RUGBY PROFESSIONALS.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 174, 16 April 1908, Page 9

RUGBY PROFESSIONALS.

THE TEAIV! IN SYDNEY. THE NORTHERN UNION GAME. , Tile Now Zealand team •of professional footballers, having concluded their tour 111 tho North of England, arrived' in Sydney on April 9, and wero driven to the Grand Hotel, WaVerley. When a " Daily Telegraph reporter sought them a* few hours aftei ward to get soma information regarding tho tour, he found that this wasn't so easy as it; looked. , Olio of the forwards remarked in a casual kind of way that the team had had a fine trip, had been most hospitably treated, ami thau, generally speaking, things went well with tho contingent. • "How about the disturbance alleged to havo occurred during tho last engagement 3 " ho was asked. ".Oh I" ho began to answer, "that was——' . A eomrado slyly, kicked tho forward in the foot, and the speaker closed up 111 tho most abrupt manner, and entered a side door in tow of his friend.. ■ Presently,' howover, Johnston, who will bo remembered- as one of tho " All Black" amateur forwards, appeared on the scene. 0 the pood footoaller ho is, Johnston saw no occasion 'for. so. much mystery, and oh nttfd in the. most conventional manner. What, do I think of tho play of the northern teams?" he-said in answer to tho' usual quest-ion. "AV ell, I' think I never saw .football played until 1 saw tho Northern Union representatives at it; and never playedl football till ■ I took part in the new game. This,, of. course,, was'! only'a sort of explanatory observation, to emphasise his ic.oa of how much better tho 13-aside gamo llm' his . .OP"" 13 ", -than old Rugby. The game is necessarily so open and so fast, that it must. be- attractive all the time. The greatest difficulty we experienced was .not so much learning the new rules as forgetting the old ones. Then the method of scrum formation was so entirely different to -what wo had been used .to that it was hard at tho outset, to. grasp opposing tactics. I 1 or, instance, the number of men in front rows vary, in' the most' peculiar fashion, \and through a game ' frequent chanccs.aro m'ado.'

"The game is'largely built- on the principle of giving spectacular, dir.plays at, all times, so that the- function of the forward ,13 more largely to get the ball to the backs than, in tho old game. -Frequently it is to advantage in old Rugby to keep the ball in the serum for a time; but under the new conditions .the scheino is to get it into tho open as speedily-.as-possible.-'."' • , " The games ; were all exceedingly fast, and somo of the men in tho back divisions at Homo occasionally gave glimpses of phenomenal form." : ,

"How did Messenger shape?" Johnston was asked.

.. "At times finely. His kicking on the dry grounds was splendid, but lie was hardly so' good as we expected 110 would be 011 tho wet grounds., And 1 in this connection I might mention tliat somo of our most; importantcontests werp on .very sloppy,, dirty grounds. On tho whole, the pbvying' areas were rather rough.; Messenger, I'm afraid, was' a .triflo' stalej aiuM-liat became inoro pronounced as thesensori wore on. All the same hc played capitally at times." ' Johnston said that he believed the'idea of tho' Lcjiguo was' to ' hftvo 10, matches in Australia played against the -.visitors'. Three of these were to be' contested in Sydney, three in Brisbane, and three' in Newcastle. Tfcero. was to be.a test match. All-the men kept up their exercise on tho voyage out. and. consequently are now in tho best of form. ■ So that' if' an engagement should', tiike place earlier than expected tho. team would be able to do itself justico. ■

. It was; also intimated that room's-had been' taken .at the ; Grand: Hotel, > Waverley, for a team of j\laori3, who are to be here early in June. Thirty-five ;j:ren are to be qnarteredat tho suburban' hostelry. •» ' 1 >•..

Thoimembers' of -the/-professional: team who arrived'wereMessrs: ;Paliner (manager); Baskerville (secretary 1 ),,' 'Wright, Turtill, Johnston, Gilchrist,' Gilli Cross, Ticlie, Dunning,- :Bvrna, Wrigloy, Pearce, Trovnrthen, Frazer, Kelly, Rowo, R. Wynyard, -CrJlam, Watkins,, W.' Tyler, Mackrcll, 'and Messenger. •••.fodd -.'.remains.-' in-; England.' and will plav with . Wigan ; Gleesonus to study law; M'Gregor has gone into business in Gloucester: and George Smith' plays in future' with Oldhami ■ AN ALLEGED BALANCE-SHEET. The following alleged balance-sheet of the tour,of tho professional team has been forwards] from London;' It 13 given for whatover it may bo'worth'^— RECEIPTS. Gate receipts— 1 ' £ s. ,d. Sydney.. ... ... 427 11 i •Ceylon, ... - 50 : 0 0 England and Wales ... . ... 883S 2 4 Acrobat ... . y... ,4 :0 0 Fines from members ... ... 32 0 0 Interest on unpaid contributions ' . V to capital 1 account 114 0 0 Bank interest, less charges ... 27 10 10 . ' • . ' ■ . £9493 10 3 : ' EXPENSES.- • ' \ ' ■!' &s. d. Ocean travelling; .... ... '1125 4 7 Railway travelling ... ... 429 3 0 Hotel, expenses. ... ... .... 1371 14 0 Gratuities '... ... ... 63 9 3 Uniforms, gear, etc. ... ' 64 2 1 Medical-attendance . ... ... 74 7 1 Organising expenses. ... ... '40 0 0 Cables, postago, etc. ..." 36.4 3 Sundry .payments ... . 5 17' 6 'Auditors' fees- - "... ; ...- . .4 4 0 Weekly ' allowance to members - 63S , 0 0 divisible profit ' ...- 5641 4 6

• £9493'10 .3 '.Tho arrangement was that the ■ members should be . allowed £1 per week for'expenses over board and lodging (y/hicli appears under the item "hotel expenses, £1371 14s. 0d."). This allowance for twenty-two weeks totalled £G38.. An interesting item is £114 charged for " interest on unpaid contributions to capital account." This represents tho amount which had to be paid by members who, failing to pay up tho fullamount of their contribution, wero charged interest on the shortage, subsequently deducted from, their share of the profits. THE MANAGER IN WELLINGTON. Mr. H. J. Palnibr, manager of the team, returned to Wellington by the' Moeraki yesterday morning, having come on ahead ■ of tho team.to transact somo business. Ho expects to return to Sydney immediately •to see tho tour out, tho team having made arrangements to play a series of matches in Australia.

. Tho above balance-sheet was submitted to Mr. Palmer, setting out that the divisible profit was £oG4I. . Mr. Palmer, who ought to know, states that tho figures aro below the mark in several instances, and that (excluding the daily- allowance for expenses) tho amount divided camo to more than £190 cach. Not having the 'authority of tho committee of management, Mr/ Palmer asked to bo excused from giving information. Tho members of the team were all in excellent; health. Smith, of Auckland,'had joined tho Oldlmm Club, and was being paid appearance money —so much per match. M'Gregor, tho Pctono man, hatbalso decided, to remain at Home. He harl entered into partnership with a member of the Gloucestershire cricket team, and had sot up as sports material dealers. Gleeson was. -visiting friends in Ireland. '