LEAGUE FOOTBALL.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 196, 21 August 1933, Page 13

LEAGUE FOOTBALL.

ROOPE ROOSTER FINAL WIN FOR RICHMOND. CHALLENGE ROUND STARTED. In the final of the Roopc Rooster competition at Outlaw Park on Saturday, Richmond defeated City by 2G points to 14. The challenge round matches were also started, Newton defeating Marists by 13 points to 11, and Dcvonport beating I'onsonby i) —3.

into League football has crept a style of raking in this set scrummages taut must i!o tne game irreparable harm until it is checked. iScrummagmg lias always been I one of the troubles in ihe game, not alone in .New Zealand, but in every other land where the game is played. There was . once a time when to throw the ball against one of the men iu the scrum was suhicient to «et the game in motion, while a later development was for the outside man of the front row to strike with the outside foot immediately the ball was thrown. And now comes the latest development, the middle men of the front three screwing side on, and even getting down on one kneed iu dual endeavour to cither trap the ball or stojj the other side from getting it. Kight through the Koope Rooster final on Saturday the scrum work was of the obstructionist kind, although possibly it was within the four corners ot' the law. The old kind dab kick to flash the ball down the tunnel to the half-back was never seen, and the delivery, generally a chance and not purposeful sort of thing, was generally so slow that the respective halt-backs or five-eighths were literally swamped by opponents before they could get going. Under such circumstances back play suffered, and save from collective efforts started apart from serums, little was either attempted or achieved.

With a perfect ground and a perfect day for football there were hopes of a very bright exposition of the code. • But the brightest came in patches only, there were occasional radiant flashes of individual effort, but nearly all the way it was a grim struggle, with fast pace and desperate tackling.

Richmond deserved to win, and on the day were distinctly the better side. The City pack was heavier, but the Richmond forwards countered the advantage in open play, while the all-round speed of the Richmond backs was a deciding factor. A. E. Cooke may not be quite the wonderful opportunist of other years, yet he was the one back that stood out from all the others by magnificent positional play, both in attack and defence. In their individual ways all the Richmond backs gave their best. The threequarter line was very speedy, and McNeil proved a very bright star of the occasion by always sensing the trend of play and being at the right place on three separate occasions to cross the City line and score. Satherley was the real leader of the Richmond van, and the best forward on the ground. Had the City five-eighths teamed better the results may have been happier for City. Davidson was once the best centre three-quarter that Auckland had, while Wateno has played most as a threequarter. Both of them want room to work in, and their places are obviously further back. As a combination they did not impress; solo Watene occasionally got into the picture. At centre Wayne showed elusiveneea and brilliant dash on the rare occasions that he got a chance, while on the wing Turei was spectacular in patches. Leydon played a safe and sound game at full-back, and gave nothing away; while behind the pack little Axeman was his usual irrepressible bundle of energy.

The City pack was a very even six, Herring and McLaughlin always _ prominent, with the heavy Rawiri playing a colourful game, and showing stamina and speed to the end. . The best City effort came in the laet moment of the game, Turei drawing the defence to the left and then passing to send Watene, Davidson and Clark racing in line and passing crisply for Clark to score. It was one of a dozen similar City moves that opened just as auspiciously, yet ended nowhere.

NEWTON'S CLOSE WIN.

In one of the most lively enc;unters staged at Carlaw Park for some time, Newton gained a well merited victory over Marist by 13 points to 11. The pace was a crncker from the opening of never at any stage of the game did either side let up. Perhaps Newton were a trine lucky, but on the other hand Marist had numerous chances in the last few minutes, but the Newton defence was as solid as the best. It was football of a high standard, play fluctuating from end to end with rapidltv. Marist hnd much the better of the gaine territorially, but a particularly flue passing bout, whenever a try appeared imminent, invariably broke down through faulty handling or a bad transfer. On the other hand, Newton havu been giving some fine displays this season, their fast, open play boing the type of football characteristic of the League code, but they have usually gone down by only a very small margin after having hnd much the better of proceedings. The victory was a just reward, and also highly popular with the large crowd. For the winners Dempsey was safe and sound at full-back, extricating his team from some very dangerous situations with line Una-kicking. Both Hickey and Stephens played well, the former revealing a very neat side-step. Sella™ and Porteous collaborated to the best of advantage, while White was very keen behind the pack. The forwards were triers from the start, with Nathan, Blacklaws and Qulrko always prominent. The Tykes' full, Campbell, did not shine as much as usual, but nevertheless was safe. List was tho best of the threequarters, and there is no doubt that when lie shows his best form he is the best in club football. Dunn made some wonderful endeavours to open up the game, but his efforts were nullified by his supports' faulty handling. Hassan was always on the alert, while of a solid vanguard Herring, Iveson and Whyte were outstanding.

PONSONBY DISAPPOINTING,

Tn a very unexciting game, with neither side showing anything like their best form, Devonport gained a comfortable victory i over Ponsonby by 9 points to 3 at Carlaw ■Park on Saturday. Never at any stage were the spectators raised to any pitch of excitement, antl altogether this match wnR very disappointing. Although Devonport won rather comfortably by only six points, the margin would have been much larger but for the selfisihncss of some of the Shore backs. On many occasions, excellent opportunities went a-begging because of this fault, and Smith was a big offender in this respect. Laing was rock-like aa last man for the winners, his fielding and kicking being brilliant. Neither Undonich nor Rhodes saw much of the ball owing to Smith's selfishness. O'Donnoll was the better of the five-eighths line, his defence being outstanding. OlifT was as keen aR ever, nnd of a hard-working sextette Donald, Leatherbarrow and Scott were the best. Jones gave a weak showing at full-back for Pousonby, and was constantly in trouble. Shearer turned out for the first time for a long while, and showed he had lost none of his form. Bright only handled the ball about three times during the whole game. L. Kiley was perhaps the better of the two inside men, making some great efforts to get his supports to combine effectively, but they were of no avail. Keesing was iuclined to kick a little too much behind the scrum, while the forwards were responsible for a vpry sound display, K. Brown, Whye and IMifty being always in the limelight, with Brown standing out as the best forward on the ground.

GAMES IN THE PROVINCE.

HUNTLY. Northern Union Cup : West Const 8, beat South Auckland C. Juniors.— Kla Ora 5, beat Combined 0. Junior Knock-out Cup.—Huntly 6, beat Ngaruawahia 0. WHANGAKEI. Hikurangi 18, beat Wako Waro 0. HOUSE MATCHES. W. Lovetts 13, beat Waste Product* 10.