FOOTBALL.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 586, 14 August 1909, Page 12

FOOTBALL.

RUdBY. (By Aristobuxus ) *> -■ "WELLINGTON V. ANYBODY, In selecting tho team to represent Wel--1 lington, the selectors (Messrs. Pudney, Meredith, and Roberta), appear to have recognised that' the Wellington backs are good enough for i the othor provinces. And more than good enough. But the forwards, though willing, are badly built physically—at least many or them are. , The proper stamp of forward—the stamp that can""gallep all day"—the Seeling stamp 1 <— is scarce ill these parts just now. So ■Wellington's chances work out rather peculiarly. Give the Wellington three-quarter-line anything like a show, and Wellington romps home, But then, that depends on the forwards, and if the forwaids "let down the whole show" on'the backs any catastrophe is possible, Forwards aro tho artillery, which w must open the action and practically win it The backs aro only the cavalry, which sheet tho effort of tho forwaids home to the othor pide.at the last. ■ Consequently, the whole Uung'dopends on the forwards. If the baoka can't got ck.tr, What on earth will we do? Wo'll be beaten, I fear, If the backs can't get clear— And I'm really sincere, To explain it to you— , If the backs can't get clear What on earth will wo dp? 1 v If the forwards are dead, Ah! Who shall awako 'em? Oh, bitter's one's bread . ' ' If the foiwards are, dead, i , ( His comforts are fled, ■ His pleasures forsake, him. , ilf the forwards are dead,, \ s Ah! Who shall iwake 'em? But, if forwaids are g01d,,. ' , 1 Why the caper's all over; i , , The whole tale is told, 'If tho forwards are gold, i - *-. \ 1 , We can lay them all cold, ( >Hearken! Forward and rover! , If the forwards are gold, Why the capei's all over. Consoling thoughts—at least,'one consoling thought—steps in here. It is understood that tho Selection Committee arc alive" to the importance of tho forwards. And the first forward who is caught not doing his i share is to be* ordered to take off his lcproEentative war-pamt, and put on plain clothes Especially "the man who isn't there." ' For example, should tho , Wellington backs bo bustled back on their line, it wdl bo in- , teresting to take one's'eye off tho snot where 1 the ball is, and watch the laggards coming up. One will thon be able to forecast which forwards are going to stay in tho team, and | i which are going out of it. / The foregoing does not mean merely "getting (the ball in the scrum." That is only . a fraction, of' it. It means hustle, general hustle, hustlo for ninetj minutes, hustlo which opens tho path for tho backs, hustle which brings-victqry when the tired stage comes. ' t l It ris a likely throe-quarter line —this IWellington line, and behind it there is James Eyan—solid circumstance,, "like'a city set " upon, a hill." Th© writer hopes tha,t if ', James ,sces the slightest opportunity he will '" chip° into the passing, and into tho attack > generally. ,Of course, it 1 is a little dangerous for lus side But not if one of the disengaged x backs drops back into tho Vacant position, 1 and guards it pro torn. t , _ 1 Of the halves, "Fred" of cdurse is "Fred," andiWalshe is Walsho. Everybody knows everything about them. But, at time of writing, nobody seems to know whctbei "Fred" will play'or not. M'Kcnzie is, like i Green, one of the Petono boys trained bj , Mr. Ljnskey. Ho,is a very correct, ortho,s dox 'sort of plajer. If the representative hurly-burly does not overawe him, he ,wiU do. But fivo-eighthß{ is tho mqst difficult position in the* team, and a plajer' who , figures in that position is always, liable to s get 1 " a showing up," H.ere again it largclj depends ort tho hustle of the forwards. " , Tho writer interviewed one of tho Selection Committee with reference to the non-in-elusion of a well-known Oriental plajer The ' reply was an extensive silence. In place-kicks tho Wellington team is formidable There are Garduio r , Mitchuison, lUai), Walshe, Evcnsen, and some more. Also, there is Roberts to do the placing, and the placing of the ball is nearly»half the i battle ' , Of course all the foregoing is one view of the selection (it is our own view), but, like ia regard to most other things, there is another side,' Tho fault-finders mostly lay their collective forefinger, in turn, on E. Ryan, M'Kenzio, and one or two of the fori wards. Now, it so happens, that tho ground has, for some weeks, been unsuitable for a plajei 'of the Ryan older lloundenng r about m the- mud ho has sometimes come oft, and th.ere have been many times when ho hasn't 'As, the critics badly want this match to be won by tho home team, they claim that a sounder, it less flashy, three-quarter should fcavo been chosen. One ha*dly likes to lefer to M'Leod's nonr. inclusion, \some hmi it hard to believe that 1 ' he has not been pmposely overlooked They ask why, if his sen ices were not required, Green was not .made half, and Roberts placed r at in-five-eighths ? M'Kenzie, who has been Bolected, is "a promising playei, but (so the s objectors say) he is not yet in tho same i street as M'Leod. On recent showings, M'Lcod is, to their way of thinking, supenoi to any other live-eighths here—Ytalshc not excepted _ '' < There is also a loud demand for Av ery.' Along forwards Avery, on his present form, would have a chance to show us veiy best Why Avery is most picfer;ec is that he rarely misses an opportunity tc make an opening Near tho lino (it iI claimed) ho is very dangerous _iAnd now, having stated all tho conflict 1 ing current views, 'wo come * back to oui ■ own It is stated in the verses up above \ and, once more, wo cepmss tho hope that tin Selection Committee will deal rudely witl oiiy forward who "lots down tho show " On the text "Tommy" Burns, an extensive football sermon might bo prenched Burnt a* ill win back no world's ohampionships. >Thero is too much of a curve on his contoui as it woro And a man can never trair back to bo exactly as ho was, Sonicthnif the same applies in football. For attacl especially, the n'an inclined to bo gaunt i gcneially bettor than tho man inclined to b< rotund, other things being 'equal. There l ncaso by nay of illustration among th< ' AYcllington representative backs just now The attack of 15 Ryan ib a little more razor edged than that'of James Ryan. And tha is because James Ryan has a certain natura "roundness" which ho could never train off Shakespeare's Caesar knew what ho wa, talking about when he said. "Yon Cassiu has,a lean and hungry look; such men an dangerous," Tho backs brought down by Taranakiseen to be a fairly slippery lot, and that is al the more reason why the Wellington for wards must be up doing, If the "othc A follow" ,is inclined to attack you, tho romeel; /, .ia to attack him., Whon he has his own arm full of defence, much of jhis "slipperiness,' '"rcdoubtablenoss," .etc, disappears.' Gnomes were never blacker than Ponek oid Oriental after the mud had finishei with them on Saturday. It was a rathe stern'combat, in which all hands played a forwards, and Poneko got on hotter afto tboy ceased trying to pick up the ball. Habit is a powerful thing. Eyen in th ■ second spell, Ponek© could scarcely refrai from putting hands on- the leather. Practi cally, in tho stress of a match, a footballe ' 'cm cairy nothing about with him except hi habits. And his habits depend on tho kin of hall-training he gets.' Eleventh-hot "advico" about "making it' loos©" c "making it tight," or doing this, or doin that, 'is no good. Poneko are now making something of imputation for second-spell victories, It i risky kind of 'victory, however.,

. Strange thing: about the: leading team in any town is that it is nover vory popular. If it-retains the championship for any length of time :,,it . becomes almost a hated thing. On Saturday, at half-time, very loud exSressions of satisfaction were , heard - jthat 'riental were heading Poncko by . three points, : and;seemed likely to keep ahead. .. Blight'seems to have fallen,on a. young Oriental player. He began the'season;,with great promise ( but has dwindled a lot. On Saturday ho did nothing, but gave away-free-, kicks. One of his club states usual, calculated newspaper poisons have been held up,.to him, and he has drunk thereof, extend aivelylf lf sbj'iall.is over.'witli hun..' , ' '.-Rather admirable thing about Poneko on Saturday was tho.way in which they, kept their, h&ds. Oriental hustled them up and "down, the field, to be pleasant,' ; but'.they scemed.'to meet the ordoal coolly, aiid\gencrally tried to do the right thing for ; each that, situation might be.. ' ■■■•.... Alhambra have won the Dunedm championship with a record of fiftoen matches played and fifteen won. / . ■ Apropos'tho': above,- a ' letter from -Dunedm recoived here states, inter alia:—"You would hardly, credit it, but Alhambra -have won the flag with' a tearcuthat - would not have run into fifth place six or seven years ago. What is-'the-'good "old game coming to?" .. \ S It is expected'.that Bennet. (Alhambra) and M'Donald v (tho 'esr-Ghristchurch fivo-eightbs), and forwards 'Patterson ' (Zingari), • Ivimoy (Union),'vM'Donald and Johnson (Kaikorai), and M'Kenzie > (Alhambra) \yill bo nominated to represent Otago in.-the mter-island match. There is nothing like-a' wet; ground to ;"try : out" a, team, but wilt agree; that there.,'can 'be oven too much of. the -.same kind .'of test,'. As a'matter of - fact, the conditioiithe. 'Athletic: Park' is' now beyond a . joko^-i-It-appears that, the: lodges between the soil and the clay, and as,a result a pungent. unsavoury smell exudes-as soon: as the . turf. is [ . According to a, wellknown 1 Pctone-: player, if \a dairyman kept cows on the ground he would be prosecuted by. tho Health Department. .. 7 '" ' What surprised. onlookers most in regard to 'tho Petone-At'hletio mateh'. was';the ;ipace of the game,' Considering the dreadful state of ;the ground.,: Athletic ,p'^iW l '. "'til dashing play,'but Petono presented a bold front. As tho contestiprbgressed .the superior form of the suburban players asserted itself, and although':, they'. did not rUii over ■■ Athletic/: they always had the match safely-in hand.. /p • Conspicuous among tho winners' backs -.was .Who' was middling :'on attack, bat- very -safe .'on the defence. Those who would be 1 delighted-to, him gain a 'place' in Island H«ahi; may - not be, , disappointed: i-1 . vAmongr'the^Petohe; 1 : forwards, Lindsay did especially'well for-a young player. Although hot particularly brilliant in any direction, ho worked hard—miich harder- than some .of his companions—-all tho time. He should get his reward-next Of : 1 the '-Athletic backs, - Evensonwas. aß.'.u,sual' facile: princeps.: • - . :'.''Xrhe : "compositiou,>of Npi-lvground. of the Petono' Recreation,V-Reservo is ;of 1 such a porous, sandy nature that:' a' few heavy showers - make' noj,,-appreciable. difference 041, the?'surface^- ;: recognised fact .tliat,'the. Petone grounds is the best-on a wet day, tho suburb ,is.,not, par-, ticularly- favoured with good'matches. With 'the*, exception of the - leione-Ponoko .match 'in the first;round, tho Rugby: Union has "not permitted 'any; matches of importance to : be played on the-suburban ground.,,.■i i Whether the Petono Borough Council is 'satisfied agreement';:as carried out remains -to be seen. The peoplo of m ■ tho town," which is a.strong football citadel, have 'it; 'grievance /against;; the: union ~:for, what', they : regard as -'studied, neglect-'.of the'suburban followers of the gamo. ■ Last' Saturday's matoh, llolrosp v. St. James,, was :not calculated to drawi a crowd to 'the -Petone . Recreation -.Ground, and''the local council may have cleared half-a-crown, after-' meeting r'expehse"s'''incurred-:.during:,th'o afternoon. The- only, people 011 tho ground woro ,n dozen lower grade players,whose matches, -.hadv,been declared..;;''off,'! and a ■ back seats of 'the. grandstand, taking "absolutely , no fint-Mv est mtliegame.-•• .. , ■-.- -' Itvwas -no .game at all. Ono would,think ■ that, at this, late "stage \pi, the.-season,all. teams -would ■ 'have improved sufficiently.. in form to be able to make a game of it oven on a .soft ground. St. .James are: credited ; with - something of condition, hut they wero very passive winners last Saturday. Melrose gave up'-.tho-ghost early, and what could St. James do but plod on to victory? . ' ;