnion championship a fiasco was averted by the good sense of the officials, referees and players. As was briefly indicated by the report of the proceedings of the committee of the Auckland Rugby League held last Wednesday, the City Club raised objection to the selection of the 'Appointment. Board of the Referees' Association. which has the power to choose the referees for matches held under the .League's auspices. The position then outlined was, that the City Club had applied to Mr. R. Benson, the chairman of the League and of the Referees' Association, requesting that gentleman to officiate iv the match between the Rovers ami (Irafton Athletic on Victoria Park. Mr. Benson declined, but at a meeting of the Referees' Association last Monday night a suggestion was received from the Grafton Club that Mr. L. S'ie.ld should be appointed. In order to avoid any difficulty the Association decided to appoint the senior referee. Mr. A. Ferguson. CITY DISsATR-FIED. : This compromise, however, did not i satisfy the City Club, for at the League (meeting their delegate, Mr. R. Pollock. 1 objected to the appointment on tha • grounds that Mr. Ferguson had evinced i bias against the City Club and bad I publicly expressed opinions concerning i one or two players. Mr. J. Fielding. one of the members of the Referees' Association, objected to a proposal made by Mr. Pollock that the Appointment Board .should be asked to revise its decision and appoint Mr. Nield. while other delegates stated that they had never heard Mr. Ferguson express opinions of the nature referred to. Still another delegate stated that it had been reported to him that the City Club had decided not to take th'c field if Mr. Ferguson was in charge. litimatelv. in order to avoid a deadlock, it was der-ided to make the suggestion with Tcferoner to the appointment of Mr. Nield. As a result of the Management Committee's decision a Special meeting of the Appointment ißoard was called the following day. Contrary to the wishes of the othejmembers Mr. Ferguson expressed his willingness to retire in order that tho game should not lie prejudiced, and eventually a resolution was recorded to the effect that the selected referee had voluntarily given way in the interests of the League. At the same time the meeting could not fee its way dear to arrcpt. the sugg-stion of the League in regard to the appointment of Mr. Nield. and it was derided to ask Mr. Murray to take the responsibility of Teferecing the match. This step, however, was followed hy •mother impisse. which came in toe shape of an intimation from the Urntton ( lub that it* members would decline to play under Mr. Murray. Accordingly towards the end of the week it became nece*snry for the League to hold a sp"rinl meeting to again . consider the mutter. A« fh« oiitenbie of this meeting the Management Committee decided to take upon itself the task of appointing 'the referee, and hy a small majority voted Mr. NiPld to the position. REFEREES REVOLT. i Rut this time they had miscalculated the temper of the referees. On Saturday it bevame kne.i n that the whistlers were not aequice-cing in the new arrange ment. and trouble was feared. Karly In the afternoon before the curtain-raiser was commenced. Mr. Benson made an urgent request to the referees to curry out the programme of the day. Nevertheless tho position was so acute that it was deemed advisable lo reopen the I whole matler. An intimation was received from the City Club that its mom ; bcrs had unanimously agreed to take the field under Mr. Fergiiisoii and abide by i hit- decisions. Accordingly a ha~ty emcrj gencv meeting of the vommittee was , called in the dressing rooms. Mr. Ferguson was reappointed to the position a i few minutes before the advertised time of kick-off. and Messrs. Nield and Wes- - ton undertook the duties of line-men. ' After that matters went smooth, and . the Ijeague. clubs, and referees are now lilt a fair "way to bury the hatchet, as is , revealed by the subjoined report of n meeting of the Referees' AssoJation i held last night under the chairmanship of Mr. Benson. | . The Chairman, after reviewing the ! events of lost week, expressed gratifica--1 I tion at the fact that before the tins] the ] City Club, who were the objectors, apj proached Mr. Ferguson and asked him to I take the match. The difficulty was thus I happily overcome. FUTURE ACTION. I Mr. R. McDonald, a member of the Auckland League, explained that the League wanted to satisfy both teams, and personally he thought that in the case ol" a final, "where both teams had so much nt stake, the Auckland League should in future appoint the referee, so that there would be no danger of » deadlock. Mr. R. Pollock, the City delegate to the Auckland League, observed that the - idea had got abroad that the discussion i at the Ijcapur meeting was a slight on the Referees* Association. He assured the Association, as one of the movers in the matter, that that thought was furthest from his mind. The idea was that the further they got away from the ordinary Satnrdav afternoon appointment the better it would be for the final. He was-only voicing the opinio:* of the City Club when he congratulated the Re- ' ferees' Association on the manner in which it had acted and the backbone it had shown. He also congratulated Hr. Ferguson on his refereeing. "We were beaten, and il "was our own fault," con- ' eluded the speaker. ( . ! CITY .SATISFIED. f Mr. A. Ashcr, captain of City Club, continued the conciliatory overtures. "The club has had several disagree- •■ rnents." but after last Saturday we shall '■ aiways be pleased to see Mr. Ferguson i as referee." he declared. Nest compliments were for Mr. Nield, the City Club delegare rising to express appreciation for his sportsmanlike conduct in immediately standing do-wn in favour of Mr. Ferguson. In reply to the chairman, who asked if the League still desired the referees to make the appointment. Mr. Pollock observe* that the whole thing was a storm in a teacup, but it had had a happy-result in that it had joined Mr. Ferguson and the City Olub in brotherhood. Rereonadlyisihe did not think the wdsh* ; ..-^tbff Sgjereegr-ggKi ■ 1?

i Mr. McDonald supported Mr. Pollock's view. Nevertheless Mr. Cailthorpc wag constrained to ask for a more definite pronouncement as io the relationships ol the two .bodies. Did the League dele- j gates mean that the Referees' Association should be recognised as competent to select, the men for all senior and junior matches' throughout the season, and yet incompetent to judge a suitable ninii'for the final? If so. he was right up against it. Mr. McDonald confessed that that was to dome extent his view. He thought the Referees' Association should hava the detached judgment of an outsider to nssist it. • After further discussion the topic was dropped. . .„.