RUGBY LEAGUE.

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 192, 16 August 1927, Page 16

RUGBY LEAGUE.

• r PONSONBY'S GOOD WIN.

FIGHT FOR CHAMPIONSHIP. TWO TEAMS IN LEAD. . NEWTON AND PONSONBY. The keen fight that, is proceeding for the Rugby League championship was advanced a further stage on Saturday, when Ponsonby eliminated the chance of Devonport, and remained level with Newton in the lead. Next Saturday Newton will meet Devonport, and Ponsonby will play Richmond. Should the leaders still keep in winning vein a playoff for tho championship will be necessary, and at the moment this appears to be a distinct possibility. The positions of the various teams are: Pts. Ch. T. W. L. D. For. Ag. Pts. JJewton 11 S 2 1 17!) 122 17 Ponsonby H s 2 1 K.S 100 17 Manst 11 - 4 — i.to 134 14 Devonport 11 T 4- 214 10S 14 Richmond U 4 6 1 l;« l-i .» City 10 2 7 1 113 IX2 r, Athletic 11 81 ao« 0

Right through the present season the League teams haxe had to battle against • adverse weather conditions, and although the rain held off fairly well on Saturday the arena was so soft that it soon -, churned up into a quagmire, which made . it almost impossible to display the most attractive features of the code. It is generally held that a good forward team will beat a team that relies largely upon ltd backs, but the fact was not in evidence in the Ponsonby-Devonport game, • for the reason that victory goes to the team that ia quickest to seize the opportunities that, the gods of chance offer. It was in strategy and team work that the men of the western suburb successfully countered a formidable forward . opposition, albeit the. fact that in the .Ponsonby.rearguard there were men who ••-.did sense the glimmer of an opening and g.o through. In the game Ponsonby sce'red three tries as against two recorded by Devonport, a conversion in no instance being recorded. Devonport got their points as ; the outcome of kick and follow methods, :. with a man up in time when the ball ■ crossed the goal-line. Two of the Ponsonby tries came from combined back play, the 1 >ird, save that one pass was • given, due to sheer individual effort on : the part of Gardiner, after a great exhi- . bition of determined running, crashing right through a low tackle that the Shore custodian put in on. the way. Jn the : other scores the elusive T. Peckham '•'■;. played the most prominent part. With a j. buret of speed from the scrum that was reminiscent of Jfohnny Rogers or Duncan . Thompson, he eluded all the Shore inside backs and finally gave a nice pass to Brother K., trailing in support, to finalise '' the family effort near the posts. Ponsonby's other try came from the best bit . of combined play seen on the Park this season—another quick break by T. Peck- - ham ,on the short side of the scrum, a ; transfer to Brother JL; a quickly whipped pass to the left as two Ponsonby forwards raced into line to support, finally a transfer to Usher, who came along the wing with full pace up. It was incisive attack of deadly kind—speed, crisp passing, sure handling—a combined thrust that .would have shattered the defence.of any Auckland club side. Deadly tackling—it was frenzied on occasions—marked'the game all the way through. Webb' repeatedly got the ball away to the Shore inside backs, but they were:; smothered by the quick-moving Ponsonby inside pair. The real trouble was that the Shore five-eighths played in too shallow a formation, and they persisted in orthodox methods when the occasion called for versatility,- and certainly at least exploitation of the slioct lateral kick to give their three-quarter line a chance .to get into action. Webb, who' played behind the Shore

pack, worked hard all the time, and although some blamed, him on occasions for cutting into the ruck and being caught in possession, it can at least be ►aid that he did use his head in an endeavour to-break the defence of the opposing backs. In their individual ways Seagar was dashy, Beattie, in the centre, displayed unsuspected defensive skill,and K. Scott chased any fleeting hope to the last ditch. At fullback Shore were not adequately served, ; Perry being a long way short of the requirements of a fullback.

In Dixon Devonport had a* forward who stood out like a champion, and he got excellent support from St.* George. O'Brien, Rule and Ruby, the latter railing in exuberant fashion and disclosing great sustained dash. .- •' -. ■'.-'• The inclusion of K. Peckham in the Ponsonby five-eighths line has given, the western suburb team the best-balanced back division'they have had during the past two seasons;^; On the day the whole seven gave their best, the only necessary note of criticism being that Gardiner still has the tendency sto iboye his wings; ori< attack instead =Ht>fgoiiig straight. Grey played a wonderfully, good game at iullback and was never at fault,ybut the outstanding back was certainly T. Peckliam, who at the moment has no rival amongst Auckland /half-backs. The ponsonby forwards founds they , were upf against » heavier papk and\thu9 showed, their\best work > the, loose. Ward was always prominent, but Hutt, Payne and Moore' ; were tireless workers.

./. A ONE-SIDED oaME,

As'the score of Avould indicate, Xcwton simply t. -unced Grafton Athletlt* on Saturday. Man. for man practicailyi and in all .''departments of the game' Newton were definitely superior. In tlie course , of the whole game Newton's line .was never seriously threatened, and it is doubtful whether Herewini was called on to "force" niore, than about twice. The wonder is that Newton's tally .was not .twice as big... It could quite easily have been so, b Newton were within striking' disti-...v j of Graf ton's line all the time. Beyond doubt there is good material in Grafton team and the players «»; made pf; the right stuff. What is

most lacking is weight and experience. In both these respects Newton had a big advantage over Grafton, and they pushed this advantage to its fullest extent. ; There were no noticeable weaknesses in the Newton rearguard,. nor in the van. Henry was in tip-top form and in the opening stages of the game he came witnin an ace of. scoring two or three times after dashing solo efforts. Somers was always handy when there was anything doing, but he was seen to best advantage in the second spell when Ms fast following up was most pronounced. Hall gave a good allround display and so did Clark who was Newton's chief try-getter. The Newton backs were full out and against a week defence gave a finished exhibition. Herewiui played his first game since his return from the South, and was sound throughout. This player has a nasty habit of hurdling his tacklers. A side-step would b.e far more effective and much safer. Herewini's dangerous hurdle resulted in Avery being carried away to the hospital on Saturday suffering from the effects of concussion. Dufty played wing-thrcequarters. and made good use of his weight. More than once it took two or three of the light Athletic boys all their strength to haul him down. Hargreaves on the other Aving possesses a big burst of speed and is a dangerous scoring man. The diminutive Morman is a wonder for his size. Hβ is a heady player, a good tackier and can run like a hare. McIntyre did all that was expected of him at half-back, while McLeod and Little were effective links an Newton's back division. Longville who is Crayon's last line of defence will eventually blossom out into a brilliant player. *Ho is hard worked .at present and consequently, makes plenty of mistakes. For this reason his talent is overlooked. Longville was reliable on Saturday, but showed the marked weakness of waiting for the bounce of the ball. Lucas showed what a consistent young player he is by playin» another good game. In spite of the fact that years of strenuous football are beginning to "tell with Avery he "is still as good as ever. He was playing excellently up to the time lie had to retire. •