FRICTION IN THE FOOTBALL TEAM.

Press, Volume LXII, Issue 12379, 19 December 1905, Page 6

FRICTION IN THE FOOTBALL TEAM.

No one who remembers tho .opposition that Tvae raised by several of the unione to Duncan'e appointment ac coach to tha New Zealand football team will bo greatly surprised that his counsels have been'ignored by at least a majority of our representatives, or that his presence with tho team has been tho cause of some ill-feeling. The announcement of his intended appointment met with such a hostile reception, especially in Auckland, that the New Zealand Rugby Union practically had to make the .question ono of no-confidence before they secured the support of tho objecting unions. It is doubtful whether this would have been' accorded had it not been that a crkie in tho government of Rugby football would have been awkward juet at that juncture. The members of the team who -went to Australia before leaving for Home protested against tha appointment of a coach, and before €he team sailed it was predicted that if Duncan accompanied them it would cause ill-feelins; umong the members. , Duncan has admittedly a great knowledge of the game,

and has been a fin© player, bat he has been so long an aeiivo figure in Otago football that he apparently thinks no other style than his can" be correct. This is no place in which to enter into ft disquisition on the respective merits of " runnirig-out" or " cross-cuttingy' it is enough, to say that the one, which ie practised by Duncan, is tho stereotyped style, vrhile the other is a , comparatively recent development, which adds variety to the attack and, given a first-class exponent, is extremely effective. For Duncan to assert before Iraving Dunedin, as he is reported to havo.done, that he meant to make experienced men like Hunter and Mynott change their style of play because ho strongly disapproved of it, explains, to a great extent, why ho is not a "persona, grata" among footballers, and confirms the unwisdom of sending him as coach. Tho team did not need a coach at all, for a largo proportion of them liavo been playing for a number of years, and if they do not now know enough about tho game, to toll the younger members all that was necessary they had no right to be in the team. A further proof thai no coach was required is afforded by the fact that although Duncan's advice appears to have been ignored tho team have achieved unprecedented success. Tho complaint that tho Otago players have been treated unfairly in the selection of teams is met by the fact that two of the four have played in all four international matches, that another certainly had "a fair hearing" in the earlier part of the tour, and that the fourth is a substitute back, who should assuredly not. bo selected for an important match it any of the first flight players were available It is most regrettable that there should havo been any washing of dirty linen in publio before,«the team returned, but in view of the statements IiOW being circulated in Dunedin, it is only right that something should be said on the other side.