FOOTBALL

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 262, 29 July 1908, Page 10

FOOTBALL

OUR RECENT VISITORS. " TOO SOFT." A Dominion reporter cornered Mr. T. W. Leslie at tho Town Hall yesterday, and asked him for the plain unvarnished truth about the British team. If it be true that no man is a hero to his valet, it is also t-ruo that no athlete is invincible to his trainer, for tho latter knows the weak points of his protege. "Well," said Mr. Leslie, "the fact of the matter is simply this—tho men landed here too soft. The training put in by them during tho voyage out was as good as nothing. Deck-runs are worse than useless. If they had stripped regularly and gone down below with, tho stokers.they would have been a different lot of men altogether. They ought to have known that the sea'-voyage would build up flesh, and guarded against it. "I never saw a team meet with such a run. of real down-right bad luck," he continued. " Nearly every one of them was injured somewhere, and for every match I had to patch one or two of them up as best I could. "Another point about them was their conservatism. .They wouldn't take advice on any points of the game, but preferred to stick to their own good old-fashioned style of play. _ ' "The last big match," continued the speaker, "must have opened their eyes.: One of them told mo that the New Zealand team for tho Auckland Test Match would have beaten the best team ■ that could be procured anywhero. It would have outclassed Wales easily. By Jove! I won't forget the first rush of tho New Zealand- forward line that day. It must havo just about flattenod the opposing forwards clean out; Our own men are keener footballers—as keen as mustard.. Every union in tho country was working eyes out- to beat the Britishers, who were not, generally speaking, a keen. lot. The keenest man among, the visitors was, in my opinion, Johnny Williams." .