FOOTBALL.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 116, 16 May 1916, Page 8

FOOTBALL.

THE SEASON OPENS. NORTHERN UNION. Under entirely novel conditions the Northern Union football season opened locally on ; Saturday. The atmosphere "was completely speculative. Whether or not senior football would be far removed from junior quality no one knew; at the respective prowess of the teams entered in the various competitions one could only hazard a guess; of the capacity m senior football of half the players who were billed to appear most spectators were in complete ignorance. Such were the results of the changes in the ranks created by enlistments. Again, there was some little doubt as to the way in which -the public would judge ■the action of the League in deciding to hold senior competitions at this critical period >of the war. Would the public show open resentment. would it merely give the,game the cold and stony stare andV'liold aloof, or would it pass a verdict, that /the League had decided no more and no less than what was reasonable? THE ELIGIBLE MAN. Saturday afternoon quickly settled most of the pomte of query, and in re : gard to the policy of the League the verdict of the football-loving public was immediately indicated by the attendance at the match. The whirling arrow of opinion stopped. unquaveringly at ."approval." Fully 2,000 people were .present on Victoria Park, and their enthusiasm brooked'no doubt that they were giving the game a hearty welcome. Saturday's attendance -fully demonstrated that football, like racing, will draw the crowds in war as in peace, and that if the national susceptibilities aro touched national action must be taken. Leaving the broad question of war sentiment, and coming to the possible direct effects upon recruiting of the League's policy in permitting senior ' football, several important considerations arc raised. The arguments which induced the League to hold football pretty well as usual arc now familiar, and may be briefly summarised. They are: (1) That most senior players already have enlisted, and those participating this year will be either men under age or married and ineligible men; (2) that it is the duty of the State, not of football organisations, to judge the qualifications of men to servo their country: Any impartial and judicial analysis of the arguments for the League must concede that the first point has little "to it," as the Americans say. Whether a man jbe 21 or 20 years and 3G4 days on the opening day of the season, if 'he is a physically-matured individual arid relatively unhampered by responsibility, he , has no business on the football field. In the same way, family and financial responsibility can only be judged on'the merits of each individual case. The second point seems thoroughly sound, except that nn extremist might argue that the entire dropping of football would eliminate every eligible man. Even the stern disciples of the none-over-21 creed hesitate at this step. The position seems to be this: Tf the League is sincere in its desire to discourage eligible men its club officials, who are more intimate with the circumstances of the players,' will make it pretty clear to eligible men that they are not wanted. If, however, for the sake of maintaining its reputation a club winks at the presence of eligible men, the plea of the League will become farcical, and a stigma will attach to practically every player on the field. It is up' to the eligible man to get off the field before he is pushed off. SATURDAY'S GAMES. Although there was so much uncertainty prior to Saturday afternoon as to 'how the teams would shape, rumour had it that Newton Rangers and City Rovers were both strong-, while Graftoii Athletics could only be relied upon to put an indifferent side into the field. The result of Saturday's games showed that if the reputation given by rumour to Newton really is. correct, the prowess of Graf ton was hopelessly inaccurately gauged, and that the team is really a. phenomenal one. In point of fact, however, it may be taken for granted that no side will-he up to /a. \ good senior standard this yeari." • jig woiild be injudicious to hazard iin "opinion as to the respective merits; of-; the clubs on the strcnprtli of one afternoon's play, although one probably would not he far off the mark in prophesying that there will be no team of } outstanding and overwhelming superiority. Newton •have deceived the football public too often by their feeble openings to be judged by Saturday's results, while in the other matches the margin of points gives no sound <*'ue to the ultimate strength of the teams. By and large, it may be observed that Saturday's play must be much improved upon to warrant the designation of senior football, but the poor quality may be largely accounted for by nervousness and lack of confidence on the part of new and junior players, and the general absence of organisation and combination that invariably marks the opening of the season. As to the capacity of promoted youngsters, as well as of the shaping of old stagers, here again it would be unwise to pass judgment on games which afforded no real test. There is reason to bclievr that none of the cluhs have done really serious training practice, and the "mufTs" of Saturday—and, heavens, ■their name 13 legion— may be the lions of the season. OTAHUHU V. NORTH SHORE. Considering that it was the first game of-»>ie season, the form displayed by Otahuliu and their visitors. North Shore, at Otahuhu, gave much promise. The game was not by any means a good exh&ition of Northern Union, but it had its interesting and exciting patches. Both teams showed a very obvious lack of combination, and there was a great deal of faulty handling that spoiled chance after chance. There was some remarkably good play by promoted fourth-graders, a couple of whom showed promise of making very smart players. Taken altogether, the game was fast and evenly played, and there was a very pleasing spirit of friendliness that kept play_ as clean as could be vrished.

GRAFTON ROMP HOME. Graf ton had no difficulty in opening the season "with points in hand at the expense of Newton. In the first half the red and whites made a good showing against the' cross breeze, their forward play being effective in suppressing the i liveliness of the opposing backs. Bennett was the mainstay of the red and white pack, and at times he made some really good openings. Most of these, however, went begging owing to the failure of the backs to give support in anything like a decent manner. With the half-time score 12 to 7, and the use of the breeze going to Newton in the final spell, there "were possibilities of a turn of the tide. Early in the game both sides had shown lack of condition, and none were more distressed than some of the Newtonites. The rest brightened up both teams, with the result that strenuous efforts were put forth by all'hands to add to the scores. Grafton succeeded to the extent of 21 points, but Newton floundered on without result, the final scores being 33 to 7. The winning side gave evidence of good material in the back division, Ifwerson being once more the centre-pin in the three-quarter line. McGregor, lies, and Marks also fitted in nicely with the combined play, and a little more practice should fit "them for spectacular deede. CITY ROVERS V. PONSONBY UNITED. There were many new faces amongst the two teams which turned out in front of the stand on Victoria Park, both City Rovers and Ponsonby United having had largely to draw upon their lower grades to fill up the ranks. Of the Ponsonby team. MeClymont, Jones, and Manning constituted the remnant of last year's side, while in the City 13 the two Ashers and V. Barchard were representative of the players of the previous season. The pace of" the game was willing throughout, and in the first ■half there was little to choose between the sides, despite City's lead. Changing over, Ponsonby stimulated their efforts, and reduced the margin to two points, but the pace soon told upon them, and City, who were the better stayers, wore decided masters of the situation in the lagt quarter of an hour. On the whole, the quality of play was very poorpoor even under the special circumstances. There was far too much kicking without any apparent object, while the disposition on the part of players to make tackling a WTOstling bout is one which should be sternly suppressed by the referee 3. The City line particularly offended in this respect. For City, E. Ashcr played a sound and reliable game at full-back, and Sutton, a newcomer, was a /useful man at five-eighths. Ponsonby seem to 'have an acquisition in Wilson, who played full-back for them on Saturday, while amongst their forwards Manning and Winters were solid and energetic workers.