IN THE SPORTLIGHT

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 98, 28 April 1939, Page 13

IN THE SPORTLIGHT

FOOTBALL PERSONALITIES—ANOTHER GOOD LEAGUE FULL-BACK.

In League football in Auckland there will evidently be a wide choice for a representative full-back for this season. Two of the full-backs who have already shown fine form are J. Smith, of 'North Shore, and W. Greer, of City. The latter has shown good form, eince his arrival in Auckland and is also a good place kick. Similar qualifications in regard to placerkicking are held by Smith. The latter was-responsible in the match against Richmond last Saturday for a remarkably constructive try. Fielding .the ball on the fringe of the Richmond twenty-five, he ran for the corner and when the defence came across he kicked to the open side, where the Shore forwards were racing through in anticipation of the movement. When the ball was fielded a. simple try was scored. The real credit for it certainly went to Smith. Hard-working Half-back. Efficient but unnoticed, E. Moore, Grafton's half-back, worked* many gaps in the Technical defence in last week's first division game. He did his work so unobtrusively that much of it went unnoticed by the crowd. . Small and solid, he bounced back to hie feet when collared and several times disconcerted the opposition by retrieving the ball and continuing his run. On attack and defence he was a force which needed constant watching by the Technical insides. who were several times bowled over by the speed and violence of hie tackles. Moore has shown that he can play an enterprising game further out in the backline. With more experience he should become a key man in Grafton's already outstanding backline. Some of his smartest work last week was unfortunately nullified by the tendency of Manders, the second five-eighths, to attempt too much on hie own. Reappearance of Powell. Through the Richmond League team being short-handed last Saturday, owing to influenza amongst its senior players, W. Powell made -a reappearance in the Richmond backs, and in his old position, behind the scrum, distinguished himeelf by playing the best game amongst the Richmond backs. Powell's play is of the solid order, but he gets the ball away cleanly and gives a long, well-directed pass to his supports. McLeod of the Bay. Juet signed on for the Manukau Rugby League Club is Waka McLeod, of Tauranga, who represented the Bay of Plenty Rugby Union in 1937 and 1938 and was nominated by Mr. Alex Takarangi for the Maori tour of Fiji last August. In 1935 McLeod was living in Wanganui and was selected that year in the representatives. An injury prevented him from playing for Taranaki in 1936. and by next season he had returned to Tauranga, where he was a club mate (Ranga-Taua) of Peter Ririnui, who "mixed it" with the Springboks in the combined East Coast match with the Springboks. Two of McLeod'e brothers represented Tauranga, and one of them (Kala) also wore the blue and gold for Bay of Plenty. In 1908 an uncle, Charlie McLeod, went to Australia as a five-eighth in the New Zealand Rugby League team. Waka who is 23 years old weighs 14.5.

Is This Peculiar To Hockey? "Wellington hockey is not likely to progress until refereeing through all grades is -first olass," stated Mr. R. H. Rolle (umpires' secretary) in a letter to the Wellington Hockey Association. '"Whilst being secretary I have found a remarkable divergence in interpretation of rules. A surprising number of referees have not. and have , never owned, a rule book. I could tell many interesting and amazing things that hare been drawn to my attention, and most of what occurs is quite unknown to our experienced senior men. Even these differ: some allow scooping into the circles unless definitely dangerous, and others bar scooping into the circle altogether. One referee, I found, had ordered (I think) four players off the field. Ko report was. made because no instructions had been ; issued that he should do so, and he genuinely did not know that he should make a report. I could go on, but I am writing a letter, not a hockey 'Strange as it Seems' series." Second Division Rugby. Changes in the scoring system f° r the second division of the senior competition were made when the Rugby Union management committee met this week. Last season the two top teams in the second division and the two bottom teams in the first division changed places at the end of the first round, all four teams carrying their points with them into their new divisions. This system was unfair to the relegated first division fifteens, which had little chance of catching the teams left at the head of the second division. This season, therefore, the computing of points for the second division championship will not begin until the end of the first round. All teams will start the second round from scratch and the winner will be awarded the Pollard Cup. Imperial Rugby Korero. The annual report of the New Zealand Rugby Football Union states that the Imperial Conference which was to be held in South Africa was postponed, and it is now suggested that the conference should be held in London during the visit of the Australian team in 1939-40. Unions are invited to submit remits for discussion at the conference so that the remits may have the consideration of the New Zealand Council prior to the annual meeting at Wellington on May 3. National Rugby Finance. It is stated in the New Zealand Rugby Football Union annual report that during the year expenditure exceeded the receipts by £5520. This is explained by the following main items: —Grants made to the unions out of the profits of the South African tour of 1937, £2875; nearly £1000 was expended on school football; approximately H ISOO was paid out on account of Maori football (including Fiji tour £942); and the All Blacks' tour to Australia in 1938 cost £623. The union's sources of income were confined to the North Island v. South Island match, the Maori matches against Wanganui and Auckland, interest on loans and investments, and union's subscriptions. The receipts from all these sources totalled £2052.