PLAY AND PLAYERS

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 143, 20 June 1925, Page 18

PLAY AND PLAYERS

Poncke-Old Boys Incidents.

"Undw conrliUons tliat were not conducive to tlio bos!.. oE displays, Old Hoys made a very bright showing ai. Athletic. Park las',. Satwsday. aj>d ai. inter-pals dnring

the spectators. In the result, however, there was disappointment for all except Poneke and their followers. Whatever Poneke following there was at the Park had little voice to urgo its team on, and no wonder from the "way in which Old Boys set oat in the closing stages to -wipe oft a margin of 9 points in Ponoke's £avour. The ex-Collegians got to within a. point of the Poneke tally, and they did this by some really fine open play, samples of which had been given earlier in the game. In this dashing fimgh by Old Boys there -was a royal opening for final success, but it was thrown away through changing the goal-kicker-T-an eaEy goal from a try which would have made all the difference to the result was lost. Old Boys had another taste of misfortune whan a Poneka player in his own in-goal lost possession of the ball and one of the attacking side touched down. The writer, who had a clear view of the incident from start to finish, has heard various versions of what happened, and no two. have been actually alike. A Poneke player, whom the writer believed to be Turner—some say it was Gilbert,

some say Gibbs,, and others Al gar—ran back over his own goal-line to clear the on-coming Old Boys. While trying to get round behind the posts he was brought down through being collared low. A force-down seemed certain, and the referee blew for a scram at the spot^ from which the ball had been carried back. Immediately afterwards, however, the ball, having been lost by the Poneke player, was touched down by an Old Boy. The referee gave the decision for which he had blown his whistle. He had applied the advantage rule, but had he allowed the advantage to go far enough ? There was a roar of disapproval at no try being awarded. Other decisions were criticised, unnecessarily. One decision which' did not satisfy a good many, not a few of whom were unable to see what actually happened, was the awarding of one of the tries scored by Hickey (Poneke). Opinion seemed to bo that . Hickey had grounded the ball short of the line. What Hickey actually did was to place the ball right on the goal-line, just as Bramwell (Old Boys) did in scoring his try. Old Boys were

the favourites with the .main body oi

spectators, : and it was good to see so much enthusiasm for a young team which' is coming on. But in urging Old Boys on there was aj tendency to overlook the good in Poneke.'s play, and, though the Poneke backs were outplayed, there

was some really good football at times from Poneke. Sight also seemed to be lost of the fact that Poneke had some bad luck as well as Old. Boys. The first try by the latter was brilliant, the movement accounting for it being well worthy of the return of 5 points. How many

saw the forward pass to the scorer? That is just :by the wa.y. Football is made all the better for enthusiasm, but let the appreciation of good "play be shown to both sides. One of the many • incidents in the Po-noke-Old Boys' play was that responsible for the ordering off of a Poneke player. The referee was quite justified in taking the action he did, as there was no doubt about the player who got marching orders having departed from the rules of fair play. The incident, however, did not start where the referee saw it, for it was evident by the manner in which he came from the rnck that the Poneke player had had Ms countenance disturbed. He has since developed a black eye. Provocation, however, is no excuse for foul play. The game must be kept clean, and every endeavour should be made to detect the "rough stuff" that sometimes occurs in the tight. It is difficult to do so, but it is mainly in the tight that the seat of trouble is to be found. Taking the Old Boys-Poneke game all through, it was not as hard as several other games which have been played this season. -Apart from a couple of unpleasant incidents it was good. Of the good play of Old Boys much has already been Eaid. These young players are a very likely lot,-and now that they are coming into their own it is to be hoped that opportunities to see them in their bright play will be more frequent. What about staging the Old Boys-Petone. match at Athletic ■ Park ? Old Boys and University have met in the first round. Should they meet again the. chance will, be presented of staging a particularly bright game at the Park. That Old Boys are capable of opening up the game when the opposition is strongest forward was well illustrated last Saturday. Poneke's weakness last Saturday was in the back division. Some of the principals were off their game, and the absence of Gibson (suffering from an injured shoulder) was keenly felt. Petone and University.

"Petone and University provided a treat at Petone. The game was played at a fast pace right through, and the play was almost entirely open, with passing rushes the main mode' of attack. There is always more scope for good play in such a game, as moro depends on the individual player. In this game there was combined play and individual of quality. . ' On the side of the victors (Petone) Mark Nicholls stood out for his sonndness and generalship and, on: occasions, his brilliant runs. Corner and Gardner both played well, but the wings were hardly as good as usual. Henwood was further improved as a full-back, and made very few mistakes. He gcta up very quicldy and has plenty of speed. The Petone forwards all played well in the loose, with King always in the van. In such a game with spoiling work at a discount, there was little for the wingforward to do, and in the second spell Fitzgerald was placed in the three-qnar-ter line and proved very useful there. 'Varsity replied a litter later by bringing their wing-iorwnrd, Mackenzie, back to n similar position. ' For 'Varsity, the backs played very well indeed, the only weak .spots being Foden, who lacks experience, and Sceats, at full-back, Bceats was out of his usual position, as Mark* is still unable to play. The other backs all did some really brilliant, things, Kells and Walpole being (".specially good. Kells showed rcjnarkable'psiei! on several occasions and Ikis a tricky swerve, but he is 'still inexperienced! Hurt. ' Mnlfroy. and Lovo :,|1 p'Uiyod in tup form. Altogether Ihe "Varsity backs an' ii brilliant'" lot, wil-li plenty of pace mid dash. Among Ihein are name "natural" footballers. "Pelone bent 'Varsity by i heir forward piny and through the sounder play of ilieir backs. 'Varsity are liable to be "flashy" and to lack soundness. They make too many mistakes, whilst playing brilliantly., and seem- unable In'recover themselves in time, and give :i "shrewd" set <jf opponents the, chance to seize the opportunity. Konviird, 'V.ivsil v's piny was weaker than 11511*1. Thr fnrvrnrd? Hjrl nol. dipplay j-nuDgh: viia anU ;- thm all

showed plenty of dash and in the open play followed up well. W. Langbein, a southern representative player, made a favourable first appearance, whilst Mar-tin-Smith, Joll, Baldwin, and Mackenzie were all prominent in follovring-up.

Marist and Athletic.

Despite the fact that the best part of the play was in their favour. Athletic still managed to come out the losers against Harist at the Basin Reserve on Saturday. During the first spell Athletic made tie pace, and time and time again they were right up on the opposing lino, but they were utterly unable to score. Bad luck seemed to follow them all the way through, with the result that victory went to Marist by the narrow margin of 4 points to 3. The Greens made a lively opening in the second spell, and for a time the speed of their attack had the Athletic men almost flustered. But it was only for a few minutes and then the Blues once more got back into their stride. During- the last fifteen minutes they made matters very warm for Marist, and some of their fine passing rushes seemed almost certain tp bear fruit. Bnt Marist's luck held to them, and they won by a potted goal to a penalty.

To be a quick thinker is an asset to any man, but this quality is invaluable to . a footballer. Mahoney, the Marist five-eighth, did not wait very long to consider his. course of' action when hereceived the ball from Ward. He sent a beautiful drop-kick accurately over the crossbar, and won the match for his side. A less-experienced man might have endeavoured to break through the opposing defence, and the opportunity would have i been lost. .

The large gathering of enthusiasts who watched this match found it quite unnecessary to follow the path of the ball to see some action. Porter and M'Rae, the respective wing-forwards for Athletic and Marist, had quite a lot of fun on their own, and time and time again they could be seen pushing and obstructing each other long after the leather had been hooked from the scrum and kicked downfield.

News and Notes. ■■ It is likely that a South African forward may be seen in action in Wellington Bhortly. The player is P. K. Louw, who was a member of the Cape Universities' team which played against the British team during the latter's tour of South Africa last year. This match resulted in a win for the British team by 9 points to 8. In making his appearance with the New Zealand team in Sydney W. Elvy, the brilliant Linwood and Canterbury wing-threequarter, indicated that this country possesses at least one wingthreequarter to compare with the best who have previously represented New Zealand. Some credit may be given to the local Athletic 'Club for bringing out this player as a senior. Elvy cama to Wellington from the Linwood (Christchurch) juniors in the 1922 season, and was given a place as a five-eighth in the Athletic seniors. He played five games before returning to Christchurch, the teams opposing Athletic in those games being Poneke, University, Old Boys, Poneke (second time), and Petono Southland's boast about football weather was rather premature. In a letter placed before the New Zealand Kugby Union's Management Committee last week in support of a claim for the North-South match to be played at Invercargill this year it was stated : "We would mention that so far we are again experiencing delightful football weather. There have been no postponements, and matches have been played on dry grounds and in dry weather. There is no reason that these conditions should not prevail on the occasion of the North y. South match." On Monday morning last the following item appeared in the "Southland Times" : "Owing to bad weather on Saturday all local sporting fixtures were postponed." With further opportunities to study form the Wellington selectors are getting nearer the mark in their choice of representative players. The team picked to play Taranaki at Hawera is a good one, but even so, there are points in it which might stall be strengthened. Those who were at. Athletic Park last Saturday saw two splendid wine-three-quarters in Hickey (Poneke) and Bedell (Old Boys), while those who were at Petone saw. Malfroy (University) in great form as a wing-threequa-rter. On present form there afe enough players | for two good representative teams. , A player who is ordered off the field has quite enough to bear without any parting messages being added to that given by the referee. At Athletic Park last Saturday a player while departing at the referee's command was told in no uncertain manner by a voice from the stand that "It served you right!" Such feelings are better left'nnei-pressed. I After making an excellent start in Sydney the 1925 Now Zealand Rugby ! tourists created a surprise in their second match by losing to a combined Me-tropolitan-Newcastle-Country team. The Now South Wales team, which was defeated heavily by the New -Zealanders last Saturday, was regarded as a very strong combination, in spito of tho fact that a number of tho leading players wore not included. Tho New Zealand team for that day was practically tho same as that which played in Wellington —unquestionably a good one. With the changes made in both teams for Wednesday's match it was expected that the tourists would still be too good for the opposition, even if the margin of victory was not so great. It was a big surprise, therefore, to find victory going against Now Zealand. Blake, Wise, Mattson, and Wright were missing from the team which New Zealand fielder! on Wednesday, and Elvy was injured early in the second spell. Those, players evidently mako all the differeneo to'tho 1925 team as a playing combination.

Open to Argument.

"The New Zealanders claim," says "The Times," "that since their union obtained t.ho dispensation asked for from the. Kogby. Onion thoir play has become faster and less broken up hv scrummaging. They also claim that "after an initial embarrassment when plavin"against Knglisli teams, tlioy luivu fmtnd fin; principles taught by Ui'o non-kicking rule still of value; that, in hwX~, their lock formation in Ilic, scrummage, combined with tho added speed of their forwards and the. general 'will lo run! of the backs, invariably gave them an advantage. All this, it may bo added, is open to argument, for 'the only New Zealand team wo have seen in" action has been composed of pickp.d players, who, once they hiid settled down into a side, might reasonably 1,0 expected to pluy (irst-ulass Bngby in. any formation. HI ill, thorn wore undoubted points about Uic methods of. the lateaL All Blacks that imfed gsfete ?A'flC'