FOOTBALL.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 574, 31 July 1909, Page 12

FOOTBALL.

RUGBY. (By Anisxonoms.) WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO HIM? "1 have been making bets as ,to how , Aristo* oulus' would reply to me, and I. won. -■ livening paper. . , - ■ ■" The story 'of .poor-Posti," and of atfamous bout , . When Posti'sang: "ilsie's Hairy, well smoke t ' tho-rascal oiit." • ;.- ■ 1' ■ - At'first ho. trod: high, altitudes—Titanw-rhymes - ho wove— And, in his own opinion, (ranked rsocoua unto Jove. But, week by week, despite tho. rhymes,, his argumont grew small.' • , „, : Until'at'last it. soarcely had: an. entity at all . Ho oast about to "lose thu ; scent,"' as matters hotter ' , , . ''He side-tracked into 'thin red line, and, found it—Waterloo. ' 1 : ' r "A pyramid of words~ho built, from July baok . till June, -ni. But, on'the strings.Of Fortunes harp, ill-luck, • ' played constaut tune, ' ; • oried: *'ohv -write: mors football) and sundry other roars. . . , , • / miarflported facts, ond niisrsporteu > t scores. '-fle fliw • "Dreams" and "Specials"-thos« 1 awful wordy tricks, , " Where all Life's problems aro explained by I , youths of twenty'-sii. , His faots grew worse! The moral plain, most • pertinent it seems— ,-. . : ' 'Jet humble men keep humble ways, and not i indulge in dreams. ' He wde the hurdler 'Tantasy," and fell at A;:,* ;^:•every;'fenfce.;", \ ; : ~ ..Last week anothehmatch,went wron|, :.ana . still he learnt no sense. Vii He stated . this, ;and : -stated that, and (this 'annoyed him most), v \ His every statement could be met by turning , up tho "Post." ' Bo pressed by dire experience, he sacked his "dreaming" man, < ' i jiMe&ndorod . back .t0,,/ Rugby, ... and then, the }< end " began, „ For folks then scanned his 'football, on : j which ho sot such, hope, , ' ... 'And found it indiscermblo without a micro'iNow where- on' earth he's- wandered to, or how on eirth he fates/ ; ; r ilt's possible that-no, one knows, :and ; oertam ';^i-o:no',bne-cares'j;i:t;'y;f-:v;i'..:V; : v^:':;-::^ i Bnt, from the fragment up abovo—its quoted 1 Irom his sheetißs's now become i walking tow, a®" bfits m 5 ;V >■ r f^ ■ Followers' of "Rugger'l will be sorry to learn that 'Freddy''Koberts's,-.present mten- ' tica is to retire,at; the. end , of the. piesont season. • „ M. Ryan, the woll-kuown Potone playei, 'has joined the' Nelson Club,- and will play in tho final for tho cup against. Rivals.,- ! '■ Southern'expept to. beat Melrose at Petone to-day. . 1 J.-'Henrys, late of the - Wellington Club, -. : twelve trics in. nine matehss, at •: ' Nelson this season. . , ~'. : ~ , . ■ ■ --Playing the of the ball is too • frequently • seen in :local .matches. -Ono of J. /players' is a father. '' ugly scar on-his -shin./' Referring to tho mat-- . . tor, 'he says that -it is hard enough to stand ' down until the injury has! healedy. .but it , just "breaks him'up" to know that at least ;three players boast of having .'intentionally I Licked himi u ' , ' ; f! . St. James had hard luck in losing .the sor-,, ' i vices; of: MjGrath-: and} Bruce ••.<sarjy.-; in: :the I- second- speli: On -Saturday..:, Up to tho timo • that they were incapacitated, Ponoke wero. ■ four points behind. M'Grath did well on the; -: 'three-quarter line,' Whilst Bruco wasithe best forward dn the ground. , v -' ( Phillips, on the right wing l for, St.. James, is ■ " a': fair, player, for bis inches. It was a treat to .watch, him neatly fielding the heavy, .- greasy ball, and,-on the whole; his display ■ was pleasing. Good things wero expected of Thomas after the way- in, which: he brought Ryan down on / .the occasion of his first- spell., ' But "Algy". : ;proved' to j be in a' very mood. Towards the.end of: the game, his kicking was weak, and onoo or, twice lie made only a poor . ..''•pfetence at tackling., :■ -The touch''6f cramp .. i .which he had doilld not ;have been wholly re- . sponsible for. his poor display. . . ■ ' -■.■■■:■-t----i: ■: Both the, brothers ■ Roberts worked hard ' ithroughout the match. Little "Teddy" got itho ball away 'very deftly at times. Harry '■, scored a meritorious try. Baumgart potted ■ a ; ,*!ever goal. So, what's the matter with.pot- • 4in'g, after'all?' . „ , . ■ ' ; . , ; Of the Poneke backs, Ryan was ;espccially energetic. Receiving 'a 'fair amount of ball ,■ sunder tho circumstances, ho surprised' every- >: . body by th e_ 1 acili ty, witli which he got under ■■ v iway oil such a heavy ground. His fielding ;;;^ ; *as;We&tobs::;but,^ as ,if ho preferred not to allow Jiimself;to ( be :} : tio-vvrieid ■"'- -" V' ? : ■ : f' There was 'little to choose -between the >' . iPoncke forwards last Saturday. When. St. •. .. James made .-ooiicorted .-rushcs towards tho ■ end of the first half, the Reds were unable , . to stand up-to •, them. It was oilly during tho last quarter that they seemed .to do any good, and then St. Jamfis were'minus their leading player." ■ .'■ ■ ■ i .. . Tho contest between" Melrose and Athletics calls lor little- cominent, Only a handful ; ,cf seemed' to • follow the fortunes of the teams. On the f play (which- was i ;; " JmaMyjcphfihed. to" 'th 6 ;packs)';- Athletics, who ■showed well deserved to | . win by a. substantial: margin.- "There'are : i ijnany, who would liko to seo tho Molrose team I lally inits concluding matches. V ' '.'.v Petone played •: thoir return match'with i Oriental,' who, it will bo remembered, beat j the borough team by n goid margin in the i • first round, .' on their - No. 1 (recreation) j .; -. ground; 1 and reversed;,the order of .things' by-' defeatihg the.;- wearers ■ of tho Black and i iWliito by 16 points to 11. Tho team put in the: field -by ? the town club was consider- ' ably weaker tthto that .which did; battle in ■j i;;':'their..:-.fiifst-.;Victorious..game ..against.'Petono. ] Roberts had not recovered from liis injury isus-: two 6r three Saturdaya baok.-'.-..Verooe J • and Matlicson, who were recently injured, wore . i. also unablo> to play, \ while-- Bunckonburg (wing-forward)—perhaps ono of tho most iise- . : ful in',Wellington—was detained, in tile coun- -:. :.,try, arid oould not. assiit.,his teilm. • Aih. , : i"''otherijUsofiil mo'rabor.vmissingfas Manning.' i-' replace, five players of: such ,calibre at'short , . or. long notice is ono of the:"can't do its" cf football. , . t ■ Potone oamo out as. fresh as paint, and ■ ; haidly had Oriental time to placo their team before thoy had 5 points on, Lindsay touch- : ing : down from : a: linfr-out near the line,piiy having been brought to within striking distiuice by dribbling work on tho part of the . . Petetlo van. HlfFarlano ;■ kicked a goal. - Oriental had their hopes further dashed by: anotiie-r thrco points put oil against -.thorn through Jim Ryan gaining- an appeal for aj mark in front,'.which .M'li'arlaiio made: sound use of. Oriental lacked a goal-kicker . ; - soon-after, whoil Petollo wore penalised.in a good easy-place, but Maze's shpt was,a poor, one.". Th 6' visitors had. been'lndulging iii some; ':, pWtty posing'rilshosj: and,from-.one of .these v: towards , the closo of the spell, thoir lirst score came, Mazo:;gaining a. try-after most i of tho backs hod handled the ball. Tho second spell was more open and: interesting. Oriental- had their opponents: .': >."thinking' hard" : by the elusive tactics of. their-backs, and, after Maze had been tackled; near, .the lino, Hubbard dodged across, almost, immediately afterwards, and so Oriental had . six points on.. , . , •• -. (:■■■■l Green,',:the\mppy. :Potohe half,- had had so > far very few'opportunities of showing out; but now, dodging the opposing wing, lie managed (with tho'-hssistanee of, Joe Ryan) to im-: provc 'his ' team's prospects many' times.From 'a -scrum: -lie. cut .away, and, after a dodgy run,'sent the ball to Joe Ryali, who ■'centred well, and Lindsay, gathering up, got over, M'Frtrlailo-improving with a good kick. Oriental lost the services of their hardest working::forward— this stago, , fee having sustained --an injury to his right ■: : Baltic,'' find the services of Tyrrell wero re-

quisitioned to fill the gap. The visitors Worfe pluying with luoto. finish to thoir movements, and M'Lcod was responsible, for the initiating of many good bits of pa-ising. Several scrums woro packed in ant! about the Petone twenty-fivo. From these.'the ball would tly hotween tlio Black and Whiles with precision and pace, and tlio wonder was how. tho score was kept-down. At length; from' ono of these—a particularly fine ono— in which Carrad, M'Lcod, Kinvig, and Sturrock had tlio handling of tho leather, tho last-namod boat Smyrko and scored in a good pJaco. Kinvig converted. Timo was now near-by, and tho scoro was: Potone 13, Oriental 11. Oriental had a ■ chance '-of coining out on top if they- could maintain their back play, but tho opposing forwards'took a hand, and they wero beaten. Play was taken to tlio visitors' twenty-five, and a free-kiok to tho invatlors saw M'Farlario having a shot from a hard anglo. Tho ■kick was a good one, but fell short, but, in tho taking of tho ball, an Oriental playor transgressed, and this time M'Farlnno'was successful. , •' Tho Potone forwards could liavo played much better than tlicy, did. They boat their, opponents in the scrums Very ofton, bat,"-in tno 'loosci they were, lacking. Individual!}', i Hardham i and Shaidlow weio tho best, i IM^Farlano-(Potono), by his• place-kickjng, ; was responsible for 10 out. of tho .-16 points •scored for his team. Of tho visitors' bafcks Gorman—an oxmomber, of- the Star Club (West Coast)—r mado his first appearance at',< wing-thrce-•quarter. • ... ' , G.Ryaa, a promoted junior, took Vercoos : placo'as full-back, and filled ,ifc very creditably. V '■ ' ; i 'The disastrous ;policy of. tlio membors.-or a team idly watching the.-flight of the ball wlion their full-back is called upon to field a long kick wa-s demonstrated in.tho Petone-Oriontal-match on Saturday. G. Ryan, no doubt; could tell ihe story"pretty. well. But, after all/ it happens in: nearly overy match., ■ An Oriental back who had taken the ball fioiii a, high kick in front of a flying bri : gade of Petone men, started off on his dash with a taopoke, chirrup of "Offside, sir," and this: lie kept calling overy■ other-, yard : till lie; met, an - opponent less disconcerted <ind with more presence of mind than his fellows, and he was grassed. The ruse, had told to good purpose,' though, ere this happened, "An old trick of 'Freddy's,'" ejaculated a Potone supporter,on tho line. ..la that so? Well;' at- anyrato, "Freddy" has- one apt copyist,. : ' '-. /, ' ■ . . V: Tlio referee is .'a ' friendless individual—ho never does anything right; Ask any member of ■a" losing team—the referee "has wilfiilly or:-through' incapacity inverted , the truo inct'its of - tho ' toams. ■ - Jou ,will hear .tliG hockey'play err say: "Wo can't, play the 'referee,": and; the.'spectators'inthe Petone gamo-heard something similar. Verily,',.'tho referee,'.'is. deserving 'of..sympathy— -why ho- is on the field at all it is- hard to say/' Surely the wing-forwards could adjudicate -on breaches? No doubt,; also, -the touch-line folks':-would be, willing to. assist. 1 The Mira'mar matches in the senior grade wore not. of ono quality. On No. 1- ground which was .fairly firm underfoot, there was a' lazy game between Old Boys and Southerns it.Was' l dull,' and:tho lack of go'! about it was-the'more'noticeable, from, the fact that a brisk match was 'hi progress on the adjoining field.

• A pool of water :of ; considerable extentmade pioceedings rathor damp ■ on No. 2 ground-when play inclined towards,tho northern: .touch-line.-': By mutual consent the ball ,was;-' kept': away. from 'tkc .sloppy zone, and when by '"mischance" it was screwed in that direction,"players permitted it to, splash out, of.ithe 'mud' again .before attempting to .pick up.' . Inasmuch, (Victoria College wore :Oiit for 'steiii doings, against. Wellington, it might have been a, good put the match on the factor ground. . Tho Old Boys-Soiitliem .gamo could have lost little in the chaiigo.' Repeated ;calls were 'on- the Southern three-quarter lino in the first half, and just as' often -thd,defence forces .ivero fouiid: wanting,;.!.;Miteliell was .at fault at.least once. "An.linwise kick.from.somewhere. ( ih : ,tho backs, gavo Gilbert a mark, 'which Marchant would liavo .turned to. gopd accouiit but,for'a puz-zling.-.breeze;' ' The backs put some life into .their/' tnovemeiits in the second • spell, 'and Southern 'finished -with a victory .by "one point; 'having(Scored two tries,(neither, converted). - . 'The College team displayed a good deal of moral courage last. Saturday. It is true that Wellington forwards were' not 'exercising theinselves 'overmuch .'in the initial '.stages,: but "later,; , wheii the Yellow horde came on more, formidably, the students rallied and' made a ; substantial defence. . This has 1 not .been the tale told in previous ■ matches. Hitherto, if anything, that looked like attack presented itself, the Collegians'- hopes would tall," and tho team would- go down liko dry' twigs,'before -the 'breeze; ;; Last .'-Saturdayproved, however, that there was some cap in. the'-green ;• tree.-., It: Had been through the grafting process with:good, results, and -was m6re,'able to stand frost-bite and.storm.

A : trick employed by Wilson worked suc--cSssuilly in tho scrums more .-than; .'once last (Saturday when the ; Yellow v men .woko up. It was that player's aim to take cho ball lip'.securely between his knees, give the word to the scrum, aud screw or push'iriglit through.' The.'-Greensilooked for the 'ball in vain, and wfcro trapped repeatedly, .by this manoeuvre. i

As time passed, • College kept: on,'- tho ball, and:they wero playing a fair defensive,ga'mo during the latter part of the afternoon. Parr had an Oas^- chance to slip through a disorganised lino at ono moment, however. Tackling with tolerable precision, -the Greens saved their forts several times, and Durio and Carr were compelled to give up attempts '.at' scoring. Nobody: grudged' the i College their draw with Wellington. , , - ' ■/'' V '' "- V: