LEAGUE CODE.

Auckland Star, Volume LVI, Issue 93, 21 April 1925, Page 9

LEAGUE CODE.

THE SEASON OPENS. One doesn't expect to see the best foot- ] all in the opening matches of any season, nd it came as a surprise to League nthusiasts when such fine exhibitions were rovided by certain of the club teams on i iaturday. Rarely does it happen that a. | earn near the bottom of the list one i eason will come out the next year and ump right into the limelight. And there { eems little chance of anything of the sort ceurring this year; in fact, though only ne series of games has been decided there I s every indication of the 1924 battles eing fought over again. With Marist (fothers, the champions of twelve months go," away in Christchurch. they were not I een in action, but the Christchurch { larist Old Boys' team is a pretty good ! ne, and the fact that the local thirteen i eat them 16 to 7 is solid evidence that he Tykes are going to be a stiff proposition or the best to undertake. Next Saturday •) ■eing Anzac Day, the second series of Hatches will not be played till May 2, nd we shall have to wait till then to see ] he 1924 champions in action. By the way, before getting down to last latnrday's games, it may be well to touch n one or two items that the Management ,'ommittee might put right. This year, wing to there being eleven teams in the enior competition, it was decided to divide hem into two divisions, A and B. The act must not be lost sight of that the lay this, season will have an important earing upon which players will be selected o tour England next year, and it is not : nlikely that there may be players in those • earns competing in the B division who re as good, perhaps better, than some in | he A division. They are entitled to every' onsideration, and no doubt the selectors. .-ill see to it that they get it, but this i 9 ot likely to be if the captains of the earns neglect to have the names of the layers on the programme. With only a ew exceptions, the members of the lllerslie. Mangere, Northeote and Kings- , md teams are quite unknown at Carlaw •ark, and they are likely to remain so nless the personnels of the teams are in he programme. The Pressmen, too, would ppreciate it. as it is quite impossible to o the players justice without having a list f the names. Perhaps somebody will see , he omission is rectified on Saturday week, j 'he programme was quite all right in the i ast: let it be as good now the Auckland .eague are running it themselves. Number , wo complaint Is that 3.15 p.m. is not three "clock. and never will be. Perhaps ecause, vide the song, when it's night ime in Italy it's Wednesday somewhere lse, the League thinks fifteen minutes re not here nor there, but the point is hat matches are timed to start at 3 p.m., I nd somebody should see it is so. On paper the City-Ponsonby game on No. ground at Carlaw Park promised the best ! ootball. because it has long since been j ecognised that both these teams prefer i> have speed rather than weight. Again, I hey go in for the bright, snappy football, ' he short, sharp passes so dear to the heart i f the fans. We were all prepared to ; lake every allowance for Saturday being ■ be first game of the season, and therefore rere hardly expected for the pace set by oth teams, but sustained only by City. ,Ast season the "Ponies" were not so strong s in previous years, and it would spein j here is ajiother lean year before thpm nless they can unearth one or two players o give- them added strength. There was I possibility of a prominent League j layer from England joining the blue and i lacks, but he is unable to play till .Tune. , igain, Gardiner, of last year's Murist I trothers , . team, is desirous of throwing in tie lot with Ponsonby, but his transfer j ras not put through. It has been said , he transfer may not bo granted, but the j 'onsonby delegate on the A.R.L. will no' oubt be anxious to know the reason. On ' he other hand, City 'fielded n very strong; earn of experienced players, a team which rill shortly' be strengthened by the incluion of McDonald, one of the League's star orwards last year. A Kugby player in Vardlow was the only stranger in the I earn, and though- it was his first game of | .eague, he made a very creditable showingn the wing in the three-qnarter line. He, iay not possess the pace of Geo. Davidson, | ;ho has given • the - game best, but. he is, olid enough, and possesses the necessary: ttacking grit. For a time, throughout the first spell. In ict, I'onsonliy did really well, and were nly two points down (5 to 3) when the, anie was resumed after the interval, [owever. there had-been, a rearrangement t the City backs, and L. Brown, who had een on the win?, came iii to partnet S'etherill at five-eighths, wnile Crewttier cut out to the wing. Xot that'Crewther ad not -been doing well, but the move was one to speed-up the wort nearer.the pack., he judgment was good, and the additional nap and nippiness given to the attack had onsonby completely beaten. ' Never in the scpnd half did the "Ponies"' look to have chance, and rattling on tries and goals ity eventually ran. out winners by -? pints to S. a margin quite justified on the lay. It was the pace that beat Ptfnsonoy, nd beat them badly. On., the City side the' best back on the round was L. Brown, and this was very ronounced in attack. Wethertll played his sual solid game. and. -Crewther was reponsible lor some fine work. ,He is just aclined to be a little selfish, and bat foi his, is one of the best Dacks playiu? .eagne. In defence there are few as gdoU I s he. B. Davidson, who is generally"tho < ife and soul of the backs, was rUht out f form, and his sbowin; was a long way ■clow what he can give. Mitchell, behind he pack, was solid.- rather than brilliant, nd E. Brown, at fulliwck. made no misakes. The pack worked nurd and wei«. he best of the forwards being Townsend nd' Thomas. Ponsonby introduced to the crowd a full>aek in Herewini, who was at once dubi>eci •Nepui" by tie fans. He got through his ob satisfactorily, but he was a very busy nan, and was bustled hard and often. The hree-quarter line was disappointing, ana heir play was too ragged aud erratic to lo any good. IJiley. till he retired, ana Jonovan, the live-eighths, each worked lard and started several promisinz atacks, but the necessary snpport was not ortheoming. T. I'ecknani, behind the pack, ras quite good. The forwards got vevy tttle chance to shine out, bein™ beaten all n-r W ll- "? y tbe City van suard. Oni-e or wlee Shirley got in the spotlight, but his •lay was not consistent, iind Stevens und agan did better work. -Nobody seriously thought Richmond liad chance of ueiuing Ou atter's ground, and it was uo surprise to earn that the home team had.,scored an Ihe Devonport team was that of last eason, except that Harrisou and rer.e missing, and two newcomers in K. icott and Dixou were included. The "^k 1 ":,,-"' 110 a PP ear ed la the backs, was tot brilliant, hut Dlxon, a Rugby forward ast year, played a fine game, and justified :is inclusion in a pack which already is omposed of a vigorous set. As was the ase last year, Devonport will mainly rely ipon the forwards to win the matches, .nts does not mean that the backs are reak, but they may not. all round, com•are with the City rearguard, especially in ttack. Richmond apparently has not imToyed. any since last season, but the team s one that never says die, and when the eason is further advanced may brin<* off . surprise. In the B division a lot of the interest in he matches was lost because of the ■mission to pnblish the names of the 'layers on the programmes. Ellerslie and langere met on No. 1 gronnd, and the ormer had an easy win by Xβ points to 3. ne Mangere players were willing enouzh. >nc their play was too erratic, and there ras nothing savouring of combination in heir display. . There is v true saying that one must rawl before ho walks, and when tlie infanc •.Infos, 'Kingslaud and Xorthcote, met, more hau passing interest was tascen in the conest. Born teams were making their first appearance in League football, and thoifgh hey did not have that polisa about their •frorts whu-h the' veterans have, there was nfflcient in the display to promise better aings. The Kingsland team brought oir nany fine movements, and with a little nore experience will do well. The material s there, and it only requires fostering. The victory of Auckland Marist Brothers >ver their Christehnreh brothers, at Christhureh, is ample proof that our club cham>ions of last year are going to play a proninent part aiain in tne local competition. Fheir first game in Auckland will be against )evonport on Saturday week, and those vho remember the stirring battles between hese teams a year ago will be at Carlaw J ark. In the past Devonport have always ilayed the first round at. tiie SUpre, buc >erhaps .the League will; arrange ; for the ;ame on Saturday week to be staged at the J ark. Newton put up a really hard light Lgainst Athletics.on N0..2 ground, particuarly in the first half, when the score was !o—lo in favour of Athletics. In the iecond spell Athletics played up better and idded another IS points, while Newton rontributed a further 10. Dufty played his isnal hard jrame. his long line kicking )eing a feature of the game. Out of the IS points scored by Athletics, Dufty% who )layed a great game as centre-threequarter, tontributed 24 points. Jacky Lang, wh<i ast-year donned the Marist jersey, was of he greatest assistance to Athletics on iaturday. All the others worked hard. Vlthough beaten. Newton were by no means ljsgraced, for they played a hard game ami hould be seen to better advantage as the eason advances. Mansill and Polsofli were he- pick, of the backs, .white Stack.- Clarke, Somers and Brown were the of the orwaraSi---■- _■_ -_- _= .