PLAY AND PLAYERS

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 149, 27 June 1925, Page 18

PLAY AND PLAYERS

Ponefce and University. 7 77 7 "7 :-.;Th"e class of .football::which; is' offering' this .season is causing Rugby's following to sit up and take notipo ontie again, arid'such-was'.ihe interest, in the ; meeting, of . Poneke; 7 and 'University : that: „ the' crowd at 7 Athletic*. Park -i'-last^y Sat-:' urday' :;was "one:, of ":•=•■ the ■'." rtiggest" which -has : ever _ assembled ''■_" in':-Wol-;' lington, for club; football." Both teams were very;much in the.ranhing for sen-; ior championship. ;honours, Poneke, at the head of j the table; 1 only ; a point in front of. University ;-and both.teams had" been playing good football, .Poneke having disclosed special jjualities in Hheir vanguard and University having shown "brilliancy -ihy-'baek 7play.: 7 The game, therefore, was expected to be something ispecial.;-. and it ; was. -Tjntil" the -second spell was-well advanced "it .was difficult to: determine which Bide:;would win.' There had: been much scoring,^ but from that; there was no cue as to theultimate result,' the registration, of points:-being! a /matter', in which, the hides', shared. equally. 7; At: half-time- the.score was 13 all, 7: and; the . way 7in .which those 26 points were put on accounted for a great first •spell:." .From 16 allin'the second spell there, was a. definite, turning of tho: scales.; Poheke's forwards Were too good, and Poneke won 'with eleven points to spare,/ in spite of/sixteen points being registered .against them. -\7 :. .-:.■...-,:' While.the game was mainly: a test between' 'Varsity backs:, and :Porieke,: for-.' wards, .both, teams as a whole had work ..to. do, and. plenty, of. it. In this :th© spoiling, of .'Varsity's advances /was a matter .for special attention ;hy"Foiieke. 'Varsity were out. to throw tho ball about from, start to finish, whether on defence or.attack, and at stagesit seemed that this mode of procedure; would run Poneke off- their feet. In ths. end, however,; the.running, told against 'Var-, sity. ' They :were. running against..something mpre solid than the. opposition in previous matches, arid/in pursuing the policy "to the end they perhaps carried the vparticular style of play a little too far, though unquestionably it suited tho; spectators. .Poneke are a /sturdy^ proposition' when 'it. comes "to defensive play; ,in fact, the backs air round are a better lot than most people may imagine. If their efforts are- not particularly attractive, as a spectacle; they are usually vei'y_ sound, the /result of a study of requirements to meet the types of opposition. : To find openings in the. Poneke defence last Saturday 'Varsity had to think and move, rapidly and'their speedometer was at avery high point when they succeeded -in -rushing their -attacks, right home... In the. speedy movements thtro -was also some clever handling of the ball, but 'generiilly tho combination was' wore-troubled"tlittn in previous matches, and very often (lie edpo was taken off. the brightness of passing .movement*.. At times, too, the ball v/as" thrown about erratically. :

Tito condition ami Hid cleverness.of lite ■Ponoko forwards 'counted most in the game. 'riiOEO -forwards arc. a creiit lot,, with two very excellent leaders in the Shearer brothers. -Smith also played ;i raUliitfr-game op Saturday, and. o'no of his--, tries was a'splendid 'illustration of the value-of. ■■ fast following-up. This was also imJicated- by 'A rarsit.y,: particularly on a couple' of occasions' when Ponek'o 'were--hciving shots at goal. ■ : All the Poneke forwards went we'll, and those of 'Varsity pevfdrmed creditably; with 'Mar-■tin-Snuth.getting through a lot of solid work, and Joli,.\yiren, and JlacKen?.}* .abowing up prominenUy in the loose. The

'Varsity pack, however, was no match for Poneke. ;

Tha University rearguard was on its game,, and it needed to be.. Although not reproducing its best form it .was once again impressive. Hart wag troubled behind the scrum, and at times waa a little. slow. Marks, at-full-back, had much to do, but at times he did not appearto be_ quite sure. The rest, were :.goddj. if a; little overkeen. Judgementinvkicking was not a ,good point .with them: •■/: '. . .'■ . . '■'.-.

In the Pqneke back division there were no passengers. From: Hall at half to Gilbert at fiill-back they all acquitted them-" selves well. , Hall, canio back to : play one. of his best games. The big thing ■with .these Poneke backs is /that they are-solid, - with F., .Tilyard; and. Gibson standing; out in this respect, '..'-.* Oriental; and Athletic. ." ; ■' Oriental. fully, deserved . tlieir win against Athletic- at iiilbiruie. ."i'orward tne. Magpies more .than; held tbeii' own, and.bacK,\their work was niore even and consistent, if, not distihguisned by the spe.ed and briiliaiicy of one or tw men in the Bluedivision., There, were: no conspicuously weak>pg; ts on the. Oriental side, ;.ali piayers." pulling 'their. weight, but'Aihlewe, were .unlucuy in having- a weak link or'two, and, that spelt ilie loss of the game..':. ;:. . .>.-., _■

ii'or Oriental all the backs; from Sidet to.Chambers,'-were in the happy mood of almost being unable.to go wrong..7 The passing'was often"iwild enough, butsome-body-always seemed to be ■'• there to get the ball. ) incidentally the' speed of the modern- "gWe ■■■; appears to have swept away; tlie. old ]New, Zealand 'st!yl©7 oju short sharp secure passes waist high. 7 ■ Bidet, the Oriental lull-back,-played a fine. gaine.oiOhe whole,'-,. but he is' tub übiquitous, all,over the place, running unnecessary ./.'-'risks.;.. xUhletic's.Honly.'.try really came about, through L Sidet ■ being too far .over to one."wing, leaving .the other, wing :unprotected7 All; the same, he. is an. excellent. line-kick kn& a sure .field,, and quite a good full-back.' :;,: ■ 'Shb star of tho Oriental attacking division, .was; undoubtedly 7 M'i\ichol/ : who played his bes-t game up to.date." He is one of those- inside men, who.'is not content unless he has'gained a bit 'of-'ground for his side and ; eliminated .at 'least one unit of.the' defence.. The ordinary pass-, ing.outto the.win^.without this process of elimination is -doomed: to failure under .modern conditions. ■■■'■.;-' i

.Of a really; good pack, of forwards on: Oriental's side; Sly,stood out in-aggres-sive; tactics; the others supported him 'right through;;'"7 ;'"-■:':■ .7- ;. '■ ■■■'. On such a showing with ia reproduction of Saturday's form; Oriental 'should please their; supporters: with- more' victories. '■Athletic, do' not yet'seem to have shaken clown .to"performances" 'worthy:'of the men. they -.-.have in the team." They have a .fine ■ .pack, .but/the. backs'do not consistently : deliver the goods:■ :■■ . Porter works.like a' Trojan, but the openings he -makes, arc -Jost'- through bungling somewhere along the.line. He tookHaP, leyjs place' late- in th.evgame. last Satur7 dayi too late:,to; affect the result. Svenson never had a-chance of Showing his ■ quality, as the ball seldom travelled far enough in. combined' work.. He .-was, however,-, mainly^-Instrumental in.putting over' Atliletic's solo try. !>7-v .;■'■■"."' . ; : .° ■ M'Dougall,'Sutton, and Malmanche all did their best for Athletic with the opportunities _at their disposal, but the •.weak link". earlier in7_the line upset the combination/. The. Oriental tackling was further", very '.disconcerting,' Porter being the; target ;of.mauy-attentions, on account of .his enterprise.- On the.day the better team certainly won. , . . Petona -'and;7'7Marist. 7 ' ■'//■'■■'"'■ \ •-■ Included inythe teams- which.Marist have run. close this season is Petonei-,'. As ■[ indicated in \the championship table, Marist's record for .the season is inter-;! x esting, .and the results to . date are ! 'worthy.-.'of reproduction : Drew with Hutt, no score,--.drew with Poneke, 6-6 ; beat • Berhampore, 10-7; drew with Oriental, -,3-3/beat.Wellington, 15-8; beat Athletic,-4-3 ; lost to Old Boys, 0-8 ; lost to Petone,. 6-10.; The Petone score last Saturday was 7 the only one of double figures to be. registered .against Marist this season," and that, part of it which^ gave Petone victory .was made up 'in the same way •'.by a, potted goal—as the deciding scoring effort of the Petone-Mar-ist. match in-1923.- -.Though it ..may tie disappointing to'.Marist;to be beaten on goal-kicking,- they should hold no grievance, 'as"potted .goals have given them two of 'their" victories. '. - ■-.-. ■ ■■■ ■■■ ■■'/-- .■;■' '■■:■ Play in ;tho first ;.spell of- last Sato-: day s match-was hardly up to standard, although the Marist. forwards,"-' working well as a ; division,:' gave qurte\a good display. Thq Jfarist-forwards appear to', bey very fit; just at .present In the second ( spell it., was largely .a case of .Petone-s; back; attacks ..against Marist's defence,, though neither was perfect Rodger,; the - Petone half-back with plenty of the ball, from -the scrum in the second spell, played a better garoo than usual, and with aSicholLs ati'd Corner m :tneir best form, the threequart-' ors -were-.gjvon. plenty of chances. Fitzgerald, again proved his worth on com*, ing into the backs, and .'he"-played a! great game-Gardner and Hawkins both j played well up tp average, and thV' pro-inptedr-w.nger, Jowett, showed ■■ promise.! Jowett.is.;.oh the light side, -but' he is willing and has a nice turn of speed fll^i' •"•■^f-baik, ■ acquitted S- - fand^ri ^ BtS ^n (Marist> s^ the fwres. Marist early realised .that 'it would be best to keep the ball as much as, possible from the Potone backs, an d ■they d,a this by line-kicking and by tZ mg to make the game a forward one. J : E^d --^' PTu Hlf th, at lna I de the w «y f« Mark Nicholla to have his two "drops" at -, A new. forward, Rariti, was promoted to join his fellow Maori, I^ve, and they were by no means the least noticed of a Kiu°" C PaCk whicll was abJy led. by -•- It"is reported that Wa.vist may shorty have thel services of a ' Linwood (Uirislcliurcli)'senior in 0110 of the live- ■ cigliths positions. A jiother■ t'o6l'l-liaek-is of ei-ing. in M'Al.nbo.,, ;l . prominciit' North Olago player during. tho mn fow yp ;u ss. .;M'M«h on . w llß -tried oiif with 11,0 jiiinoi-s lust "Saturday/" and went very well. : Hutl amf Old Boys. . Tho game on the' Basin' Eescrvebe-tv.-een Hutt and Old Bova^yas keenly cvnLestr.d all, (he way, ? nd" ihough, in he opinion .of Hus : write'e, a."'draw v/ as ' Ihe-ljest. poiKiblc endins', iliere ■' arc ljuvcrHicless, many whu* consider' that the victory should have'gone to-the suburban fiHeeu. These latUv base their aatertion gouerally on tlio run oi' tha play, throughout the game, and uarticu-

larly on one incident in which they consider somebody: erred. Cudby took a tree-kick in front of the posts, apd appeared to send the ball over the crossbar. The line- umpire waved an affirmative signal, but the referee overruled him, and ordered a line-out where the ball had landed, after -Malcolm had cleared. Had this goal been allowed the victory would have gone to the Hutt team by the narrow margin of 6 points r?ii\> lu, the earlier part of the game Old Boys had easily the better of mattersi and their backs combined in some pretty passing movements which seemed effecUve enough t 0 bear, fruit. ' The iiutt forwards, however, a particularly fane pack, soon got into their stride, and in the heavy work Old Boys never had a chance. It was a good even struggle -with the scores 3^l, a fa.V indication ol the 'respective merits of the two teams. -■- ■■: -. : .-..-■■ ; ■■,

Apart from the actual play, ■ Hutt were -...rather -unfortunate, in losing the serv.ce S: ot ;Fisheiy .their efficient-half-back,'-.a few minutes- after the commencement of the match. Fisher s£s ed, ,a Vere injury to his S, a"d was obhged to leave the field. About ten mi utes before the call of time, M'Dot ,?all also ■ was obliged to retire—this 4o^er^thereSUlt^; an-ini^<>^ Wn^| d vf S°™S°°<l worker Old -Boys, and at times he" made some suetacular, sprints 'down the field. P]f a showed, however, a. bad tendency to pass low, and more.than once, when the he' ".Kvot^d^^tvin ?" ">n^ was unable ,t^,tal^'ttrawkward -naas ttown-by;.Mansfield.:, - Warwick, P|k ; colleague on the.five-eighths line,,payed down the 1,2,9 w.thonfc a moment's de-' iay.lher^ was, -however, about his tactics, on,Satura ay/ a rather monoton-; ous sameness," a,nd it was; not W beforerthe mm marking him discovered , an veffectn-e. counter Wins- fend S ' ■£ J/;? d-;J y Bedell when,att^ed. irn, ,f^ +? endeavouring to collar him around the waist and then slide their hands' down .to,Jiis knees in the usual manner,- : they; went '■ straight '. for hu him' '■ W,n W 3S - V yas P°SBiM» t° take nm, and h e was: always grassed,. With his work^just, : a little-more -versatile !S ell- puM:bafp!wl ;;--M'Kay/-Wood;• ■ Munro, and"Hickling all played, well, for Hutt. The firstmentioned player shows improvement en' every - appearance^ and ha promises, en reaching the top of his form, to -bei W of the best men in the game. ' Junior Championship. : .During the past two weeks there have.' been.,surprises ;in;the junior competi> tion, -particularly "i n the results of the games in ..which Berhampore have : been concerned. Berhampore were previously ■ unbeaten, but they.have now- had two losses. -■.-Athletic,, Did: Bdy S ; arid- 1 EaW . bourne, with less games than Berham-pore,-.have each suffered only, one' deteat, but Athletic hold the \best position on account^of Eastbourne v 4id Old Boys having played two drawri* games ;' The . table, is as follows:-— : " ■:,, • . ..,,

ciedited with 2 points as tvip by default. ; Various: items. " 0 ; "'lncluded in the West/Coast representative team ...which defeated"Buller last batlirday were J. D. M'Cleary and G. M Ivay, -formerly . of'; -Wellington..-.'. M Ueavy played with Marist in WelUn--ton, -and M'Kay played with ■ SelwyS. Both were -conspicuous in last Saturday's representative -gamo, M'Kay being the: best back on .t.he/gronud. J. Steel-"and." ,Ins brother, H.VSteel, were also in thoWeat Coast team, but the New Zealand representative did-not get many chances to shine. - - ■

aa^.§^t1 d;Bullerlasts^

:;-.O! the interest in the Poneke-'Var-sjty match-the president of the Poneko Club (Mr. A, P.AViren) was made verymuch- aware. This official had a busy time on, Saturday' night answering telephone-; calls/ most of which,were made for; the purpose of extending congratulations. ■ Had, the calls 'been for one of Mr. Wiren'ssous they may have been ;of, quit^ a..differentVtorie, the particular son being'a member of the team which was. beaten.by';Poneke."-...'■'.

J.-Steel (West Goast) will soon be putting up a century if his scorh)"- rate is kept-up. In nine Rames this season he has: scored 72 points. Playing for Grey : against- Westland two'weeks ago he scored 14 points—three tries, a goal from a, try, and a penalty goal Grey won by .20 points to 6. ' ■

Mark Nicholls (Petone) has scored 55 points in nine, matches this seasonthree tries, thirteen goals from tries, four penalty goals, and two "potted" goals. Of tho other members o£ last year's New; Zealand -team, H. W. Brown (Taranaki) and G. Nepia (Hawkes Bay) have been doing well in the scoring hne. Both have scored 43 points, Brown having played in seven matches and Nepia in nine. -■

Kofc only did the victors of the Po-neke-'Yaraifcy.'match last Saturday give 'the usual three cheers for the vanquished, but they also gave a .further, cheer to one-of "the opposing side who happened to drop into Ponekc's dressingroom after the match. This was in recognition o£ an unsolicited tribute. Entering tho room, a-'Varsity player".remarked : -Are'you .Ilia, fellows who aro supposed to be ronghy We'll,'this/gaina to-day .-mis one of tho lincsL I have' cvoi 1 played in,-, and -T. .have" not seen any 'roii'jli. play whatever, Tho game will do me. .--I-. ojiijjratiilale you on your viclorv." _1 . "

_ Accordiiig to a- vepovt'jVom Gisborac, Poverty . Bay js-.not," alone in its feeling of neglect, in .connection-with-the seleyliou of New Zealand representative;)." Ihe liast Coast Union recently resolved to protest to the JJ.Z.K.IM). against the mcl.hods employed-by Ihe selection, -and the syKtem which favoured n'ty players as against country players. ' It- "was pointed out that, owin.o- to there being-no-scupo in their home union's territyrv, thrcs. ot -.lliu boa!, of Urn liutl toast £lay«:s wei-e to -be lest.

v b n, t •« Joints. -Cft." „ , '■ ' p- w- I- D. For. Acst.Pts. Berhgmporo .. 10 --7 ■.; 2 ;i , 85 39 - 15 A'thletie ,-.... 8 7 . 1-0 107':.., il I'onrua ...... 9 b- 3 : J .^o ::°■ i* Oriental;-....:,/ . 0 , 2 .:{/-^ t _^ A..... 10: 6/ ;3 ,1; lao^sJ, J3 1?.-:-Sv;:r--.i--::-:.S.--.S-; :15Training;^::: 8 :l;;.<:'i J?"!vf ySSSU-::- §-1 :i- J;-»..:«■."■? Technical 0.8. fl -. 27 0 ■S' ■ n?- ■ t B ..10 , .-s .8:, S I ro iw \ i'etone B ..... 7 0;; 7 ■;; 0 33 : ; 6S^ 0