Football.

Evening Post, Volume LXXII, Issue 72, 22 September 1906, Page 14

Football.

RUGBY. FBt Dkopkick.] Wellington football stocks fell with a dull thud after tho Otago match last Saturday. The defeat of the local men was all the more staggering becauso it was unexpected. Very few people gave the visitors little chance, and before the match was played it was not an uncommon thing to hear the remark, "I don't think I'll go up. It's sure to be a 'cake walk' for Wellington." The Otago men gave a remarkably good exhibition of forward play, considering the heavy state of the ground, and their backs showed sound defence. The Wellington forwards appeared to be suffering from "that tired feeling," their effoits being spasmodic, whilst their opponents played the game for all it was worth from the outset. In tho early stages Wellington more than held their own in tho heavy work, but they were beaten in the loose, and before long had to give way all round. The O'tago forwards put in some long attacks on the Wellington line, and gave the backs some fine opportunities, which wore invariably spoiled by the halfback hanging on to the ball instead of sending it out. Taking the play throughout, the Otago men had all the best of the contest and thoroughly deserved their win. J. Davidson, the visitors' full-back, fave a sterling exhibition, fielding the all, kicking, and stopping rushes time after time without a mistake. A less expert full-back would have had Otago in trouble on several occasions. The three-quarters and five-eighths were safo, and went down to rushes in good stylo. Of the visitors' forwards, M'Donald, Paton, Casey, and Porteous were the most prominent. Geo. Spencer, the Wellington fullback, had a day off. He "speculated" on several occasions, and altogether played a- long way below his usual form. Mitchinson was the pick of the backs, with Ryan a good second. Thomson did not appear to be at home, and his method of rush stopping, viz., picking the ball from tho forwards and running round them, did not come off against tho broad front maintained by the Southerners. J. Spencer was easjly tho best of the Wellington forwards. In fact thero was not a moro brilliant forward on the field. Watkjns also showed up well in the loose, but he broke away from the set scrum too quickly on several occasions. Callum was responsible for somo hard work. Cross and Wright spent a good deal of their time protecting their little clubmatc — Green —from his opponents. '■Tho Man With a Liver" writes :— I wont to the Athletic Park on Saturday afternoon and watched tho representative game between Otago and Wellington. I camo away with thp impression that half of the Wellington representatives should have been watching it too ! The backs 1 were slow as the passing of winter and as unreliable as the days thereof, while' the forwards did not push enough to move an orange barrow. What has Wellington football come io? Saturday's exposition was fitted to draw tears from a bookmaker. There are two main troubles in Wellington : (1) When a young player is at his best the selectors won't put him in the team because he isn't old enough ; (2) when a player gets in the representatives he can't be shifted until he is almost top decrepit to muster a run. Thero wero men in tha Wellington team on Saturday who could almost remembor the great earthquake. Is thero a colour-lino discrimination irl Wellington, or what is tho trouble? I don't know what tho trouble is, but I can speak to the result. Tho Wellington | forwards played fairly and the Otago forwards played better ; the Otago backs wero safe and tho Wellington backs wore poor. Three times in the first spell every ono thought' there was going to bo sonic good play, but at each juncture something went wrong with Spencer's garments, and after the players had formed rings to permit of ropaiis all tho snap went out of the attack. Every now and again the crowd would cheer loudly, and tho people would imagine for a moment that some good play had been seen by tho kcon-sightod ; but it would soon bo discovered that tho ball was being pumped up. At half timo thero was over a quarter-of-an-hour's delay while the football was further repaired, and tho crowd cheered raucously while others sang "Wo won't go homo till morning." One cynic remarked that "even in Otago tho union would havo sprung twelve and sixpence for a new ball, seeing that four thousand people had paid for admission." The Otago team climbed all over Wellington for three parts of tho second spell, and though Wellington camo with a late rush they wero beaten by six points to throe. ' On a dry ground thoy would have boen badly dofeated. So much for the game. Now for the extras : At tho gate I was asked for a shilling admission. Sixponce extra for seeing a representative game was unobjectionable. The weather was broken, so I decided to pay sixEence extra and go in the grandstand ; lit I soon found out that tho admission to tho stand had been raised a hundred per cent. And when I got inside I found that tho central seats (hundreds of them) bad been railed off, and that a tihird_ shilling was being levied for admission thore. Shade of Rhoderick Dhu, what land is this? Think of it: three shillings to look at a mud scramble t The Canterbury Times says there is good reason to believo that North Island Rugby ranks will be strengthened by tho inclusion of two English forwards who showed to advantage against the New Zealand team last season. Thoy have written to friends in the colony in regard to tho prospects of taking up land oither Jn the Wanganui or Taranaki district. A Welsh player, who figured prominently in that historic contest at Cardiff, says ho has serious intentions of making his futxuo homo in New Zealand, tho North Island for preference.