RUGBY LEAGUE.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 131, 5 June 1928, Page 15

RUGBY LEAGUE.

REP. CANDIDATES. PLENTY OF TALENT. DEVON PORT LEAI) COMPETITION. With a draw and a loss in succession the English Rugby League team has not made an auspicious start in Australia, but with the improvement in team-work which come* from touring the visitors should be able to do better, and the results of the big matches ahead will be awaited with interest. Even at this late hour the itinerary for the tourists in New Zealand has not been officially announced, although tentative dat?s for fixtures in the Dominion have been jriven. Chief interest in Auckland centre* in the personnel of the prospective rep. team t°o meet the "Ambassadors of Empire." and the selector* choice when they pick a team to represent Auckland against South Auckland will probably give some indication of the final choice. The selectors will probably be faced with the difficulty of getting the cl<*»s of forward for the front row that is required, seeing that since last season two stalwarts in J. O'Brien (Marist) and >T. O'Brien (Devonport) have dropped out, and there is the obvious difficulty in finding fcwo players of similar physique and skill to take their places. Aucklanders have had previous experience of an English scrum, and particularly the front row, three stocky, 14st front-rankers, who pack like an arch with the laudable ambition of seeing that from the set scrums their backs shall sec plenty of the ball. Nor is there A loose forward of* the calibre of B. Avery in sight, and in passing it might be mentioned that when the New Zealand team was in England the critics there hailed him as the beat forward in the game. In club football this season both St. George and Somers have shown good enough form to warrant serious consideration when it cornea to choosing a hooker, while players of. the type of Hutt, Payne, Moisley, Clark and A. Scott should have a big say when It comes to making up the rest of the pack. There are quite a number of backs in Auckland who have shown marked versatility, and can play in any of several positions. •Should the choice of the selectors be Duftv as full-back, then a place must be found for Gregory closer up, as he is the one back who could not be left out of an Auckland rep. team picked on form. He is a very capable five-eighths although in Seagar, Prentice and Wetherill there is a good trio offering. The best form by a scrum half this season has been shown by Peckham, of Ponsonby, who, at the moment, is out of the game. Delgrosso, a utility player, has shown a remarkable return to form, while Webb's form last Satuwlay was quite convincing. For centre threequarter there are two players qf r real clays in List and Beattie offering, for one of the wings L. Scott, on form, must be well in the running. "The selectors will naturally seek the seven they think will team together and produce the best collective result; a difficult task in view of the fact that many of the best backs have been varying their positions in the club games. STILL IN THE LEAD. The game between' Ponsonby and Devonport was the best contest.se.pn in Auckland this reason, and has demonstrated beyond shadow of oubt that the crack team in Auckland at the moment is Devonport. They have lifted League to quite a different plane to that of several seasons past, some of their movements in the Ponsonby contcst recalling the wonderful interplay that was shown to Auckland spectators by New South Wales and Queensland teams, when names like Messenger, Harder, McKiv&tt, Farnsworth and Frawley loomed large in the land. A striking manifestation of return to form by Ponsonby, gave the match with Devonport an added interest, a stirring game was expected, and the spectators were not disappointed. Yet it was a match of strange phases, and at one time it looked as if Ponsonby would win easily. The Shoreites tqok the field without their hooker, St. George, but an accretion to their strength was the first appearance of Webb, who came back from the English tour a finished product as a League player. A notable absentee from the Pongonby side was Peckham, who is still on a holiday. Shore was the first to score, and Ponsonby drew level. The Western Siiburbs team went on to lead" 12^—5. Scoring then see-sawed in a remarkable mariner. Devonport led 13—12. then 18—12. A wonderful recovery saw Ponsonby again in the lead 19 —IS. Then Shore got the decisive try. Yet, in the concluding stage of the game, the seasideris quite outplayed their opponents. They began to get the ball from the set scrums, and their backs gave a dazzling display of speed and combination —League at its very, very best, scintillating play of a kind, that has not often been seen on a local ground, baffling and bewildering movements with the ball going firom hand to hand that stirred a big crowd to wonderful enthusiasm, play that would have shattered the defence'of any team less resolute than Ponsonby, for man took man, and the' tackling, was frenzied and deadly. Tne Seagar-Beattie combination was again a gTeut feature of the Shore back play. Seagar made wonderful openings, Beattie showed glorious pace and unselfishness, while L. Scott was the ideal wing, sure handed and always in position for a pass. Yet most of the play swung to the opposite wing, where Saxon shone, albeit lacking Just a little bit of the resolute finish on at least two occasions to finalise an attacking movement. Webb's display at full-back was reinin iscen t of Glen Thomas, tie full-back who delighted Aucklanders a few years back with his clever interpretation of positional play. A. Scott's brainy play and ability to link with his backs was a feature of the Shore forward play, Ruby positively while tli" >irhnired Dix<. >vis always wit- Jie fight was hi c:at. Had the Ponsonby backs risen to th(i occasion the result may have been different, but they were at sixes and sevewron occasions, and the fact that the wing t'irce-quarters rarely got a proper chance in collective attack. w?#» proof positive that the inside men could, not

adequately cater for their needs. The real weakness was close to the scrum. Moore, in a strange role, played quite well at half-back, but Cole showed only a shadow of the form t-bat won him a place in the N.Z. touring team. Delgrosso played with wonderful enterprise, was solid in defence, and clever in attack, but one swallow does jiot make a summer. Letton did some bright things, Usher ran with splendid dash whenever the ball came liis way, while Schofield, bereft of attacking chances, concentrated on defence, and his superb, clean, low tackling was quite a feature of the game. Thompson eerved the side admirably at full-back. Payne and Hutt were once more outstanding in the forwards, Ford confirmed the good impression he made in the previous game, while Stephens was also impressive. The result of the game leaves Ponsonby, the leaders in the competition with two clear wins, as next Saturday they have the bye. CITY'S OMISSIONS. Concentration on the insides and failure to adopt the principle of man-to-man tackling was largely responsible for City's overwhelming defeat on Saturday at the hands of the improving Marists complement. Their scheme of things of. TUahing in to smother Brady and Hassan, the Tykes five-eighths, might have proved effective had they only caught them in possession. The reverse was invariably the rule, however, and Brisbane was left to dash through the gap to play ducks-and-drakes with the weakened defence. Time and again the brilliant centre —who played his best game to date—cut-in between his vis-a-vis and the opposing wingers to draw 1 Barchard, who had a difficult taek to perform 'at full-back, and let h>» fleet wingers, Batchelor and Sweeney, race across unopposed. Both the latter showed improved form,- and Sweeney in particular was conspicuous for always trailing in support a-n d strong, straight running. Fed liberally by Cronin behind a winning pack, Hassan and Brady worked superbly on attack and overshadowed Wetherill and Iverson, who played opposite them. In addition they were solid on defence, and tackled with deadly accuracy. Crbninwas always in the picture, and on his recent performances must have caught the eyes of the selectors as a probable rep. half- Gregory was safety personified, and, in addition to hardly letting anything past him all day; was Vemarkably accurate with his goal-kick-ing. Maisley, who scored a plethora, of trie* for Tykes the previous Saturday, when playing on the wing, again figured in the pack, and made a world of difference to the hooking qualities of the team. He •Was-" the .pick -of - the. bunch, but was well supported. particularly by Noble and Johnson. The former is a grafter all the way, but is inclined to detract from a good exhibition by hanging on, or inability to give a good pass. While City's backs were starved by their forwards as the result of the success of the opposing pack in the scrummages'this is no excusc for their indifferent' display b6th on attack and defence * Rarely were they dangerous. Hines, a new recruit from Rotorua, was by no moans an improvement on Pascoc at half. He wa« Slow off the mark and slow in getting the ball away when i' came his way. Iverson and Wetherill -Were the pick of the , backs, but they were no match for Brady and Hassan. Wetherill was always cool as usual, but he loses much ground by running back. Perry's positional play was at fault, and he repeatedly ran into trouble instead of feeding his Wingers. - Lawrence, V he ex-Grafton li, u g by player, showed promise of brighter* things in the three-quarter line, but like, Wade, saw little of the ball. Wade,- nevertheless, had more chances .. than.. Lawrence, but his -handling was; atrociou* and his' running lacked determination. Barchard, at full-back, was patchy* but it must be conceded that-he was left with m6re than his share.of defensive work tp do, and ithe Marists' attack was bewildering to a degree. The Hadley brothers, Home and Hamilton shone in loose. forward work, and were unremitting in their efforts to carve a Way through the defence of the opposition.. HOLIDAY FOOTBALL. The holiday spirit seemed to be in the air when the Richmond-Eljerslie game was staged at Carlaw Park yesterday morning- Although it was glorious weather there was a heavy dew on the #rass, and the result was that before the game was long in progress the ground became slippery and the ball wet. Right through the play was of a scrambling nature, although it was bright in patches, with occasional nice bits of concerted play. Both teams played below form, and if ■ Richmond were lucky to win, Ellerelie were certainly unlucky to lose. For Ellerelie R. Crowiher kicked two penalty goals, one a clever angle effort, the other from long range and straight in front. Yet in spite of hie achievement' he missed a couple of easy shots. Richmond's score was the result of two tries by Taylor, who has a wonderful points record this season. With Perry and Hemingway in the Ellerslie side -had quite a Devonport flavour. R. Crewther stood out with splendid tackling, brother R. in the fiveeighths line, often got into the picture, but brother E was not convincing behind the pack, and was weak \at getting the ball away. The ■ forwards were fairly even, Littlewood showing up In t&e loose, while Paul's skill in the set. •crams meant that Ellerslie invariably got tfcebalL ' i;: ■' Ip; the Richmond.backs, both Davis and Prentice gave their best, Wheaton was colourful and 'showed clever penetration, Tajlor disclosed fine .finish when the two scoring chances came his way, and Hmnlon was once' more. ;the. safe, cool customer at fullback. Jenkinaon-and Colebrook were the most prominent of the Richmond forwards. '