RUGBY GAME.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1252, 7 October 1911, Page 12

RUGBY GAME.

CLUB TRAINING THIS YEAR. tßr Aeistobultjs.] The Park, This Day. . Football season, 1911, ends for all New Zealand with the inter-island matc'h on the -Park this afternoon. For the very great majority it ended weeks and weeks ago, but year after year it happens that tho most interesting Rugby ovent is deferred until late in tho season, when tho weafer is warm and players have begun to get out their cricket flannels. In tho centres a man has to bo almost moro than mere flesh and blood to 6tay ttm>ii"-h .1 club tournev, and when the end comes ho is only too glad to let up ontraining for a space, so that wo find tins year that some of the men who ought to have been out in tho inter-island mateli arc not playing. . The teams are by no means representative of the strength of either island, and probably the game will bo below rather tian above initerprovincial standard. And Now that Training Habit. About iilio training habit from which some of the Wellington forwards suffered this vear. A strong word is necessary. Pleasantly enough several of out city teams went in for it fairly freely this season, but by bad guidance some of the men w«ro a little stale before the end. This has possibly allowed the man who does not train to come into what is not ihis own, for lie may have found men who believed him when ho said that "tab much gymnasium was no good." Ho forgot about the days when he was never up with the play except for a minute or so when he could get breath enough for a dash in front of the grandstand. Although a man may get slow by excess of exercise, it is the trained man wiho is the plaver to be rcspoctod all the time. The real fault lies in the lack of intelligent supervision over football teams in their work. Even- sido of any pretensions boaflte a "coach"—ot maybe two— someone bo tell them to bump their heads together in scrmo scrumming for a minirto or two when tho teams meet for practice, someono who "looks important and knnwledgable" mayhap, but "who has no other qualifications as a coach. Those Luminaries! Those Coaches! Where were these luminaries when some of the best forwards in Wellington were getting ho stale that even inexpert outsiders'could notice tliat they wero losing dash? As a matte of fact, a coach ought to know at once when a iran is going off colour, and tell him to ease off-hard training. It may bo even that a player must give up all exorcise except his Saturday nuutoh for a week or two. _ It-is when a uioji reaches the top of his ,form that ho needs watching, either by himself or by somebody competent to do so. Aβ soon as his keenness and dash gets the least bit dull he must take'things easily for a while. But when? .'That is tho business of a really competent coach'. Unfortunately there are" no'expert coaohee in the business in New Zealand at present.

The Wellington season has been ;a very Successful ono in a "business" way, which no doubt the Bugby Union will havo much pleasure; in. recording when the proper timo comes. .The*success has beon enhanced by...the public interest in' a closely-contested match list, and this , interest was due _to only ono thing—greater motion, duo to training/, which gayerjnany of the club games-'avfiiienia.tograplMO' effect. Lnfoi'liinately; v 'hb'iroVtr;'th6:'E<*<l man suffered for the :indifferent .person.in the at tho last. These finely energetic ones got very quickly into host form, but they were mostly stale when tho end of it came. It was to this, more than any other circumstance, that tho poor showing madeby the Wellington representatives in their first matches must bo attributed. First they mot Marlborough, and after rattling up a big wore in the first spell, collapsed badly in tho second spell, that they were only saved from defeat in tho end by tho boll. They certainly mado the country team look very "easy," but they themselves looked almost as ' easy against Taranaki. They woro beaten loss decisively by Auckland, but • they were beaten, and by a weaker team than that with which they drew last year. Then they went down south and showed vastly improved form—mainly because the south is not much good. Th'ey gave Canterbury and Southland the biggest beatings they have had all the season, and then drew with Otago in what appears to have been a fairly hard-i'ooght game.

The Usual Otago Hyperbole. Following is tho "Evening Star's" summary of doings in the province where tho greatest adjectives are sometimes applied to the merest commonplaces. The play of such words as "sensationally" and "desperate" is 'at least interesting:— "Tho game opened sensationally, Wellington scoring two tries eight minutes after the start. Otago supporters wcro predicting a big beating, when the Blues pulled themselves together and with tho forwards going all out they had, if anything, tho better of the spell from this out. In fact, they led at half 'time by. 3 points. Synionds scored a try, which Norrio converted, and Scott potted a sensational goal from near the touchline. Tho play had been exceedingly fast and exciting, and the crowd were ' delighted with the exhibition given by both teams. Otago had tho chances, but missed them, otherwise their score must havo been larger. "The second spell was a desperate encounter. Wellington drew level shortly after the start, and then the two learns settled down to business ' in real earnest'. The visitors kept hammering away at tho Blues' line, and tho local side were hard pressed for most of the ; time, but they managed to stave oil' their opponents, and a great game ended in a draw. "I'ho dilfcreuce between tho two teams, was that tho Wellington backa know more than tho Otago vanguard, and the wonder is that they did not score more point's. They whipped tho ball away quickly, and had it not been for tho driving and tackling of M'Dougall and Williams at fiveeighths there is no doubt that their cit'orts would have met wilh greater success. The Otago forwards wore moTo than a match for the visitors, and it was really a game, between a good set of backs and a determined, battling side of forwards."

That is what tho' Dunedin publio thought about the game no doubt. If it had been played hero Wellington ■ people might not havo thought it so wonderful, for we know that tho game hero will stand improvement, and report has it that football in Dunedin is rather worse. Whether it is tho management of Rugby or not, tho fact remains that there are things which ought to bo doue to roinfitato tho old gamo in tho proud place it held some years ago. "There Was a Meeting in Wellington." There was a meeting in Wellington about something or other to do with, football control a while ago, but the people who met got to personalities before they talked much about the stato of tho gamo. Poseibly another meeting might not bo just tho samo. Apart from whether it please?) everybody or not, however, there is still this to say. that thoro is much nted for someone to think _ about how to save- the game from lapse into unpopular disfavour, and to think hard.