Football.

Evening Post, Volume LXXX, Issue 20, 23 July 1910, Page 14

Football.

I — • RUGBY. (By Dropkick.) What might be termed "grand" football — on the lines of "grand" opera, etc. — began this last woek with tho tour of "the Americans and tho "return of the natives," the flying visit- of the Northern Union team to Auckland, and prospective representative tours. There was not much, "grand opera" about tho Americans, but a good deal of musical comedy- or opera-bouffe. Enough has been said about them for the present. Let a New Zealand team go over to California and give 'em a few lessons, and in a few years we shall have the gentlemen of the wid© pants and the charming accent down on us. like the charge of the Heavy Brigade. Then it will be "grand opera" and fireworks. The Yanks wil' undoubtedly use their ingenuity to develop new movements, and then launch them on va. the finest footballers in the world. The Eagle and the Kiwi will touch wings indeed, as Mr. Burbank, the Calftoruiun manager, said at the dinner last Saturday with unconscious humour. All footballers, keen about the finer shades of the game, about its possibilities of improvement, and its recent developments under Northern Union rules, must regret that the English team is not to pursue its tour Southward of Auckland. It does not say much for the missionary spirit supposed to per vade the visitors from Lancashire and Yorkshire. Methinks, after all, it is that comfortable couple of thousand and the danger of losing it in evangelising New Zealand to the other game, that deters the bellicose gentlemen of the Northern League from furtheD extending their tour. So we shall not meet, and we shall miss 'em. It is their chance, and footballers, including the (Jiuon managements, were quite willing to give them a -fair show. However, the Englishmen ace back to Sydney for more gates and gonce. Of the Maoris, one must speak highly. They beat Otago. and ought to have beaten Wellington. They are a fine team, and deserve all credit for playing the game as it ought to be played. There was indeed something of the "grand opera'" style about thorn. The game on Wednesday was easily the best seen this season j and those who preferred *to spend the day at Tientham missed an exceedingly interesting and exciting display of iiugby football. There was hardly a dull moment m the whole game, and the rules of Rugby would need very little alteration if all games were played •in the same manner as our native friends play it. When the teams took the field on Wednesday it was seen that the Wellington men were overweighted, and the first scrum provided actual proof, as Wellington collap&ed like a pricked balloon when Cunningham, Tsunu and Company neaved collectively. Wellington, however, were better at hooking, and generally managed to secure in the scrums. This, however, availed them little, as Tiki, Winiata, and Kaipora tackled splendidly, and usually managed to secure the ball with the man. Where the Maori forwards chiefly shone was in the bne-out work, and they generally managed to make headway on each occasion, the ball was thrown out from touch. The straight running of the backs was in direct contrast to Che running of the majority of the Wellington men, who, as a rule, prefer to run round. Kaipora, at five-eighth, was very noticeable for his straight dashes ; there was no hesitation when he got the ball. Like a flash he would be off as soon as it was in hi& hands, and he -showed up the bad tackling of several of the Wellington backs time after time. Another back who found favour with the spectators was Uyland, the burly wing-three-quarter. This player provided a lot of fireworks, especially in the first spell, when he was getting a fair share ot the ball. One of his dashes shortly before the interval was magnificent. Taking the ball from a bad pass, almost at his feet, he dashed right through, and bumping off several half-hearted tacklers, was within an ace of scoring when a flying -dive from behind brought him to earth. Yes, on Wednesday's, form Ryland is a greafc player. At nearly every match the spectators usually sort out a player for special notice, and m this game their prime favourite was the diminutive half-back, Piki. Piki is quite the smallest footballer "Drop-kick" has even seen— he cannot be more than five feet in height. His lack of inches, however, is made up for by skill, and there can be no denying the fact that in the game in question he was easily the best man on the ground. Grimly in earnest, he went ciown to rush after rush, and wherever the ball was, nis bare back — he had his jersey torn early in the game— was to be seen. Avalanche upon avalanche of black-jerseyed men fell upon him in loose rushes, but he appeared to be made of indiarubber, as he bobbed up serenely after each collision. On Wednesday's form Piki is the best visiting half-back seen on the Athletic Park for some seasons. Martin Winiata appears to have taken on a new lease of life, as the wellknown Horowhenua back played quite up to his old-time form. Nuku, at centre, was not very convincing, and the same thing .may be said of the full-back, H. Poananga, who waited for the bounce too much. J. Hall, who represented Auckland last season, played finely at wing-forward; his' long throwing out from touch was quite a treat. Only on one occasion did he miss landing the ball in play, at right angles to the touchline. His try was a particularly brilliant effort, as he cut right through in a passing rush, and badly beat a couple of tho Wellington backs. It would be almost unfair to single out any of the forwards, because one and all played finely. The evergreen Cunningham, whose, aldermanic proportions tickled the crowd's fancy, filled a new role, as far as Wellington is concerned. Cunningham gained most of his fame as a look, but on Wednesday he was swinging his feet, and looking for the "loose head," with Warbrick in the front of tho scrum. Tamu, who has represented Taranaki, is a great line-out player, his form in this particular department being reminiscent of Seeling at his best. Paratene, Winiata, Martin — all big and lusty, like their fellow packmen — are splendid forwards, and Takarangi, better known in Wellington as full-back for Wanganui, though nearing the "has been" stage, also rose to the occasion. Takarangi had hard luck on one occasion. He had booted the ball paa't all tho Wellington backs and well over 'tho goal lino," where it wat bobbing up and down. A race for it between Takarangi and several Wellington men took place, and Takarangi, without the whip, looked a sure dividend-producer, but the going was against him, and in negotiating a particularly heavy bit" of ground he crossed his feet and sat down smartly. Kinvig, meanwhile, booted tho leather into the dead-ball area. Another bit of bad luck for the native sons was Hall's kick at goal. Prom a difficult angle the ball rose nicely and sailed straight for the bar, which it struck, and bounced into the field ot play. Yes. it was hard luck, indeed, and when reviewing the game, one cannot help thinking that on tha day the Maoris were unlucky in not winning. Wellington, in the second spell, faardjx §LXX l°? k M dang 6 ! o.^0 .^ an 4

it was indeed fortunate for them that they had such a speedy customer as Dawson to take the final pa*s and streak round and score the try, which, on being converted, oqualised ihe scores. The local team consisted of a Wellington combination — without Roberts, Mitchinson, and Evenson. Speaking in a general sense, one- disadvantage that the back division was saddled with, was their opponents' heavier weight, and their own comparative lightness. Kinvig, Pyle, Bradley, Tilyard, M'Kenzie — all are light — Ryan and Dawson not giants. Inexperience, poorness of quality, as far as representative players are concerned, also told in at lease two cases. However, all things considered the game was not an interstate or a Ranfurly Shield mateh — the Union d'd well, perhaps, to give a few of the older hands a spell, thus letting some of the young bloods have a chance, though in their choice of the new stock a better strain might have easily been selected Coming down to the game itself, it is noteworthy that with the advent of the first few passages-at-arms, the plaudits of the crowd were fully showered on Dawson. His pace was fast, his tactics aggressive, with the result that in the first few minutes Wellington narrowly missed scoring. Afterwards, it is true, he foil off a trifle, and his kicks did not always find the , touch-line; but still, on the whole, he justified his inclusion in at least one other provincial fifteen. The same, unfortunately, cannot be said of Pyle and Bradley. Besides lacking finish, Pyle, if Wednesday's play is to be taken as a criterion, has cultivated an unpardonable practice in Rugby — running across his own line with the ball while on the defensive. To make matters worse, he finished up one of these incursions into back territory by kicking well into the field of play. Where his glay has probably impressed the selectors, is in the fact that he has a knack of sometimes • making a somewhat dashing display when the leather is within comfortable distance of the scoring line. As regards Bradley, although he has the makings of a good player, still he is a little too slow for his promoted position. He is young yet, however, — at least he looks it. Kinvig, at full, made few mistakes, and besides that, he landed two good goals. Tilyard, as usual, infused plenty of life into his methods, and was conspicuous in most passing rushes. He also took his gruelling — and the big brown forwards were not sparing in this respect — as a half should do. Jack M'Kenzie was not brilliant, but very constant. He is of the right stuff, and, being a young player, has room for improvement. Of all the backs, Jim Ryan was the best. In future representative teams Ryan should undoubtedly be played in the ■ centre, his defensive work being particularly solid. Touching upon Ryan, bring us to a namesake — not a relative of his — one of the Victoria College vanguard. Of medium speed, Ryan is a player brimful, of energy, and -one of the best" at initiating attacking rushes Pate has dealt unkindly with him in the past, or surely he would have clone more than merely sniff last Wednesday's fray. Among forwards, A very was always to the fore, and Tannahill and M'Kellar shone fairly frequently. M'Farlane was no loafer — far from it — and yet he seemed to lack much of his nsual dash. One badly missed "Rangi" Wilson. As regards the scrums the Wellingtonians were always screwed or pushed in all directions by the solid, weighty Maori pack, but all the same they appeared to get the ball more often than their opponents. If Wellington desires to bring back the Kaufurly Shield from Auckland, the selectors will have to put their thinking caps on, and carefully consider whether several of the players who took part in Saturday's and Wednesday's games cannot be replaced. As aforementioned, Bradley is not at present up to representative form, and J. 'M'Kenzie may be all the better for another year's experience. There is no shadow of doubt in "Dropkick's" mind that Ryan, of Victoria College, is the man for the fiveeighth position. With Ryan and Mitchinson as five-eighths, Dawson, Jim Ryan — and I would give the other wing three-quarter position to Grace, of Old Boys— and Kinvig full-back, Wellington would be a deal stronger than thetean» that have so far taken the field. Avery is in his place at wing-forward, but a great improvement can be made in the pack as at present constituted. First and foremost, Tannahill, though enjoying a great reputation, is a vamper. lie is to be seen dashing away in all the loose rushes, but what we want against Auckland arb "all-rounders,' men who will push in the scrum and do their share of the hard work, which at present Tannahill does not do. Another forward, M'Farlane, to wit, is not worthy of a place in our best team, and why he is selected before his clubmate Dent is hard to understand. Dent is a grafter in both heavy and loose work, and "there is no better line-out forward playing in Wellington at the present time than the same lengthy one. Hunter is another forward/ worthy of selection. If the lock position is not available, why not put him on the side of the scrum? A number of experiments have already been made by the selectors, so why not another in Hunter's case? Curtayne, of the Victoria College, also deserves consideration, and Bruce, King, and Moffitt, ot St. James, are better forwards than either M'Farlane or Tannahill. M'Guire (Southern), Munro and Wilson (Wellington), M'Gurk (Hutt), Alexandra (Old Boya) ; Leahy (Poneke), and Osbornc (Athletic) are all playing splendidly, and would give a good account of themselves if the selectors would honour them with their confidence. A youthful correspondent, signing himself "Fifth-Class Boy," writes, complaining that the Athletic Club gets the pick of referees for its matches, especially the Fifth-Class team. He considers that in all their matches they have senior referees. He puts it down to the fact that one of their chief supporters is a member of the board which gives the referees their matches. He hopes the other boys will join him in showing up the unfair way of doing things. "Dropkick" gives the gist of the letter foi what it is worth. Perhaps some other correspondent might throw further light on th~o subject. "Fair-Play" writes at length in criticism of the selector?! of the Wellington representative tpains. "Fancy any sane men," he says, "putting in forwards like Rapson, Irvine, Perry, and Elliott, and leaving out men like Dent, Bruce, and Moffatt. . . You find our selectors experiment among the backs. Oh, yes ! they will put a five-eighths at full-back or a three-quarter at five eighths, but would they ever dream of putting Tannahill lock, or say, M'Kellar hooking, with Dodd?" — and he picks the following team : — Full-back, Kinvig ; three-quar-ters Pyle, Mitchinson, Bradley ; fiveeighths, Evonson, .1. Ryan; half, Roberts (captain) ; wing, Avery ; forwards, Dodd, M'Kellar, Bruce, Tannahill, Moffatt, Dent and Ranji WUson. This team is very open to criticism, especially after the play of Pyle and Bradley of Wednesday last. The Wellington tramwaymen seem to have had a good time in Auckland during their recent trip. They did not win their match with the Aucklanders, but they came very near it. and certainly suffered only an honourable defeat. It will be lemembered that last year the match was played in Wellington, and tho Northerner?, '-einforced by a number of "All Blacks," simply pulverised the Wellington defence. This year theiß was a substantial trophy for the winners, being the Kohn Challenge Shield,

presented by Mr. Adolf Kohn, of Auckland, since deceased. The Aucklar.ders burip,tl the eternal rivalry in a very hospitable reception of their guests from Wellington, and "did them fine," taking their colleagues in tramway work all over the Queen City, and t-howing them all there was to "be seen, including an evening at the Opera House. The game ended in favour of Auckland by 8 to 6. The referee, Mr. Nicholson, ordered X. Wills, of Wellington, off the field for disputing his decisions, but Wills afterwards apologised, and the incident closed without further fuss. The team wasmanagedby Mr..D. M'Gillivray, and were received by Mr. Walklate, manager of the Auckland tramways. ASSOCIATION. (By "Vanguard.") Rambler*, the fleet and clever, may now be acclaimed winners of the 1910 Association football championship. Whichever way their game against Eovers may have gone to-day, their lead has been sufficiently well established to enable them to secure final honours. Few things have been mor& remarkable in this season's progress of the game than the way in which gamblers have advanced to premier position. Last year they were a straggling, incoherent team, finishing up about third from the bottom. Their last season's record was largely a chronicle of defeats. With the infusion of new blood this year, and a corresponding deterioration in the "crack" teams of last year — Swifts and V.M.C.A. — Ramblers have risen to the occasion, and their work throughout the season has shown consistent improvement, until of late their combination and general qualities for out-manoeuvring opponents have been conspicuously good. Ramblers havo \vell merited their xv. Tory, and the position they occupy is duo in no small measure to the way the team has trained, aud the good form ultimately reached by the forwards. At times Edwards, Hart, and Smallbono have effected some of the cleverest footwork seeii in Wellington, and the team is easily first in the somewhat neglected art ot shooting. Heartiest congratulations may be extended to the team, and "Vanguard" expresses the hopt> that they will not allow themselves to be lulled into a too great confidence, but will continue their training with unabated energy for next season's competition. It was largely through the lack of enthusiasm on the pait of Swifts and V.M.C.A. that the iyui^ls have been lost to the former and the latter has "gone to pieces." , The outstanding feature of the Swifts Diamonds match last Saturday was the superior combination displayed by Diamonds. Swifts forwards were in. a very disjointed condition, and, in the writer's opinion, Grounds was simply a passenger, by no means playing up to senior form. Matheson, a new man, knows the game perfectly, . but is carrying a little too much weight to be of any great assistance) to hits side. Scott is extremely disappointing this season, and has not come up to previous form once. Vessey, who .was playing outside right, was starved all through the match, and when he did happen to get the ball, was well watched by two or three opponents. Of the half-backs, Greaves played a hard game, but I think he would do better if he paid more attention to the ball than to the man. Kirschberg had a lot to do, but was not tho right-half of former Saturdays, being beaten on several occasions when he should have got the ball away. Guise, left-half, was as good as usual. Of the two full-backs, PyeSmith had a very bad day off, and Wilson, playing a fair game, made the better showing. M'Laren, in. goal, was fair. Swifts' display, on the whole, was very disappointing all through, and the team deserved its defeat. , Coming to the Diamonds team, one must compliment them on the excellent combination shown by the whole team. The passing was good, and the placing by the backs to the forwards was worthy of the praise given them. Patrick, in goal, made his first apearance for the blacks, and acquitted himself very capably. He saved one or two very hot snots. The two full-backs played a good game, Roberts (the captain) showing good generalship by shouting instructions to his team at critical moments. D. Roberts, playing left-half, is a powerful kicker, and in defence was particularly sound. He was ably assisted by his two clubmates. Of a good set. of forwards, one cannot particularise, but mention might be made of the two left wingers, who seemed to understand each other's play perfectly. Somewhat of a contretempts arose at Wednesday's meeting of the management committee, when the Appeal Board, consisting of Messrs. Leslie, Lauchlin, and Fraser, constituted to review the suspension of Johnston for the rest of the season, gave its decision as follows : — "We are of opinion, on consideration of the evidence submitted to us, that there should have been no difference in the sentences inflicted on the two men." Johnston's appeal was really based on a contention that Hall shoufd have received the same sentence as himself ; read in conjunction with this, the expressed opinion of the Appeal Board, was open to the inference that Hall, in the Board's judgment, should have received the same sentence as the appellant. The question then arose as to whether the committee had power to order a retroactive suspension of Hall for the same term as Johnston, and the majority of members shrunk from such a proposal. This course woiild necessarily have demanded a rescission of the committee's previous resolution, and would involve an amount of injustice and inconsistney hardly likely to increase confidence and respect for the Governing body. That tho Appeal Board had overridden the Committee was recognised ; but its decision was couched in such vague and ambiguous terms that more than one member considered that it had furnished no decision at all, bub merely an opinion. It was actually thought necessary to pass a resolution to the effect that the Board's opinion be accepted as a "decision." Whether the Appeal Board meant that Hall should have been suspended for the same time (rest of the season) as Johnston, ol Johnston for the same time (four Saturdays) as Hall, provoked much discussion, and it was ultimately decided to ask the ' Board to estate definitely and explicitly what it considered an equitable sentence in the case of each belligerent Such an equivocal response to the committee's request reminds one of the oracle given to Pyrrhus, the renowned Greek general : "Pyrrhus, the Romans shall, I say, subdue." yictorious or routed, he would still find his oracle confirmed. It is to be regretted that Taranaki has seen fit to withdraw its challenge for the Brown Shield owing to "unforeseen circumstances." It is understood that trouble arose over the selection of the team, and three or four members found themselves at the last moment unable to miike the trip. The employment of the substitutes chosen, would, it is alleged, have made the game a fiasco. The association accordingly decided to withdraw. With the internal broils of other associations, "Vanguard" and local players have nothing to do — wo have had enough of our own lately — but such occurrences are unfortunate for the good of tho competition and the general health of the game. Taranaki fought gamely last year, and it is much to be regretter that a selection dispute should have nude. tjtt&HA "throw up the apenge,- j

There remain now three more challenges — Otago, Auckland, and Canterbury — and these will be played' off m tne order named. If Otago is agreeable, its match will be pla-ycd on the 20Hi August, and an effort is being made to secure the Athletic Park for th 6 purpose. Failing that, th* match will probably go to the Ba>in Seserve, and a cbarge may be made for admission.