FINDING THE TEAM

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 34, 8 August 1925, Page 18

FINDING THE TEAM

WELLINGTONS CHANCES FOR SHIELD GAME

PERFORMANCE AGAINST SOUTHLAND UNIMPRESSIVE

Wellington's Engagements. Representative matches to bu played by Wellington are as follow:—■■'. August 22.—WeUington-Horowhenua-Manawatu (combined) v New South Wales, at Palmerston North. . .... September 6—v. Hawkes Bay, at Wellington. September 12.—v. Otaco, at AVcllinHton; September 19.—v, Haivkes Bay, at Wellington. .September 26.—v. Auckland, at Auckland. September 30.—v. Wauganui, at Wellington. Ranfurly Shield Matches. ; Uawkea Bay, the present holders of the Ranfiirly Slilelrt,'havo a big list of representatives matches. Those in which they will bo called upon to defend the trophy are as follow:— AiiKust Js.—v. Poverty Bay, in Hawkes Bay. \uRU»t 22.—v. Tnranaki, ,it Hastings. September 6—v. Wellington, at Wellington. September o.—v. Otano, at Hastings. September 12—v. Auckland, at Auckland.

Canterbury beat Southland by 13 points to 11 j Wellington, beat Southlaud by 19 points to 3; and Hawkes Bay beat Canterbury by 24 points to 18. "What are Wellington's chances against Hawkes Bay? There is too much uncertainty about the gamo to trust to figures as a line on which to frame an opinion. It does seem, how-ever,-that -Wellington should be capable,i"of extending";the..Shield holders more "so-''than' Canterbury. For the Shield match played this wesk Canterbury were, not - at their best; Dalley was unfit for play on the day of tho match, aud .they _.lost the services of Elvy during the finst~ spell of the game. Thus handicapped, their prospects were poor, but they succeeded in putting on 18 pointer to ■Hawkes' Bay's-24» If a team such as thai fielded by Canterbury can do that there is good reason to believo that Wellington's best team can do a good deal better. The question now arisesi".' Will" Wellington's best team take the field? If thp team is to be that which opposed,. Southland on Wednesday it is not the best, and if it is to be that chosen to meet Canterbury to-day it is not the best. But on these two games—with Southland and Canterbury—the local selectors will need to make up their minds as to the i earn to be fielded- against Hawkes Bay. There is no other opportunity of. trying out the team, as 'Wellington's noxt representative match is against Hawkes Bay, tho date of this having been put forward to the sth September. Welllnoton-Southland Impressions. -' -

Though Wellington won comfortably from Southland on Wednesday there was little in -the local teamls display to make the..prospects,against Hawkes, Bay any brighter. ,Team work was sadly at fault; attacks whether by backs/ or forwards^-rarely"."seemed to. ga.'sifiooth.... ]y. The' lotal"',forwards ' were' out-** weighted, and in scrum work pressure appeared to be unevenly distributed, though Martin-Smith locked well. For line-out work the visitors had the reach, • but were not up to making the moat use of it. Loose and tight play found the local forwards up against.an energetic and heftier "pack,.,without a capable leader, but knowing'just; enough to keep the Wellington pack ibustled and to break in on much of Wellington's back play. For, a more or less inexperienced set the Southland forwards played exceedingly well. A leader in tho Southland pack would have put tho Wellington forwards more out of tho picture than they were. The Southerners missed "Jock" Richardson, who was not fit enough to play.

There were times when the members of the Wellington vanguard -were conspicuous in rushes, but as a body they did nofc go any too well. Matheson's form in club football was not repeated, nor did S. Shearer and B. Wilson give of theii* best. Thomas covered a Jut of ground, revelling in the loose, but he was too prone to get off-side. Young toiled away solidly, as did Sly and Martin-Smith. Young, who belongs to the Selwyn Club, was unknown to most onlookers, bat he impressed as a fine forward in need of polish. His tackling leaves little to be' desired. Control of the ball was not up to standard, and it was in this that J. Shearer would have made a difference.

The reason that Wellington did not pet a liberal supply of the ball' from the scrums was not that the hookers failed. As a matter of fact ths ball came out cleanly to Wellington on more occasions than it did to Southland, the Southerners nqt; infrequently pushing Wellington off the bail in tho tussles for uosse3sion At the same time thoro was "no doubt thnt the Southland hooker* (Rico nnd Koberts) knew their job.' Kico is a fairly old hand at the game, but Roberts is in hi* first year as a Southland representative. Among tho Southland forwards All«y (lock), Buvt, and Hnzlett appealed jnost, -with Lilley generally to the fore in his capacity as wing-forward. Mackenzie, substitute for Porter in the j Wellington team, was just a fair wing- I forward. His best work was in breaking in on the opposing backs. Play of ths Backs. The Wellington backs, without rising to any special heights, worn quito superior to those.. of Southland, but, there was too much uncertainty about their play. They went well enough, however, to make the game largely a confcMt. between vbiting forward* and

players who are usually classy in this respect was below par, and even when the baoks were under way there generally seemed to be lack of understanding. The linking up was not good, and nothing much was done by the inside backs to ease the way for the wings. The Southland backs played more with the object of giving the- wing-three-quarters plenty of room, but they rarely moved -with precision. There was a big improvement in Wellington's back display in the second spell when Jchiison and Nicholls exchanged places. With all its faults the Wellington rearguard was far more heady than the opposite set, though in Kilby the Southerners have a half-back of no mean ability. Bell, a well-sea-soned player, was the pivot of Southland's rearguard action, but he was by no means at his best. In a better set Macdonald. the ex-Otago and New Zealand University representative wing-three-quarter, might have made himself more conspicuous. He is a good, solid winger, but he was up against a better in Svenson. When Warwick found a means of evading the hefty forwards who wero breaking round on him, tho diminutive Wellington half played a very fine part, and provided the tit-bit of the match by cleverness in starting a movement and by quite a burst of speed in finishing it off with a try. Nicholls and Johnson were in and out, and took some considerable time to pair effectively. Tilyard was off colour as ' cen-tre-three-quarter, and Bedell's form was wrong. Svenson's performance was thoroughly satisfactory, but Walters has played.much better games at fullback. That the latter is alive to opportunties on attack was ..indicated by his try from a bout of short passing. The local backs in the main were solid on defence. Wellington Team Changes. , Having studied Wellington's performance on Wednesday, the selectors have seen fit. to mako a number of changes. They were not satisfied with Bedell, Til-yard,-S. Shearer, and Matheson. But it is doubtful whether they have improved the team by the replacements. On the face of it the selection for today's game did not strike tho writer as being particularly solid. Even, if it is successful, it is doubtful whether tho performance will be any better than that which would have been put up by Wedrip&day's team after its experience- of .playing :itf,"o.ne match, and having Porter as-wing-forward. The main business of the selectors is to get a team thoroughly: prepared for the match with Hawkes Bay, and if any experimenting was necessary as much of it as possiblo should have been done on Wednesday, rather than leave it.until to-day's game, —tho' last in which the local represen- : tatives will play as a team before tho Hawkos Bay match. There is no doubt that experiments are being made to--1 day, whereas the position should have been that Wellington was being represented by practically the set of players for the more important game on sth •September. Porter as Half-Back? ', Evidently: there, is "something doing" in. regard''tp..the half-back position. Bramwell has been brought into the list of emergencies, but what Wellington needs is a player of heavier frame. There are few players who have anything on Warwick for gamenesa, and this same half-back is nippy and clever. It is a question, however, whether he should be asked .to stand up- to the Brownlies and ■ company. 'In having Porter as wing-forward Warwick would bo well looked after, and there is this also to be considered, that Warwick and Portei 1 know each other's play. If .the selectors want. a really solid man for tho half-back position, why not Porter? Other players are being tried out of their usual positions, and the same thing might be done with Porter. Tho difficulty would then bo to find a wing-forward of Porter's calibre. It will be remembered that when Wellington and Hawkes Bay last met at Napier, Porter played behind the pack j when 11. E. Nicholls was injured, and; ho mado a very fine substitute. Last; year there was talk of Porter coming back from the big tour as a half-back. That did not happen; but is it now on the cards that Porter may blossom out as a half? If Porter cannot be spared, from tho wing-forward position, tho pro-1 sent arrangement—Warwick half, andi Porter wing-forward—should be quite satisfactory. Players and Placing*. Love will need to be at his very best j to be worthy of the place now given i to him. In view of Nicholas's performances in front of Cooke in the New Zealand team, the Petone player might be better placed as first five-eighth. Apparently Johnson has not fully satisfied as a five-eighth, and is now being tried as centre three-quarter, while Malfroy goes on one wing in . plsieo of j Bedell. There- is still no vacancy fnr| Ilickey. If v good centres is wanted, what about trying Hvenaon mid plaoiinj Malfroy nnd'Hiokey on thu ving.s'/ Such, an arrangonuMil) might give room fur a trial of Tilya.nl in the position <c> which lie is accustomed. Such placing.s as those ini^ht hivvo boon tried ■ earlier.. Tho .surprise in the changes mado in theforwards is the dropping of S. Shearer, and entrusting the hooking to -Barclay arid B. Wilson. If a change was necessary in the front row, it' should not have been effected by the dropping of Wellington's most experienced hooker. Barclay and S. Shearer might have been the front-rank combination to meet Wellington's needs. Tho p;ick otherwise is satisfactory, but a tendency by Thomas to j;cf, off-side will need to bo checked. Wellington will requite to perform much better than Canterbury (o'lhiy if prospects of lifting the SShiolrl avp «.n W reasonably good, Apart Jram thatj *

thorough preparation will be necessary, with special attention to points that are at present not as strong as might bo desired.

romtb. vu. "■.•'. - ■ V. W. t. D. for.aget.Pts. Pt.ieke 14 U 1 2 235 125 24 Petoue 1* 10 3 1 209 107 21 University .; U 9 "4 1- 195 149 10 Berhamporo ...... 14 6 6 2 148. 115 Id Athletic '14 7 " 0 163 111 14 Old Boys 13 8 G 1 131 114 13 Marlst 14 5.6 3 101 106 18 Oriental 14 0 7 1 110 130 IS Wcllinaton ........ 13 5 7 1 120 181 11 Hntt 13 2 7. 4 eB. 06 8 Sei wyn 13 0 18 0 35 318 (I

SENIOK CHAMPIONSHIP.