HOCKEY

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 36, 11 August 1923, Page 17

HOCKEY

tW •'•TICKB"i

NEW ZEALAND TEAM

ACTIVITIES IN AUSTRALIA

THE APPROACHING TOURNA-

MENT.

"The arrival of the New Zealand hockey team to-day is the most important event in the history of the game in Australia. Inter-State contests have been held for a number of years, but the New Zealand team -is the first overseas side to play in this country," writes "Centre" in the "Sydney Sun." Remembering that the New Zealand Association controls approximately 600 teams, whereas there are only 12 teams in Sydney, it would appear that the visitors should have no trouble in winning their matches here. The New South Wales standard, however, was proved last year to be very little inferior to that of the Dominion for the Test match played at Palmerston North resulted in a win for New Zealand by 5 goals to 4, and it ■was the general opinion that New South Wales was unlucky to lose. Advices from the Dominion state that the visiting team is equally as strong as last year's' Test team, so that some stirring games are likely,to be witnessed. It is anticipated that the visit .of the New Zealand team to Goulburn and'.TJuntroon •will go a long way towards re-estab-lishing hockey on the firm footing which it held before the war in the southern district. The Test match, New Zealand v. Australia, will Be played on 11th August, as the early match to the New South Wales v. Chinese Soccer football match, on the Agricultural Ground. As Soccer and hockey have many rules in common, and the general idea of both games iavery similar, the arrangement is a suitable one for both associations.

The New Zealanders opened their victorious march by whipping the Metropolitan team to the tune of 5 goals to 1, and then followed a walk-over victory' over Goulburn, who failed to score, during the time that the Maorilanders found the net on fifteen occasions. Kenmore sustained defeat by 7 goals to I,'and the staff at Duntroon went down by a similar score. ■ Seven goals also were scored against the College Cadets, wh6 failed to find the net. Theij came the first reverse, on Wednesday, last, when the All Blacks had to acknowledge defeat at the hands of New South Wales by 5 goals to nil. During the 'first spell, the home team proved its superiority in all departments, and was 4 up at half-time. In the second half, the New. Zealanders gauged the ground better, and at times gave some remarkably fine, displays, but. it would appear that they were thorougly outclassed. This does not augur well for the result of the Test match with Australia, -which was. being played today. Whereas it was previously anticipated that the Australians would have a hard, job to put up "a reasonable showing in the Test, it now seems that the All Blacks will have to put all they know into the game, to make the finish anyway close.

Great difficulty is anticipated this year in-playing the" ladies' to a finish. The Training College-has now entered upon a four weeks' vacation,, and in : consequence; vduringi>this',period,«4he two senior.'andJone junior teams will 'hoi be available. Four or five weeks "have been missed through bad weather,, and at the beginning- of the season,-another four weeks' "Vacation considerably upset the calculations of Mr. Ted Griffin, ■wh.o ia going to have a hard job to fit-in all games. No notification of the approaching Training College vacation was given him, and he states that players will have to prepare themselves for a possible curtailment of the fixtures. Of course, the College ladies can do very little in the matter, but Mr. Griffin was anxious to arrange for the playing of the trial games, to choose the team to represent Wellington in the tournament at Dunedin, in September. Being the in last year's New Zealand tournament, the Wellington ladies are the present holders of the Floyd Shield, and it is to be hoped that they will be able to defend tlis trophy in September, or even perhaps annex the championship cup, at present in possession of the fast-moving girls from Poverty Bay. The question of obtaining the' necessary finance to send a team away has arisen, however, and unless matters take a more favourable turn, it is quite possible that the local girls will have to default, and, in consequence, will forfeit the shield. There is a small matter of £20, a paltry sum owing to the Men's Association for ground fees, which "Sticks" takes the liberty of suggesting might well be.donated by the men to the fund-which is'being, raised to enable the. girls to make the trip. This would help the ladies quite considerably, and •would not in any way embarrass the financially firm W.H.A... Dances are being held to help matters along, ■ and the girls are sparing no pains and are going to endless trouble in an endeavour to find the required amount. The object is a.worthy one! Will the necessary help be forthcoming? ■ '■ Mr: A-. S. Lloyd, president of the New Bouth Wales Association, has drafted a constitution for; the proposed Australian Hockey Association, and after this has beei approved by the Victoria and Queensland associations, the new body •will be formed. (The existence of this body will greatly facilitate negotiations between the Commonwealth and the New Zealand players. Previously, wheD discussing the possibility of an inter-colon-ial fixture, it was necessary to separately communicate with i each State — "Sticks.")

The actual dates upon which the ladies' tournament at Dunedin will be decided have not yet been fixed, although the month of September is quite definite, and the only question remaining is as to whether the early or the latter part is most suitable. For some parochial reason the Dunedin Association favours the end of the month, although all other centres are desirous that the tournament should be held as early as possible. The beginning of September seems to suit the majority of players, quite a large percentage of whom are school teaahers, and will not be able to make the trip unless the dates decided upon are during the time' of the soring vacation.

The majority of players were not a little surprised on Saturday when, in epite of the continuous rain which fell during the morning, it was advised that senior and junior matches would be played. However reluctant to turn a deaf ear to the stern call of duty, they turned out in full force, only to learn taht "all games were off." The, rules of the Wellington Hockey Association make it quite, clear that in regard to postponements, players are to be guided by the notices which appear on the •window of "The Evening Post." Evidently these rules are governed by circumstances, dependent-upon the convenience of the W.H.A. It is quite possible that some of the" members of the Management Committee have heard where Karon is, by this time the majority of them proDably have a fairly definite idea as to how far this subnrb is away from town. Five section!

is quite a fair distance, even in a Wellington tramcar; and a shilling is by no means a sum to be despised, so that the men must have been highly delighted on learning, when they arrived at Karori on Saturday, that the games would not take place. "Sticks" will not attempt to suggest the feelings of the men who journeyed in from Lower Hutt.

The question as to whether Otago was neglected when the New Zealand team was being chosen was recently referred to in these columns, and it is in this connection that "Circle" writes as follows in a Southern exchange: "Much as I feel against selection committees numbering more than three, I cannot but hold to the opinion that, situated as we aye in the Dominion, a committee of five would' have been able to pay more particular attention to each province and to the rights of the respective players; I have the greatest confidence in the abilities of the three well-known selectors appointed, and I have not the slightest hesitation in saying . that, with a thorough knowledge of the players of e\ery province of the Dominion, every player would receive consideration; but I must adhere to my former opinion that they.have not that knowledge. My friend 'Sticks' refers to my notes on some of our promising forwards. Had he referred back to two previous editions of the 'Special' he would have received some enlightenment in connection with our local i.acks. I feel sure mine is not a lone opinion when I say we have two or three local players who were entitled to the most serious consideration for Dominion honours. "Sticks" in referring to the inclusion of Phillpot, of Taranaki, says: 'He represented Wellington in 1921. Although they have only seen him in practice games, the officials in Taranaki feel convinced that he is the best in the district.' I venture. 0> say that down here in Otago we can append more satisfactory recommendatiens than that to a name or two. I will not refer to the players by name, for it .would not now serve any useful purpose. However, 'Kia Ora' to the All Blacks. Let us all hope that they maintain the prestige of this fair Dominion in this new field. I have no doubt that the management of the team will return with much information which will. be useful to the conduct and furtherance of the game in New Zealand." "Circle" makes every endeavour to point out that lie has all faith in the qualifications and. impartiality of the selectors (Messrs. Manning, Wellington; Bellamy, Christchurch; and Norton, Auckland), but.in a previous article he states, inter alia: ". . .> I venture to say that they (the ■ selectors) are not conversant with the standard of play, and the qualifications of two or three players down Otago way." Surely this, combined with the later remarks, indicates that "Circle" is anything but satisfied with both the selection and the selectors. Having, established this fact, "Sticks" can only refer his fellow-critic to the cable messages dealing with' the activities of the Maorilanders in Australia. That the team comprises New Zealand's best must be more than obvious to even the most casual reader.

A protest against the decision of the referee in the Challenge Shield match played at Palmerston North on 14th July, between Nelson and Manawatu, was entered by the Nelson Association at a recent meeting of the New Zealand Hockey Association. It was stated that the referee awarded a goal from a penalty bully when the ball, after being hit by the attacker, struck the referee' 3 foot and went outside the posts. The referees and associations concerned, and the captain of the Nelson team forwarded correspondence dealing with the case, and.all maintained that the goal would haye..been scored but for-the ball strik-Sng.Athe-refer.ee, ,who happened to be ill "the way. .Mr. H. Throp expressed the o lion that the spirit of equity should govern the affair, and moved that the protest be dismissed, and the goal awarded to Manawatu. The opi —on was expressed by members, that :: '.■drness to Manawatu, the protest shoujd be dismissed, in view of the fact that the referee was to blame for the goal not actually being scored. As an amendment, Mr. Quartermain .moved, and it was seconded by Mr. Drayton, that the protest be dismissed, and the goal awarded to Manawatu in the terms of, rule 21. The amendment was carried.

"It has definitely been decided to send a team to the annual tournament at Dunedin, which commences in September. Recently the New Zealand Ladies' Hockey Association took action with a view to making tournament play less strenuous and introducing a rule providing that a team cannot play more than one match a-day for three consecutive days. Even with the introduction of this rule the play will be too strenuous, especially for girls who cannot be expected to' have the same stamina as men. In addition to the games the girls will be, entertained and are not likely to take as much rest as they should. In any case the tournament is not the best method of popularising the game, and theN.Z.L.H.A. would be wise to consider the institution of challenge^ shield matches as in men's hockey," writes an Invercargill contemporary. "Another alteration to the rules in connection with tournament play is that no player shall wear skirts which reach below 12 inches 'off the ground. Formerly the margin was eight inches, but the shorter' skirts are in every way an advantage.; This season some of the local teams ■ adopted the 'knee': skirts, which allow for the freer movements of the players and adds uniformity to their costumes. • These will gradually come into favour arid it is to be hoped that within a few years the N.Z.L.H.A. .will-not find it necessary to have any rule in regard to the length of skirts the players shall wear. With two or perhaps three weeks still required to complete the Wednesday arid Saturday competitions there will be' very little time left for trial matches' or representative team practice before the tournament. It has always been ,my contention that before a team plays any interprovincial fixtures it should have at least three weeks in which to be coached, but somehow or other the association always finds itself in the same position and rarely a team goes away from' this province with proper training. If the Southland team does not do all that is expected of it the association will not be able to blame the selectors, the players, or anyone but itself." i

The following are the positions or teams in regard to the third grade championship :—

P. W L. D.For. Agst. Pts] {J uit. 9 7 0 2 02 5 10 Hovers 10 ? 1 f f« j4 s g V.M.C.A. A ... ]0 6 3 1 30 19 IS Y.M.C.A.B 10 3 7 6 S l 5 S J Training Coll. 8 0 8 0 7 47 0 Vari»ty 8 o 8 o o n o