FOOTBALL.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 288, 29 August 1908, Page 9

FOOTBALL.

RUGBY; \ ' (Bv Amstobulcs.) \ , • REPRESENTATIVE FIXTURES.V August 29.7—Wellington y. - Canterbiin.' August 2D.—Wollington'B v. Nelson.' V • September 2. —Wellington B v. Marlborough. \ September s.—Wellington v. Manawatu. r September 19.—Wellington v; Otago. \ THE BRITISHERS IN ATOTRALiA. \ August '20, v. Queensland; • at\firisbi»he. Sept-ember 2, v. Queensland," at Brisbane.' WELLINGTON Bv. HOROWHENUA., Thoro was only .'one teamVin it'at the finishof the Wellingtonr'B-Hbrowhenua match, played,at tho Athletic Park-last Saturday. The visitors lined on to the field a fine strapping set of men,- with , a strong leaven of Maoris in .their ranks, but when it. came to business it was'fo'und -that : ,tho;;Hbrpwheriua players were not upto the standard .of the Wellington,fifteen, practically the'whole of which was, young and energetic. ■■ A; few times during the courso of the game Horowhenua gavo indications .that' they may be fcapablq of something better than they -showed on Saturday, notably when they'got 'the. ball out amongst the backs at the beginning of the second spell. ," Tho >balU was tossed about freely ana • handled beautifully in a couple of passing bouts. Taking the play .'from end to end, however, it was all in favour of Wellington, both in the forward and back divisions.- .' Varcoe, full-back for Wellington,; was not overburdened , .with work, but what he had to do was dono 'well. 1 •Beavis was about the. best of the local three-quarters, and:;playbd with plenty of., dash, which compensated for a couple of mistakes., Flanagan and 1 Poole were both fairly good, although'the former, showed a disinclination to' l get'inta';holts'.'with a big 16-stone Native oh .two "occasions when he came crashing through. - Church; was tho. bestvtif the five-eighths;, his/defence, being especially good. The young Mcirose player also took a hand in some good passing/runs. Tilyard was responsible for some.capital work behind the scrum, but, personally, I woiild 'like; to see. the riippjr' little Athletic half, Richardson, given a'trial in: this position/. Gardner , put in a solid day's play, on the win§,'and f re3lly acted as an extra back, His kicking - and handling of the ball was as .safe as .that ;of;the best of the babks.

.. . Calcinai .was generally!.at the head; of'.the forwards, and Cameron 'followed (him consistently.Murphy and Houlihan both' did sonl9 goodiwbrk'' without Vshmin'g.-\- :: ';• - The 'b6st'< 6fithe t visitors' ..backs were' Anderson .- and;. Sam;. Cbokes.'. The .former played . ful-back," part- of'the also'centre three-quarter, doing' equally well in both positions. He made several pretty dashes, but; was always- unsupported.. .Sam. Cootes jvas' also responsible for. several',pretty dashes in tho first half, -but faded away: in. the. second spell. . • '. ; G.' Cooke, ' who " has just' been promoted from the junior ranks, showed, plenty of pace, but had few opportunities.' H'oro was patchy ■ and : Wharaeo, a big Native, although not possessing any resource, acquitted-himself fairly weU-as wirig three-quarter. • ■ 1 King gart 'a good exhibition as wing-for-ward; out had more .enthusiasm than knowledge of finer points. - Parata, Hakaria, Saxon, and M'Kenzie werqj about tho best i of.'<th"o>f6jwards; " —: —7-r.",w tiriT'iw • REFEREES AS FOOTBALLERS. ' . Tlio ipost interesting feature' of, the match between,', the Wellington and Petone referees last Saturday - Was the reappearance: of- a number of men who once' occupied exalted positions . in...the football,, w0r1d..,. Foremost amongst' ' the ( '"old-timers":' 'was , Cocky " Roberts, the onetime idol of' Wellington: football. Roberts played a good game,'but his limbs are; not as supple now as they were a few years ago. The veteran, showed that he has not.iforgottenM : -his; old -tricks,'■ but a shortness-of'wind prevented.him from,going on .several times when he' had beaten the apposition, cleverly." Charlie.Bell, onco one Df' the foremost backs';in.-,the'Melrose team,, put in some;neat;,'w6'rk,\but,' like Roberts, his wind wasishort Potting goalSfWas/a'.favouritetpstime;"of:.tho old Molroso Jinan's in .'days'bfi.-yofe,' .and> he cs- ■ sayed a f pot on ..Saturday .but-, failed. Bill Bpencor, his playing days,' always one of the fittest men' in the Melrose ranks, fills his jerseytwith, ample' barrel nowadays,and was content; to'follow after leading! the first couple o|i. rushes. . "Date" Sievers' is'also carrying|more weight than he used to,' but Marshall; and Manning are in football trim.; Manning Splayed a capital game, and it seems': a pity that he. has dropped active playing to-'i carry the: whistle. Another man who appears tovhave taken to the whistle too-soon is Atkinson, who was the best back on'the field, and [appeared to be in the pink.of' con-. dition. :Tho hero of the* match- was' Tom Quinn. filled hisj sweater to,-bursting point, and.ambled about i the afield, withthe best of - intentions, vbut:'not -' mth-.'-as'-much effect, a'sifwhen he. battled • with ; youthful rigour for Athletics.'.-' ' The . r . e ,t ere ®> ■Mr.".5..;.5.' Brown, was' not : in the pink of condition, but' struggled along manfully in his effort to keep pace with- tho contestants.'

WELLINGTON-v; SOUTHLAND. 'The meeting of the Southland arid lington representatives on , Wednesday • did not occasion-much excitement inrthe.'Rugby world, and : this is riot';surprisingVconsiaerrng the weather conditions, and the fact 'that Southland left home with only a small portion of their original representative fifteen. The Wellington team also was a weak one, a, number of .thes-meh .who made the Northern' tour: standing ;down. With all the drawbacks taken- in l thts game ;• was 'a! fairly good one,.the visitors 'giving' a much better than had generally been ezpected of tKem. •• - . • - The weakest spot in the Southland team was *tho'full-bacKj W. Baird, whose display in tho; first half -was not lip to club Champioiisbiji form. - .He certainly improved a little lri the second term, but 'there -was plenty-'of room-for improvement, most of the corners the visitors found themselves in being traceable to the full-back's mistakes. Tho best/of the visitors':three-quarter line Was M'Neece, !who.got,.through? a;Iot of,; work in good style, Pylo;and Broad, .thowings, did all ' that '_canie v ' their: ; ;way', 7 but 'neither of them was- given any great; opportunities'of shining. : J. , M.'Neece made.; some. ;pretty dashes at five-eighths,, irid his assistant, Irwin,. • also showed up well' severallytimes, foster, at < half, was responsible/,for,''.some smart work,, but the greasy'ball was against him. ; (J ft ho forwards, tho -veteran Jenkins, on the wing, had more enthusiasm than anyiof the colts. Ho followed up', mora consistently tlian any man on his side, and was' noticeable for . some heady footwork. Tlie most noticeable of the pack forwards were. Coster, Knight, and Ryan. . J. .Ryan played an excellent gamo at fullback ifor Wellington,- his.kicking and handling of the greasy ball being perfect, EvonEar, was the pick of the three-quarters, his kicking being particularly good. , Ma<*oe too!; a lot of heavy work upon himself°at five-eighths, and.M'Lcod was noticeable for some smart dashes, and quick following up. Greeks was fairly successful behind, tho scrum. Gardner played a useful gamo on the wing, and O'Brion, Cameron, and Perry were .probably the pick of an even lot of forwards.

THE NORTHERN UNION CAME. COMPENSATION FOR TIME LOST. Commenting on the Northern Union game between Wellington and Auckland last Saturthe Auckland "Herald" says:—"The

crowd of between. 7000 and 8000 persons, who attended were curioufc to see:! whether the. advantages claimed, over tho Rugbyi: Union ; game by the promoters of.tho Northern-Union play would stand V in' actual practice. • A number of players on either side were palpably out of condition, and yet they,-showed < the great possibility or tho innovation." The '■ elimination of line-out plav and. the practical departure from forward pack work has made tho gamo open to a'high degree, .-with, the result that the ball travels rapidly from end to end of the field. A premium is-put;.on tho backs passing, therefore a maximum ,of this attractive class of work was done .on Saturday.!. Spectators were often ■ carried i away , with enthusiasm, despite their limited \ knowledge of the rules.' Many old-timo ; Rugby players p'resent, who have withdrawn' Ifrom tho national gamo because of .the tenancy to roughness which is now. so apparent, rero loud in their praises of the new game, because of the reduction of the!risk of accident to a minimum . . . Many innovations are introduced into the' Northern Union . game ivlljch could be very well copied by 'tho' New Zealand Rugby. Union.' It does not.necessarily imply that because a game is played by. professionals there is no'good in it; ...That is a\wrong argument to take, and;if.con-, sistently followed out amateur cricketers would cease\to learn new strokes 'and' styles ! from .professionals, and" so on through other-sports. The main feature about the game' is tho .endeavour to eliminate anything approaching 'roughniss, which is a most' admirable'fea- r ture. \The members of'., the visiting. team noticeable . for • their play were G. Spencer, Twohill, and Kelly (backs), and J. Spencer,-' Gilchrist,\ Byrne, and M-'Gill (forwards)." ' Speaking' at a dinner to'the teams ' after the match, Mr. W. Mackrell,' who .was' a member..on.the team which . toured ' Eiigland recently, mVde_ reference to the future'of tho game, and Vsaid that it was not intended that league players should live on the gamo of''football.v, The'.; league would -discourage J ihati- It'desired.\rather to. compensate -tho : jtnaii for-' his' time when travelling.' Sym'patheticifeferjOn'ce was- made, during the even- ; lafe: A-, H: Baskerville, the visited Ehglah'd, who|-.lad>participated in , : tho tour .'affirming ithatufelosing; Mr.<'Baskorville th'ey :h'ad':iost' the pr&e'moyer in't-hte; game. . ''iTh'e annual-nia!teh;,between-'.the.iUnion Company's arid'4ie:Cpnibine.d'Shipping Com'panies '• is"; to s "-bo; played"' 1 •/>A > supper, and smoke' :.concelt' l ;will.'' bo'i held;after the

match.v " \ The Otago,representative team" to go_-on tour next month, playing matches ,f against North Otago, Canteibury, Wellington, ,Taranaki, and Auckland,\ has been, selected,, and given forth to -an- expectant-public (says ;"Full-back'' in the 1 [Otago l Witness.") i Gene-: .rally the team-hasfgiven : satisfaction, but there'are ■ isolated of dissatisfaction.; 'Personally I hold that'it'is a good side;from' ,the players r availablcr'!lnd certain to:givo-a goodVdisplav of the tour.' The or • the"team certainly'lies in the, ibaok division/and lam iot optimistic enough ■to hope that the rearguaVd will paralyse the flying backs of the north.' " Truth to tell, ilocal backs of. lato have not progressed .in initiative and- resource, , and W .the" most-part Rugby,intelligence in strategy is lacking'.;;We have drifted into a stereotyped play,, arid got into a hopeftss' run, in which our backs flounder hopelessly. : ~ There sa's ,a time when, -.the back division of- Otago could foot'it in Rugby -intelligence with' any province in the Dominion. This was,in'tho days ,of the Veteran Duncan,\ whose' masterhand was over all things in sthe Rearguard, and whose quickness and; initiative worked out problems in actual contest undreamt of in. this age of dull and uninteresting back play. If tho backs of the -are not in.- the _ flirdif the divisiont does not boasi^nM"*"a^rs,' I %b'forwards are of .the. best possifna'iype. Indeed! it is doubti ful if any Otago. touring team Vas 'ever''represented by such a sojiupack. With, players like .Fitzpatrick, Ivipiey,' ; Tatterson, -M'Donald, and Paton in the ; -.vanguard,. ..Qtago'6 scrUmmihg brigade to go? on; toui this year is -something to ponder 0n., : i.Twolyears ago Otagoi. sent, ; on ; . tour '/a' team "whichiwas. criticised off the field, yet it returned covered with glory, and. carrying the' l scalp of old foe "Wellington, dangling at,its bel|. This team won its matches through 'th& agency of the forwards. Even now'the Olago forwards- of 1906 are,spoken 'of with'iwo by Wellington Rugby:' enthusiasts.' Wjat JwilJ they "say, .when the\M'Dohald-Patterst)'n-Fitz-patrifek-Ivimey _ quartet get' 'swarming in amongst It may be that'-'the 'Otago forwards 'will' jiit play up. at'.'this-.writing- the probabilties of' that-' dire,l happening:, ale remote. '' .. 'v/ y.' Dyke, ; the British'; full-back,- who! failed;: to show his true form,in New Zealand, struisk'-fit' in New/ South .Wales rim-'th'e first game. > Says the "Daily Telegraph":— The performance' of full-back Dykb' against- bha New''South-Wales team has bcen-'-tho-.theme of "football during tho'v-wesk, and ;experts declare-that not only has it nerer ibeen : excelled on any,-, metropolitan ...grouid, but. ; it. lias rarely been ; approached in, point |of consistency, anywhere. :^'. s The,Jcertainty.;wih which the '-'Mast man' in.":-fielded'the; ball, .tho.,' accuracy -,of Jhisi ! line-kic|dng, Hand tie soundness of 'his", deifenceygenefally:' were . iamarkablo, and: there wa:s' : small'wonder thit 'at the - closo'of ? .'tho struggleV;he' had beconio i' the idol;of-'the. spectators. ,It'haslfrequently been-'urgod against; Sydney' crowds that they take defeat. ■ unkindly, and pre. wanting 1 in that good • grace iwhich admiti the supremacy of victorious' opponents; Anyone, ,vhowever, who saw the occupants of the -stands : ;all around the playing area giving Dyke ari' ovation as he walked towards the dressing-rooml will concede that'; '- Sydney' Rugbians iar| ready ,to recognise merit in-play, 'no,matter who is responsible for it. ''I . According to J. - L. Williams ' and W Morgan, both ;of . whom belong-to .tho Lon-; don-Welsh Club, few New Zealanders conceive the difficulties under which tßugby' is played in the great metropolis, a strong-; hold' of ; tho Association code. For , : some years : the- club had to pay £10^a.week'.;for' the hire, of a ground. Very often, on a' wet; Saturday, the' takings would. not .amount ,to, more than half that amount, and.,tho. moiii-i bers had to make up the balance out .of -th'eir| own pockets. Needless to say, tho club often, found itself in difficulties, and. would; havo gone to the wall but for tho assistance] given by the Welsh Union, which loaned.it; sums of money, up to £100 to tide over any 1 temporary, embarrassment; -. The players, of : course, jproyided, their' own outfits,'' and taking it" all 'through,-' it" cost each; player at least 7s.;a week for .his;football.. " So, you ,seo, WG*play-;the game for, tho pure love of it," remarked,the Welsh international forward to ; an interviewer. • - E. Booth, the. ex-,Otago player, who has been; residing in,Sydney;of late, left with the Australian Rugby team-for England 'a couple of, we&s ago. Booth is going >011 private, business,-but while' in England will tour as the ■ special correspondent for several important 1 newspapers. ; ' .

It is stated that tho tour of the Australian team'' to the United Kingdom will, cost £9000:- , Tho- annual dinner under the auspices of the Melrose Club will .bo held next Friday evening. •" George,Sillott,. the"Auckland and' New Zealand wing-forward, ; has left for'Mclbourno to play 'tTio Australian "game there. Tho youngest member.- of the' Australian touring team is Carroll,: one of. the' ; backs, who is only 19.years of age.' ' ' : v Thus tho Sydney Referee "In • the forwards of the Anglo-Welsh team thero is no one with the bounco' and übiquity' of D. R. Bedell-Sivright and A. F. Harding, of four vears ago. It has been ! stat6d' in New Zealand that the British team is superior to Sivright's So far as form in Sydney indicates, there is a big difference between the two teams, with that of 1904/ tho. stronger.- There cannot, be any two "opinions on ..that'point. The personnel of tho Victorian team Vhieh was defeated' by the Austral touring'-'toani at Melbourne on August-9 was as follbw:—R. Emmanuel, full-back (ex-Poverty; BaV. N.Z.); J. Adams (ex-Belfast, Ireland); s 'j. T, Birch (Sydenham, Christchurch. N.Z.), fi] Light (once Balmain F. 0., Sydney), jj\

Soally (Queensland), three-quarters: J. Stevenson (N.S.W.), five-eighths; V. Hagan, (Victoria), half; R. P. Frankly 11, Cambridge, (England), J. Jamison (Scotland), Berry (Cambridge, England), . Priest (Southland, N.Z,), A. Flegg, Pilkington, S. Rosonfcld (brother-of N.S.W. Leaguo player) (Sydney), E. Ahem (Melbourne University), forwards. -The Sydney " Referee of ' August 19, states'that "play in the .'match, Britishers vl Metropolitans, was surprisingly rough in the second half, arid.-tho matter has been:talked about a great deal. Various causes aro. assigned, but one set of.-forwards seemed to be as blamable as the other. Somo rather funny. stories of the language and incidents in the game have been told by men : in the thick-of it. It is to be hoped that the closing contest of the Anglo-Welshmen .in New South Wales will be dovoid of anything unpleasant by either side." /.The cabled" ac-, counts of the final matchy show that, the hope was not realised.

Commenting on the opening match of the British tour in New Zealand, Vice-captain M'Evedy, writing;in the London ''Sportsman," "stated perhaps the -most interesting point of the whole game -was the duel between the much-talked-of New, Zealand formation of 2 3 2 and tho British "scrum" of three in the front rank.,; He would have more to say ; on this subject later, but: suffice to - say that in -this match' the - ' Britishers secured the ball nine out of every 'ten'times.' The rulings on . certain points were somewhat different to those at Home,'and consequently were a . little disconcerting.' -This referred chiefly to the "pass forward." "In New Zealand a player.taking a pass off-side was penalised with; a free kick. 'It would interest readers to know that' in this match the Britishers played- a wing-forward, Harding operating with great success in that : position. • They would ,-probably adhere to -this' throughout the tour. Jackett .was .in rbriUiant -form, and his display had made him ' a . great favourite already. The Australian Rugby League team which is now on its way Home will play matches as. follows October .3, . Mid. . Rhondda, Wales; October 7, Bradford; October 16, Rochdale Branch; October; 14, York; October 17, Salford; October. 21, Runcorn'; October- 24, Cumberland League; October 29, Teigle;" October 31, Kingston Rovers; November 4," Yorkshire County; November 7, November 11, Wales; November 14, Warrington; November 18,' Northern League; November 21, Hunslet; November: 25, Lancashire County; ' November ■ 28, Barron; .December 2, <Swinton; • December. S, Halifax;; December 12,' Test Match; December 16, Tooherbert; December 19, Hull; December 25, Leeds cember 26, Oldham;,. January 2, England; January 6, ; January - 7ji.AVake-r., field Trinity ; January 516,. Test Match;; January.! 20,- Widner; January 23/ Welsh-League;.-January '27, Ballov; .January - 30, 'Wigan; February 3, - Keighley; February 6, Brougliton Rangers; February 13; Test Match; February 17, St. Helens; February 20, Huddersfield. Four othor matches to be arranged.; ; Some interesting remarks on the .'.question of • professionalism - wore • made. at.' tho annual meeting' of the- Welsh Rugby Union by Mr. Horace Lyne,. who was re-elected president. He' pointed out.' 1 that,, notwithstanding.' the rumours'. of a large number of Welsh.clubs foing over-to the Northern Union, only.four ad done so. If -what ho had heard was. correct, the Welsh :■ Union-.was '.better off - than in'the old : days, and certainly' contained'more honest amateurs, whilst it'was better'to; get rid of men who played for money instead of the'-ganie: 'In a few years' time,' the speaker contended,' there would not be' much, hoard of Northern Union football'in South Wales. The -question: of professionalismin - South ..Wales, Mr. Lyne pointed out,/.was"not,-fin-ished with yet,_ but the Union-must-not-?.he afraid to face it. They, the .Union,'.had a scheme on hand by\wbich the; large Welsh clubs, by giving assistance, were to help the small ones, Jind. if ■ this was done the attack •of.-the Northern Union on Welsh football would be easily dealt , with.