FOOTBALL.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 259, 25 July 1908, Page 9

FOOTBALL.

RUGBY.. (Br ArisiobuijCS.) Commenting on the Taranaki-British match the "Taranaki Herald" says:—The best of the Taranaki backs was Mynott, who played a splendid game. Once again -ho proved that this year he is much better than Hunter. Mynott fully' deserves a position in the Now Zealand team. If the selectors of the New. Zealand ? teain . knew : their 'business, Stead.,,and'i Mynott ' 'would- have formed tho! five-eighths line in this year's •Now Zealand teams. The following South: Canterbury team will make tho norther'n.tour^— D. Scottj-Hi 1 Mays, G. G; .Spillanei G. Coles, li. Horgan, G. Priest, M. Melvin, J. O'Brien, W. Carlton, W. ; Scott, A; Budd, W. Hooper, B. Mollison, J.Roddick, >E. Fraser, M. Darcy, T. Smith, If.' Rodgers, and K. Robertson. Tho Welsh, Rugby Union recently received a letter/from, tho;.English Rugby. Union endorsing ,a proposed. alteration in .the. rules as follows:—"That referees shall have power under- Law-;:3.r..t0.; treat' the touch'fudges as .'if thoy players in case of any. form of..misconduct;, such to' include persistent or -frequent unfair decisions.'',. -The .proposal is to be ..considered at tho annual' meeting this month ,as a. recommendation -of the committee. ..

' The 'Welch Family have decided to arrange ;a. match against-the W.F.C.A. on a suitable Vdate.' "The: 'following tcdm was cho'sonFull back, Randal Welch; threequarters, liaurice Welch; ' five-eighths, Arthur W!clch; half-back, Edwards Welch; forwards, Bert Wolch "and Lewis; Welch (wings), Fred .Welch, Herbert Welch; W. C. Welch, Harold- W'clch, .Cyril Welch, .Rupert Welch, and '- Albert WcloK;- ' emergencies, Will Welch (2), Harry AVelch', Albert Welch, James Welch, Percy Welch, Walter Welch, arid Claudo Welch; line umpire,'J.' R.' Welch. An Auckland paper recalls an i-iheident of the '1838. English tour which .- is worth recording again./ Early in. tho second match against .tho Englishmen Barlow. Madigan (0110 of. the gamest.threeTquarters that' ever.took the field) was thrown lioavily,. but got up and went on playing as if nothing had. occurred.' After .the game' lie complainod of his shoulder paining him, and on being examined by a doctor .it was f6und that'his collar-bone, was broken, and how ho came" to play on in tho state-he was was little short of. marvellous; Unless county, and club football has improved considerably in: England since 1905-6, I have no' hesitation; in predicting' a" highly successful tour for. tho New South Wales team. (writes E. Booth, ■' in ;the ' feree"). , Bettor : niaterial is 'riotanywhere than* in l Sydney./at'r'the'Vpresent time. The weight'-'aridlpace offering in': both', front and rear After training, c'arid>jplayirig' / to-they.-should.'get a combination>that will: reach a/higherSstandar'd than, the man in. the-street-hero believes possible. They should .register,/well - over: the 90 .'per cent, margin;of wins,'.including, internationals.': 1 would counsel billeting the team upon arrival in England ./at;, a good, quiet, country seaside resort. • '••••• A' correspondent' writing 'from New Ply.mouth states that- some of the Britishors took their .beating' by Tajariaki very badly. The much discussed try which Taranaki scored is explained as under:—Rothery (Taranaki, forward) ,broke away, down the-touch- , line with the' : .,baHv;siTwoJ'6K<thre&Britisliers: collared him, :a'nd> three l men' fell, 'with Rothery underneath. -ball" and put: one arin across"the touchline. Referee Wylie,-who was only a few feet away, blew • the whistle, and; the Britons got off Rothery v "lmmediately the;ball was uncovered Colman, who had been waiting for the Englishmen to. get .up*' snapped up ; tho leather and: flung it Wd out to Hunter," who passed to Dive. -The'British-backs,'with'-the; exception of; M'Evedy (who really as rover cannot be said to .have any-fixed place) were ' all in position, 'but ; they were taken by surprise, arid "allowed Diye to get under way. Dive arid threo Britishers raced ; for the line. One Britisher" touched /Dive, but failed to pull him' down,/.- and. so. ; the score'was tained., Of . course, the in/play before it,was. known ; Rothery was, injured. Colman had: tried ; to .work the same ; dodge several .times during:?the gamo;.'but it' had. not come off. ; The. scheme succeeded because Hunter,'; Mynott, Dive .and Cameron Were prepared for .it. Tho other three men-/ tioned all.backpd up-Dive in his race for the.' line. .- .-:M?Evedy and T,-Smith, also O'Sullivan of Taranaki, certainly looked after Rothery,-;but the play had gone far from thein before ;:.they knew he.-was injured, and the try would have-been scored all the same if Rothery had not been injured*

Mr. Harnett,-.manager of tho 'Anglo-'VVclsh team, touched on the question of'professionalism at the'"reception given to the tourists at Auckland;- According to''the "Star" Mr/ Harnett- said he had" not intended sayinganything in: public on the subject, but,, as his .Worship": tho 'Mayor had ■ mentioned the matter, a few remarks might not be out of place. At Home, there were about 17,000 professional players receiving about; £4 per week each, and 'amongst those were many young nion of 1!) and 20,, just ,on the threshold of life,; who joined the ranks, forsaking their trades or professions, . and . severing their home ties. These young-men became great players—sort of semi-gods among tho people,' until they reached >the ago. of 23 or 80, when their abilities waned,, and the cheers that once used to greet them dwindled, and their earnings grew less. Then 'they were given a benefit match, which usually realised £150, and, after their careers closed, they unfortunately, developed into the loafer class, having ■ lostthe desire to work. In cricket professionalism , was. different, because the numbers were limited, and'there were: always positions such as coach or groundkeepor open to them, added to which the governing bodies of cricket in any place usually had at their head the purest amateurs, whose standing in the county was unquestionable. He ! would like to point out that tho transfers from one club to another were always accompanied by a money consideration. In fact, in many cases men were bought: and sold from one club to anothor, and compelled'during-..the football season to play for tho'club which is tho highest bidder, so.' that they 'i.wejre'vlittlo 'better than slaves. , The men themselves received a very small proportion, if any, out of, the sums paid, which in-some cases amounted to £100; this went, into the club's, coffers which originally signed him on. In England it was extraordinary , how . any . local enthusiasm could- be aroused, -as in many'eases' a full tnaro representing a club did not contain a single. Englishman, and ofton only one or two. The league system caused an immense amount of.grumbling of.the worst sort in towns and citios where, professionalism held sway, and one could hardly go into a tobacconist's or paper shop. without being handed a betting slip of some bookmaker, giving tho various prices for spotting tho winners. This gambling is tho cause of; much unpleasantness amongst; tho spectators, who lose thoir money tnd consequently their tempers, arid tho language and scones on some of the grounds were disgraceful. Once professionalism and .the c-ltinerit of gambling entered into football the sport deteriorated.

The Rugby Unions of England, Scotland; Wales, and Ireland,, are not entering, teams for tlio Olympic contest, and the inow Soutn Wales Union has decided to' leavo the matter of entering or not in the hands of the 1 English Union. • ... , The biggest footballer who ever donned a jewey in N.S.W; was 0. E. Silk, who scaled 2215t., and'could keep on the ball with ttio best of them. Tii# following team will represent Otago against Wairarapa to-day: Full back, Kindley; three-quarters,. O'Sullivan, '. Bennett Stalker; five-eights, M'Leod, Eckhold; half)

Sutherlandforwards, r S., Casey, Fitzpatrick, Paton, Ivimey, M'Donald, M'Konzie, Johnston,. Macassey (wing). '

•It "is generally; understood : that, Mona Thompson has. decided: not' to play again. He has represented Now Zealand, South Island, North Island, Auckland, Wellington, 'Canterbury, Wanganui, and Taranaki, and was a member- of the famous All Blacks. Thomson-has also'the , distinction of having played' against every province in New Zealand. •

A Rugby Union team ought not to visit the Old Country oftener than once in every five or six or.seven .years, and if this ,be tho view of the llugby Union, a special.ef-1 fort to secure the best possible side is justifiable.. i'.Tho patriotism of loading players might in-that; case bo appealed to. l'ot in our great national sports ono has always held the opinion that no player, cricketer or footballer, however eminent, is wise to de,yote time to the' game if it in- any . way prejudices his prospects, in. life. It is for that reason one prefers three to five .Tests at cricket in Australia. The increase in tho number of representative football matches ,is : not in the interests of. amateurism ; it must tend to prpfessionalism or to personal .injustice to . certain .players. However,, in 'the case-.of, the.forthcoming tour .of an'.Au'stralian team to England, every footballer of marked ability should well consider the; matter before definitely declining 'to join the team. The. reputation of amateur Rugby is to. bo with enemies fighting it; and the reputation of the sportsmen of the country is to.be upheld for. the first;time on theRugby fields of Great Britain. In a man's football life an obligation of this natures comes but once—but, of course, men must decide for themselves. —Sydney "Referee."

NOTES ON, WEDNESDAY MATCHES.\

The matches for the Wednesday championship aroused little enthusiasm, and now, that the; honours are practically ■ in the hands of the Star Club interest in the contest is almost .at vanishing point. ... Two out of the three matches arranged for this week were played, the Tram'ways-Artil-lery fixture being postponed on account of the sodden'state of the field. Of two poor exhibitions of Rugby, the Star-Oriental game was much the _. better. Stars had. luck to thank for their win, since Oriental should certainly have scored in the second spell. • -The on both were weak, lacking solidity and combination. Kelly, the Oriental, winger, was about the best man, showing up well in loose'work. In the rear division, Star had somewhat the better set. Whittaker was generally good on defence, while Richards proved a smart scoring, maii. ' Digby .was about the best of the ..Oriental backs. • '■/-. ; , ■ ■ . The . other game Bntchers v. Bakers was a forward match exclusively,'and a poor one 'at'-that: Both back's neglected to use their tfeeti to advantage,-,and' -i appeared to be •frightened of putting, any' energy into their play- . A. recruit to . the' Bakers' team, Lambert, who played* at centre ■ three-quarterj -showed a pretty turn of'speed, 'which might have been utilised- had the rest of the backs come lip'.to the scratch. ' " . .' Eileen.' was:,easily the best of. the Butchers' backs. . ' ' '■' A TRIBUTE. : : , G.S.N.". sends. us.tie following New Zealand on the football field has earned ■ -a world-wide fame, Amojig'ier stur^ : players;thero. is one' who's won a namevV t'* l / : V-fi \ His,play ey;er;Jjril]iaiit,-,and his methods , . never. mean," "-' " For Wallace was the best of sports and no.thing' if not clean. At last he's giv'n the game- up and has closed a. great career, ? But to all football lovers will his memory, lie dear. ~ ' . .-• Here's to you, Billy. Wallace, the' retiring " Rugby crack, ■' Of all who e'er donned jersey you.'re the most resourceful back; .. ; Look at his deeds in. Britain where, the daddy ' . of the lot, . i-.'v' - .'v ■ "Kill-Danger" they did call himy for- whene'er the' play was/hot , , ■„-XV; .:. He stemmed the "mighty .onslaught of--'those who sought .to. pierce, , . > New Zealand's last line -of defence ■'■ with ,i rushes-,sharp .and fierce. , :i ; He saved- the. game in Swansea town - and .-' showed'that he was deft, " Though Billy is no boxer ho could surely. use his left. ; Tho gate was . big, -the game was o'er; the famous All Blacks led, Scotland ' mourned her loved .bawbees "wha' hie wi' Wallace fled." He's won all football-laurels and "may gaze ■ on them with 'pride,> Let's rally round- the player-who'ha's' laid his- togs aside, - •; Togs' which he wore with honour and kept) - so-spotless-pure,' v-/. ' ■ When others are forgotten ' his great -fame , -. -will aye endure. .. An Admirable 'Criohton where another'can wo find? - , - '. Whenever Rugby''is the theme his name wiU come to mind ; ■ If each will ope'his pocket and drop in his' little bit . .' - v ■• _ 1 We'll give old-Billy Wallace a most rousinrj benefit-!. ~ • ' . '.