THE MAORI

Dominion, Volume 15, Issue 182, 29 April 1922, Page 13

THE MAORI

‘ HIS SPORTING STATUS (INDUCEMENT TO PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL "The amateur status, of the Maori In sport is being questioned,” said the president of the New Zealand Rubgy ’Union at the annual meeting on i Thursday. Mr. McLeod was referring to negotiations, which were, he said, being conducted with the Maori, by a mission of the League game or football, now visiting New Zealand, from Sydney. “Propaganda is going on with the Maoris,” Said Mr. McLeod, who is one of the Taranaki delegates on the union. Appeal to Maoris.

I “Action is being taken, and we must endeavour to meet it and ■to kill it. (Herr, hear.) I am given to understand that the major proportion of the programme of the League football mission to Now Zealand is to get hold of the Maoris. lam not sufficiently conversant with the Maoris’ mentality on the question, and I am speaking with pome hesitancy, but I would express the hope that Mr. Parata, who is a ' delegate with us, or Dr. Pomare, might take a hand on the question, and make an appeal to the Maoris, so that they may realise where they are being led. “Again let me eay how difficult it is to speak on this question,” said the president. “It is difficult to speak without .saying too much.” “If anything is done by us. it is possible, that Something may happen that may disassociate the Maoris with the amateur game. . What the League A mission may promise, or may have promised, may have a detrimental effect. I would like to hear the expression of the standpoint of one that can appeal to the race. I think it can be done by the leaders of the race. ' z “I am told an attempt is being made to bring a Maori team over to Australia, under the Northern Union code. That is the last thing we could wish to see. “No Superior in th# World.” - ' “The Maori as a sportsman has no superior in the world, said the president, amid, cheers. "It would be a sad thing, indeed, io see him disassociate himself from the amateur game. This is a contingency we should take full cognisance of, and we should have .it represented in the right quarter.” \(OheOrsJ Mr. E. Parata. Bay of Plenty delegate;’addressed the union after the tea adjournment. “I met the delegation ef tho Sydney League game at Rotorua; and conducted them to Lake Taupo,” he said. “We spent three days together, I -was approached by them to take thw team of Maoris that piayed the Springboks at Napier to Australia. I would like to say that I found the delegates very fine men, outside the game. They are on one side of the fence and I am on the other. My reply to them was that I would bring the matter before this meeting. “They told mo they' came over to . New Zealand for the sole purpose of getting a Maori team to visit Australia. They said the ordinary New Zealand League team was no good to •* them at all. They assured me that, ■if a Maori team went over, they would be very popular, and that the “gate” would be worth £60,000 or £70,000. They are organising round the country, going to all the centres, getting into touch with prominent Maori players. It will need. a lot of backbone for a player to turn down their proposition. “It rests with this meeting to decide whether we are to lose the Maori players to the game of football.

The Maori’s Loyalty.. “The Maori is very loyal,” said Mr. Parata. “He ia loyal to your game. He plays it absolutely for- the sport he gets. As long as .he can have the game, he is quite satisfied with the Union code. If tho Union does not send a Maori team to Australia this sea- • son, I will not he responsible for what transpires during the next week or ' two. “The Bay of Plenty, the area covered by mv union’s district, is greater than any other. Our extreme boundaries are 240 miles apart. We have seven sub-unions, and this year we have forty-seven senior teams. Outside of that, we have 600 Maori players, and In New Zealand to-day there are over 2000 Maoris playing Rugby football. You see what it might mean if this tour does not eventuate. You might lose them. ' ■ “As far ns the League’s offer to me is concerned, I take it as a great compliment, but I have been associated with ■ this game since my childhood, and I feel I cannot see my way clear io go away from the friends of my boyhood.” (Cheers.) Australian Tour Arranged. Mr. G. Slade, chairman of the Management Committee, said he could see • no reason why the Union could not send a Maori team to Australia tins season. There was an honest misunderstanding about the last arrangement to send them over. The New South Wales Rugby Union was not in a sound position, financially, and he felt that the Union could afford to forgo its profit, and send the Maori team across. , , ' , Mr. E. A. Little, another member, of the Management Committee, moved that it be a recommendation to the committee that tho tour be arranged. The motion was agreed to, amid cheers. , . , It was decided to appeal to the lead, ing Maori citizens in the Dominion illterested in Rugby to assist tho union In furthering the game, and also to invite Mr. E. Parata to organise a Maori team to tour Australia this Season, in response to a request from the New South Wales Rugby Union.