LEAGUE FOOTBALL

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 241, 12 October 1931, Page 14

LEAGUE FOOTBALL

BRILLIANT AUSTRALIANS.

EASTS OUTPLAr DEVONPORT.

HIGH SOURING, FAST GAME

Football •with an international flavour has a strong appeal in British countries. On Thursday within two days of their New Zealand, arrival, Eastern Suburbs, the popular youthful team of Sydney, made an auspicious opening of tlieir five-match tour of this province, by defeating a strong northland team at Wliaugarei. Their appearance at city headquarters was awaited with keen anticipation, as the record attendance of the season on Saturday at Carlaw Park amply proved. The prospect of witnessing the brilliant visitors against the Auckland Roope Rooster winners and champion of champions, Devonport United, drew a crowd of approximately 17,000 people—a colourful as well as hopeful spectacle for these times. It was a glorious day, with all conditions ideal for fast, spectacular football, aid the contest proved' worthy of the best in the code. Tiuiugh the Auckland thirteen had to bow to the superiority of the visiting combination by 41 points to 27, it was a thrilling game\tc watch. That it provided eompitte pleasure to' spectators, in spite of the eventual trend in favour of the Sydnftyit.es, was manifested by the continuous applause accorded the contestants. With the exception of two brief periods, play went along with a great momentum, marked by all the rapid;; changes and sparkling incidents peculiar to Rugby League. Easts played ■with polish as a team and deserved the honours. y Devonport were more a band of clever;, individualists and were bound to fail. -.iThcre was, on their part, too much spoiling rather than constructive pla.v. The test illustrated the comparison, and showed how ;well New Zealand can continue to benefit from these visits. ,4 The Match in Brief. Earlv in the piece the nimble and small inside' Sydney backs commenced to function, hut their moves were smashed by tlirustful tackling, ana, North Shore, after exchanges between the full-backs, were hammering for an opening against a tenacious defence. The attack was rolled up by the dashing front-row forward, Atkinson, who burst through with the ball for 20 yards. This seemed to be the signal for rousing action by Pope and Norman, whose combined brainy work soon told its tale and Norman

weaved his way through under the posts, for Boyle to convert. The. local van was hunting well and when in opposing territory; Smith notched a goal. Urged on by tli'e throng, the teams were battling wellin neutral zones when Pope electrified with a run' that completed baffled the defence. Before Brown had time to range alongside, Boyle 7 , came into the picture, and, taking the pass at top, romped over. The Aucklanders replied with another goal, and line raiding by Casey, Hawkcs, Leatherbarrow and Ruby troubled the visitors and made things' awkward for Hong, who, however, was assisted by Brown and Norman, until the danger was cleared.. Then the latter put a'.fresh complexion' on matters. He scooped up in the loose, and, when threatened by Smith, direction and found his forwards in speeding formation. On the ball flashed,, from Pearce to Brown, who materialised .easily.. ...It was a. fast, incisive movement. Keen efforts by the Devonport pack, backed. by, occasional;brilliant glimpses rrom Laing, Smith, Seagar and Scott, again-made it<hard-for the Sydnev men, anil, within a co.uplc of. mjnutes, Seagar and' Smith 'notched opportune tries, and it looked as'-though" tli6 interval would show a margin of only three points, if that. The colours, however, '.swept .the field in irresistible- ; style, when Pearce snapping up

in the loose, switched the ball to Pope, who, cramming on all pace, evaded Simpson and S. Scott, and ran between Seagar and .Rhodes. . Then lie timed a nice pass to Boyle who streaked in from midway, the goal giving. Eastern Suburbs in eight-point lead over Devonport, whose total was IJ. A fine understanding between the brilliant Thicknesse at half and the breakaway, Rogers, paved the way for the next two tries —one by each —and the Sydney tally reached 33 points after the centre, D. Brown, profited from a..miss-kick by. Ruby. Devonport then rallieu and co/nmenced to add to their figures, chiefly by. means of spontaneous raiding by the van, but when the whistle sounded, Easts were still holding their mastery, and were suitably acknowledged for their fine display. Notes on the Play. The match helped further to define the difference in the styles of Rugby „ League play in Sydney and Auckland. It is possible to appreciate this more in a club international test such as that on Saturday. Whilst the standard here has shown vast improvement in the season just concluding, there is reason to. believe that'there will be further- advancement 1 next- year. Easts demonstrate the fact that the main object of the forwards is to win the ball either in the scrum or open; help to keep the backs on the- move and rejoin the passing attacks immediately launched from the rear. Critics who declare that the code forwards cannot play, the heavy rucking game must have- had their eyes opened. As it happened there was little between the two packs, Easts having the . greater share of scrum .'arid- Devonport retaliating splendidly tfn the loose, but often losing' by positional irregularities and inaccuracy in handling. The greatest factor in the .effectiveness of the opposition was their 'cleverness behind and close to the There was good,: varied collaboration and it gave the supporting centres plenty of room in which to'work and gather speed 'to penetrate. Fine defensive tactics by Devonport sometimes upset calculations, particularly when the ball, was mishandled as on several occasions early in the game. • Norman, the„. Star. . Thicknesse delighted. with his lightning delivery of a pass, and, after seeing him in action it can well, be that the slim ex-New 'South Wales Rugby Union half is a promising acquisition. His handling was so reliable that the- first fiveeighths was able to stand deep ; and be well on his toes when the ball arrived. Thicknesse did many fine things, and capped his performance by a try when the ball went loose from a scrum, and E. Scott was too. slow to snap it up. Pope was mercurial' and enterprising, but the classiest back on the day was little E. Norman, playing as a centre pivot. A nippy, strong and straight runner with a -combination of swerve and side-step, he opened the scoring account l'or Easts, and was always dangerous in possesion, in spite of several early handling mistakes. Dave Brown played well in support, and the wingers, Boyle and Tottey were always alert. Boyle showed speed and judgment, and besides scoring, kicked six goals.. The . ex-Mount Albert Grammar and Hamilton .High School boy. Tottey. also scored, but-in-addition to having fewer chances, was well marked by Len Scott, who was in his best form of this season. Hong at full-back had nothing much on Simons, who hurt, his- leg just before time.and retired. The Sydney back machine, with its speed, finesse and trickery was too much for Devonport, especially -tfith Laing and Smith so slow and flat-footed. Good tackling alone prevented a debacle. The method of the visitors was to pass the ball at all hazards, and for the first man with a. clear'drive fo forge a passage wn'th other backing. Their fielding was admirable. Once or twice the.scissors was exploited, and the pass with the ball behind the back was demonstrated by pope. It was last seen here when Stone came this war with the British team of 1020. Some of the attacks launched by the visitors recalled memories of the Queenslander* Tom Gorman and Aynsley. (the latter now with Rochdale Hornets) seen some years ago on Cartaw Park. An Outstanding Forward: - if- is a long time since a better forward than 1. Pearce has been here. He has weight, speed and a fine facility for hanfjline and making an opening.* Stehr and Thrown were also, solid workers, and Rogers as breakaway. He reminded SSJWm!" so ».'" ™. es IndWfl to t»te too —

man the home forwards played .'well, Casey and Simpson being prominent in the nrst half and Ruby staying out the distince with vigour. The game in front was hard, clean and fast too. The visiting. forward, Atkinson, retired near the end witli a knee injury received in a fall. , Beaten as they were, Devonport pleased patrons by their unwavering ellort against odds. They have the satisfaction of haying scored the highest number of points agaiust Basts of any team this year and, this is no small compliment. The total difference of points was fourteen —equal to the total of goals won by Easts, who scored nine tries to five. Smith kicked six goals for North Shore. , Score details were :—Eastern Suburbs.— Boyle, 2 tries and 0 goals; L Rogers, 2 tries: D. Brown, try and goal: R. Brown, Tliicknesse, Norman and Tottey, try cacli. Devonport—Sen gar, Simpson, Smith, L. Scott and Laing, try each ; Smith, (i goals..