NOTES AND COMMENTS

Evening Post, Volume CXV, Issue 142, 19 June 1933, Page 4

NOTES AND COMMENTS

THE PLAYERS REVIEWED

Hooking under the latest scrummage rule has become a lost art in most teams, but not so ■with Petone, who continue to obtain possession of the ball in the scrummages almost at will. There seems to be a perfect understanding of the reading of the rule as far as Petone is concerned, but in many other cases it. is probable that inefficiency has been brought about by confusion. The rule is confusing, but, as was pointed out in "The Post" when it was introduced, the ball is still fairly in the scrummage when it has passed both feet of a player of each team (other things being in order) and can then be hooked. The hooking, however, can then only be done by the fourth foot, and this is where Lamboume is reaping a harvest. It must always be remembered that the first three feet on each side must remain on the ground until the ball has passed them all, and if the ball is allowed to get that far in then all feet can come into action. It was claimed in "The Post" that this scrummage rule would be to New Zealand's benefit under the 2-3-2 formation, since it would bring back-the swinging of the outside foot for hooking purposes, and, though Petone have three men in the front row as is now general, Lambounie in the centre is really doing what would,

have become the practice had the traditional formation been retained. There were fifty-three set scrummages in the Wellington College Old lioys-Petone match, iinel the hooking figures worked out as follows:—l'irst spell, Petone l'J, Old Boys 7; second spell, l'etone 17, Old Boys 5; totals, Perbnc 30, Old Boys 12; indecisive 5. The cxtraordhiary thing about this exceptional advantage of Petone in gaiuging possession of the ball is that it is not turned to any great account. With the amount of service that he gets from the scrummage O'llalloian, the Petone half-back, should quickly develop into a champion, but he is still a long way short of that, though promising well. The initiative and cleverness of such halves as Kilb.v, Tindill, Coman, and Julian would be worth a lot to Petone. O'Halloran certainly paved the way for Petone's only try on Saturday find did much clearing work, but it is safe to say that the more experienced half-backs mentioned would have been very much in the limelight. There was no better forward on the ground at Athletic Park on Saturday than J. Lamasou, the Old Boys' leader. He played one of his greatest games, especially in the second spell when circumstances called for a real show of strenuous endeavour. Most of the others gave him splendid support, with Byddcr always going great guns. In spite of having bo make most of their own play, the Old iloys' backs showed up conspicuously in attacking work against Petone, and the snappy way in which ad- j vantage was taken of the breaking-down of Petone movements accounted for some of the second spell thrills. Atkins, Dus-1 tin, and Hollis did some fine work. 110 - Jis must take, rank as one of the best right wing-three-quarters in Wellington. Petone's best back against Old Boys was Petersen. His opportunities, however,] were limited on the wing, and, as is usually the case, he was a real live-wire when moved to an inside pdsition. It not infrequently happens that Petone make use of an extra back, and the position invariably goes to. Carr. The change has been made on occasions when Carr's activities as a big" and "fast forward would be of most service to. the. side, and this appeared to be the case again in the match with Old Boys. In the second spell Canwas taken right away from his main seat of operations, and that, of course, reduced Old Boys' dangers. Kilby played a masterly game behind the Wellington pack against Eastbourne and appeared not at all disconcerted by the unfavourable playing conditions. He had an excellent understanding with his forwards and frequently departed from the orthodox by throwing the ball infield to McLean and company when the Eastbourne defences were fanning out to cover the Wellington backs. Kilby also served his backs with good passes, and, although Page's safe hands and penetrating qualities were missing, they made fairly good use of their opportunities. McLean played up to his best standard for Wellington against Eastbourne. When the occasion demanded he controlled the ball cleverly with his feet, and at other times he handled it as if it were dry. Thornton was also conspicuous in the loose, repeatedly breaking through to open the way for a forward rush, but his eagerness resulted in several free kicks to Eastbourne for getting ahead of the ball. Fell, Eathgen, and Hingston all acquitted themselves well. J. Dellabarca, Fuller, and Coman appeared practically to carry Eastbourne on their shoulders against Wellington, and there was scarcely a movement in which one of the three was not conspicuous. Dellaljarca was outstanding, and several times dashed clear on runs which came near ending in tries. Though he was caught offside more than once, he was a valuable member of the team. The Eastbpurne forwards met with a good measure of success in heeling the ball early in /.'lie match against Wellington, but it did not last throughout the game. Consequently Coman, Eastbourne's half-back, saw little of the ball, but nevertheless, he managed to engineer some good openings for the men outside him. That they were hot turned to account was largely due to faulty passing, for which the playing conditions constituted a good excuse. A number of Coman's passes to Fleming were over the latter's head, and Fuller had some difficult transfers to take from Plank. Fuller again scored all Eastbourne's points o-n Saturday, kicking two penalty goals, the second of which was a fine effort. Playing at centre-three-quarter, he received few. opportunities and the uncertain foothold handicapped his side-step-ping, but he did a lot of good work on both attack and defence. The Poneke wing-threequarter, N. Ball, dislocated a finger early in the game against Athletic at Newtowu Park, and his retirement gave Edgar the opportunity of once again taking a place in the first division team. This player, who has been passed over in the selection of the Poneke team this season, has the reputation of being a good wet weather man, and he gave some indication of it by neatly eluding a tackle and scoring a good try, after a strong run, in the first spell and topping off a bright passing movement with another try later in the game. This latter piece of play was the highlight of the game. The passing was crisp and smart, notwithstanding the slippery ball. In the match against Wellington College Old Boys the previous Saturday, Tindill, Athletics nippy half-back, twisted his right knee and there was some doubt as to whether he would be able to play against Poneke. He took the field, however, but his knee was swollen, and after having received a knock and playing for a time as centre-threequarter, he left the field in the second spell of ths game. Upchurch took over the half-back position, Diack coining on as oentre-three-qnarter. In match after match this season Griffiths, Poneke's second five-eighths and son of Mr. "AH" Griffiths, has given very valuable service to the team. Against Athletic he was also very active, bobbing up all over the place when Poneke were on the defensive, besides playing well on. attack. Under the present rule, a fair.catch or mark is not so easy to obtain as it used to be, and a player claiming it, especially when forwards are charging down upon him, runs the risk of being bowled over hard if the catch does not happen to satisfy the referee. With a view to minimising this risk one referee, Mr. J. Moffitt, has adopted the idea of shouting out "no" when in his opinion a fair catch has not been made. By this means the player claiming 'the mark is aware at once that play is not going to be halted and he lias a better opportunity of avoiding trouble. The idea was carried out by Mr. Moffitt in the Poncke-Athletic match at Newtown Park, and attracted favourable comment. It seems worthy of emulation by other referees. * * • * Playing second . five-eighths for Marist against St. Patrick's College Old Boys, Robins showed good form. His field goal, when with a fake pass he threw the opposition off its guard and then "potted." was a perfectly executed piece of work. Throughout the game Robins was a source of danger to the ex-collegians. There were frequent erics of encouragement and shouts from boys during the Hutt-Oriental match to "Herb" (or " 'ErV'), the player in question being Lilburne. the Hutt full-back. Lilburhe gave a fine exhibition. He took the ball cleanly, and his line kicking was powerful and well directed. He frequently set in motion passing rushes, and instituted the movement that resulted in Hutt's second try in the second spell. J. Shearer turned out for Poneke againft Upper Hutt, and although short of a gallop, made his presence felt, and some dribbling he did was a lesson to- the younger players. * ♦ * * Baldwin is a wing three-quarter of promise, and he made the most of what few opportunities he had for Oriental against Hutt. He has a tricky side-step that he used to advantage once or twice. Ho scored Oriental's only try. On a day when bad handling might reasonably be expected. O'Connor, ceutrs-three-quarter for St. Patrick's College Old 1 Boys, proved a notable exception. On two

occasions in the second spell against Marist he picked up the ball from the ground while running at top. Scotland is giving Athletic good service at full-back. IN THE LOWER GRADES. Senior B. Wellington College Old Boys IS, Porirua 0. University C. Miramar 0. Wellington li, Oriental -3. Athletic 15, Marist 9. Walshaw (2) and Pope scored trios for Athletic, and Walshaw potted a goal. Melntyre converted one try.. Marist's score represented a-try by Ericson. which was converted, and a field goal. Junior—First Division. Wellington 25, University 3. Oriental 8, Johnsonville 5. Petone 3, Eastbourne 0. This was Eastbourne's first defeat. Petone scored a penalty goal. Wellington College Old Boys 10, Hutt 6. Athletic 3, St. Patrick's College Old Boys 0. Junior—Second Division. Oriental S, Johnsonville 5. Miramar 16, Marist 0. Kaiwarra 3, Onslow 0. Bcrhampore defaulted to Upper Hutt. Third—First Division. Wellington 34, Athletic 5. University 11, Hutt ii. Wellington College Old Boys 5, St. Patrick's College 0. Petone 10. Oriental 6. St. Patrick's College (Silverstrcam) 0, Eastbourne 6. Mocra defaulted to Wellington College. Third—Second Division. Marist 6, Wellington 3. Johnsonville 17, Miramar 3. Poneke 6, Porirua 6. Karori 18, Melrose-Selwyn 0. Plimmerton 13, St. Patrick's Old Boys 3. Third—Third Division. Athletic 6, Wellington 0. Upper Hutt 14, St. Pat's Old Boys 11. .Eastbourne 1(1, Poneke 0. Institute 6, University 3. Fourth—First Division. Melroso-Solwyn 16, Miramar :0. Miramar 8, Hutt 0. :• ■ • Technical Old Boys 0, Oriental 3. Petone 8. Hutt 0. Athletic 0, Poneke 0. Wellington College Old Boys 12, University 0. Fourth—Second Division. Wellington 0. Athletic 3. Onslow 24, Petone 6. . Oriental defaulted to Upper Hutt. Hutt 11, Marist 0. Wellington College Old Boys 8, Miramar 5. Scatoun 23, Kaiwarra 3. Fifth. Wellington 6, Petone 6. Johnsonville S, Miramar 0. Poneke 5, Onslow 3. Hutt 17, Institute 0. Marist 3, Porirua 3. Sixth. Berhampore 14, Wellington 0. Petone 4S, • Miramar 0. ; Hutt 18, Oriental 0. . . . Seventh. Wellington 57, Upper Hutt 0. Johnsonville 0, Onslow A3. Berhampore "6, Athletic 0. ' Petone 0, Moera 0. Institute 6, Onslow 80. Hutt 25, Melrose-Selwyn 0. Eastbourne 17, Miramar 0.