FOOTBALL.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1431, 4 May 1912, Page 12

FOOTBALL.

[Br Ambtobbltjb.] THE CHAMPIONSHIP LADDER. "2 . . g & 2 a ■■& J 1 I s i S °. ■ p, Pi fi D Melrose 2 2 0 0 48 5 i Athletic 2 2 0 0 81 9 i Petone 2 2 0 0 28 12 i Oriental 2 2 0 0 21 8 4 St. James 2 11 0 31 9 2 Wellington 2 0 1 1 12 28 1 Victoria Col. ... 2 0 1 1 9 18 1 Southern 2 0 2 0 9 3-10 Poneke 2 0 2 0 6 17 0 Old Boys 2 0 2 0 5 ,63 0 The Pleasant Job of' Tipping Premiers. Already the tipsters aro beginning to sort out th«ir fancies for the' championship. The choice'of the majority lies between Athletic and Oriental, champions and runners-up last season. Petono aro mentioned by some, but there are rumours of dissension in tho club ranks, which should not make things any easier for them. Last year the men let pp on training after three or four matches, with disastrous results, and unless'.they aro a quite.happy family something of the sort may occur again. On their' own day they are now capable of beating any team playing. This last remark applies equally aptly to St. James, but they are not generally expected to do so well this year as they did last. Athletic and Oriental have not met, and it is difficult to imagine how they will fare when that happens. Athletic havo fairly sound backs, and absolutely the best forward division in the city, probably the best lot of club forwards that have ever been together in Wellington for many years. Tho Black and Whites have a decent lot of forwards, and a. brilliant set of backs, but what those-clever backs will look .like when the Athletic forwards get amongst them is not'very clear just yet. Last of all, Melrose have to be considered. '■ They are the best supported outsiders, and though not champions, they .niay stop- any of tho best teams when they hapjwn to bo playing on one of the outside grounds.

■"Of Course, the Feature Was the Oriental Backs."

Oriental camo successfully through the game >• with 131. James, their first "try out" .game i\l the season. Both sides Beamed 1 to ha've got into very fair shape, althouglr.it was only the second match of tho year,-' aru 1 the play was altogether very good;', Of course, the feature of the match wa«.- tl ie work of the Oriental backs. Ti'iey have now by far tho best three-quart* \r iline in the city. Murray, of Auckland, who plays in tho centre, will "assuredly be one of the most useful men a va ilablo in the position when he gets to know tho three men in front of him; a littl'e better. Once he made a bad mistako to' failing to pass to Carmi- i chael when ai, try looked tho likeliest thing to happen'• Manning loob ;d bigger and sturdier than Ever, and-Lis itame was safo always if never brilliant. ■ He takes the ball and kicks almost per, fectJy, ,and he is a hard man to stop near tho line, but ho is rather too slow A ?r a long-range attack. Hale, on the- oj her wing, is- a player of another sort. JD s defence did not strike one as good last Stvturday, but ho is a fast and "plucky rumnt r, and ho can gather in any kind of e> Kinvig's .line-kidking was useful, but ho does not teenrt to have developed his former accuracy in place-kicking, yet. Eoberts, as always, was the man who struck-the spark tc> iset things alight, but ho was hot" up "to ] lis: best form. M'Leod was nust-M'Leod—ptucky and resourceful; the best the" city' when, he' is behind .Eoberts.;. 1 ' ' : iThe St. James Backs are Goimj Amiss. The St. James back* are going to miss K. Eoberts badly. Thpir new half-back, "Otiku, is one of; tho 'solid, strong sort, who can take hard knocks, but he cannot get away kicks from behind the forwards' Tieels as" his predecessor could, nor is he euch a dangerous man when running with the ball. Cook did a little' to restore the reputation which he mat\e for himself last year, and then, dissipated by indifferent play at the latter end of the season. Young and Leggatt, who tiye associated with him, . are both useful three-quarter backs, and the latter seem? tj> be a decent placekick. Hekita madej a fair success of the full-back position. Unit, he is too fiery a player ever to- make' an ideal full-back. Vanguards—St. Jarniss and Oriental, In. the St.. James; vauguard King and Moft'att were ahvayii first to make a ■breach, and first to get into it. They were < the leaders of every; attack by tho forwards, bursting away with, the ball at. toe, or chasing a bustled back, orxl leaving the rank and file to follow -awit finish the work. The Oriental pack appeared to be a' good average !c>t of hard workers. They h.tvo ho -Kings or Moffatts among them, but for all that they kept the Ecd and' Wh.'fes busier than' they cared 'io bo for short . periods at both ends of the game. Old Boys; Mold a Meeting. Old Boys are tangled up in a maze/ of difficulties.,at tho present time, and. dc-servo-soai!' sympathy. l Admittedly their senior i*ain is hopelessly weak, and it lias every /prospect of running the gauntlet' of a 'series of crushing defeats as the season-, runs its course. Members' of the team held a meeting during Iho week, aud decided to carry on and do the best they could. Circumstances .being what they are, the decision entitles Old Boys to a measure of credit which tlitrfr prowess in tho field is unlikely to ■ earn at any time in the> near future. The recruiting resources of tha team are- limitcdi By its constitution, it can only take olj boys of Wellington 'College, and the available supply of players in the eenior grade has been seriously depicted, through ono ..course and another, during the first few yionths. Matthews t'wingforward), Gilbert, Poole, and l?icot (backs) and Alexander and Stewart (forwards) nro some of the men who have sustained injuries or gono away, and their loss has operated disastrously on the strength and prospects of tiho team. Last Saturday, when 'they encountered Melrose at the Hutt. Old Boys were minus the services of Fordharn, who had been temporarily incapacitated. Availnblo supports are 'being callod in to repair, as far as possible, the losses sustained by tho team, and to-dpy H. Dawson will take the field. Faint—Yet Pursuing. Do what they will, Old Boys can scarcely put a good senior team in tho field during tho present season. They arcs reduced, so to speak, to old men and boys. On the other hand they seem filled with a hearty resolve to keep their team alive in the active Tanks, and this is a spirit which has achieved more wonderful things thau tho restoration of a fqotball team to fighting trim and strength. A season or two hence Old Boys may regain something of their lost prestige. Possibly some of the old boys of the ColIce who are playing under alien colours raav revert to their own particular club. Quite a number of prominent players in WelliDgton clubs aro College old boys. Grace—Bstter Than His Company. Ono of the sufferers, ii 3 thing.i now stand, is Grace. It cannot be pleasant for ft reallv brilliant three-quarter to bo bracketed with the raw youngsters and players with a past who wear the Old lioy colours and turn out once a week to cot a drubbing. It is a,striking sight to tea Grace performing prodigies, as he did la«t Saturday against Melrose, while his weaker brethren labour painfully all around. " »«.,,»■ One effect of the decision pf Old Boya to hang on and endure the fires of adversity will be to retain Grace amongst.

the plnyers who are available for representative honours. The Promise of Melrose. As a team Melrose had an absurdly easy task on Saturday, and they accepted their fortune, in the manner of youth, light-heartedly. The best and worst features of tho team wevo in evidence. It has no pnssengers, and both backs and forwards have some notion of combined, and strenuous, play. On tho other hand, their play is uften Tagged, mainly by reason of their own impetuosity. Tho Molrose forwards go at difficulties as a bull is reputed to go at a gate, and in the process they waste a certain amount of strength. The backs, upon the whole, put more brainwork into their game on Saturday. They started many passing rushes, and it was mainly duo to a greasy ground and ball that nono of these attacks quite got home. Upon tho whole Melrose are a team with possibilities, and if they do not stale and fall away as tho season progresses they should climb quite a long way up the championship ladder. Melrose's New Back. One of the best backs on the ground on Saturday was Flack, a three-quarter lately acquired by Melrose from tho bclwyn team. He is a skilful and heady player, and displays a remarkable talent for weaving through a press of opponents without giving ground to right and left. He makes the goal his objective, and generally gets a good long way towards it before he is pulled down. Bain, at halfback, acquitted himself well. Marshall (full-back) was a little unsteady in his earlier play, but recovered his usual good form as the game wore on. One of the Best.Grounds—Karori. One of the best grounds for playing Rugby in and round Wellington is undoubtedly the Karori Eecreation Ground. The turf there is in capital condition at the present time, and should improve from year to year.' Perhaps the one drawback to the ground is its situation— so far from tho city. On a nice fine after-, noon, however, the tram ride to Karori Park and back is a pleasant one, and now that afternoon tea is available on the ground it should grow in popularity with both players and spectators. College and Wellington Rivalry. .For some years now keen rivalry lias existed between the Victoria College and Wellington Clubs, so that no matter wjiat positions the teams hold in tho championship, the matches between them always arouse interest among the followers of both clubs. This was in evidence last Saturday, when supporters of the teams mustered in good farce at Karori, and appeared to find excitement enough in tho contest that took pJace. There were some, bright features in the game, but many of tho players' best efforts lacked finish, because there were no "old heads" on eifiher side. In Ryan and Salmond, however, tbo college club has two iirst-class backs, while the Wellington club has a promising pack of forwards, headed by Cotter, Coker, and Miller. Dawson, Wellington and North Island representative, has acceded to requests to don the Old Boys' jersey once more, and he resumed training during the past week. Poneke Battling Along. Poneke have opened the season badly, but thero seems to bo just a chance still of their coming through the season very creditably. They havo lost; Walshe, Mitchinson, and Tilyard, and with a much reorganised team have put up two good fights against strong teams. Twice they have succumbed, but Petone and Athletic are both reckoned difficult teams to defeat. Neither had an easy win over Hie Bed and Blacks. last Saturday Athletic had to go all out to gain tho victory. The, game was Poneke's in the first spell, and the luck was Athletic's. . In the second half Athletic were unfortunate in not scoring more points than they did. Their hard-fighting forwards broke down the Poneke defence almost at will. Petone and Southern. It was somewhat surprising to note the attractiveness of the Petone-Southern game last week, especially when one took into consideration the gusts of wind that swept the field from the north-west. The conditions were difficult, especially for backs taking the ball on the full, and line-finding. For instance, Jas. Eyan is a player whom anyone would be inclined to wager on for getting touch; but he failed dismally on severally occasions, solely- through the uncertain and tricky wind. i, But the strangest thing about the wind and the kicking was tho goal-placing of MTarlane and Capper. The former was in top form. His first goal was from the most difficult angle on a field, and his last—a penalty—from a few-yards off halfwav against the wind. Capper's goal was also brilliant. This coming full-back was as safe as the proverbial "concrete wall." He shied at nothing, and was always in position. The ambiguous Bradley is a "spoiler" of no mean order. His game at centre-three-quarter was an eye-opener to his opponents who were frequently checked in attack by his clever "spotting" tactics. The other Southern backs were weak in defence, and do not account for their men. A disgustingly common incident was the fact that often a Maroon wing was left with two or three opponents to tackle. Some ono was undoubtedly to blame closer up. Garwood, Gallaher, and M'Guire distinguished themselves a little in getting .Southerns' one try, but that was all. Southern should turn their attention to tho scrum. "Three-two-one" is all very nice—it gives an extra man amongst the backs, but what good is he if there is no ball to play with?. If the game is to be won by defence (which it never can be) then three in front won't do it. Tho two men in the second row are not putting in an ounce of weight, and naturally tho hookers have no support and cannot get possession.