League

Evening Post, Volume CXX, Issue 6, 6 July 1935, Page 22

League

By "Rake."

EVENTS IN VIEW

WELLINGTON PROGRAMME

SEVERAL VISITS '

Wellington is to be visited by a number of first-class Rugby League teams this season. Richmond will be here in a week or two, and arrangements have been completed for the visit of a Strong Australian side early in September. The Hawke's Bay centre, where the game is making marked progress, is anxious to include in the itinerary • for its touring team, and there is every prospect of a visit from the strongest Canterbury thirteen that has been seen from the south for many years.

Should the game show a continued advance locally, every L effort will be made to send a Wellington team to Auckland. The Central Club has also decided on a trip to Hawke's Bay. In these events there is an incentive that has been lacking in the past to work to put • the game on a sound footing.

One of the weaknesses in the (game is the lack of fully-qualified referees, and, though some improvement has been noticed in recent weeks, it is still a problem that will have to be seriously tackled. If some uniformity of ruling could be decided on, it would be a big help. One referee, for instance, will interpret the play-the-ball rule as it was played a few years back, while in the following week players will find themselves penalised by another referee a little more up-to-date on the subject. The offside rule is still a trap for players, many of whom have yet to learn that the game' has some fundamental differences from Rugby. The innovations were introduced in order to speed up the game, but it is not until one sees in action a really classy Rugby League team,1 thoroughly coached in the rules, that one can really appreciate just what the differences make to the game.

It was pleasing to see the masterly way in which the chairman of the Wellington Board of Control, Mr. V. M. Simpson, refereed the Stadium game on Saturday. He had complete control right from the start and the; players responded by: keeping weir within the rules. A noticeable feature' was the way in which he exploited the advantage rule and this helped considerably in speeding up the proceedings. One of the reasons why the game slipped so badly in Canterbury during the pasf" seven years was the lack of competent officials to control the] games, and as soon as they came along again the game started to make progress.

The " ex-Wellington Rugby representative, W. Dustin, accompanied the writer to Randwick on Saturday-to see the match between Central and Randwick. The ground was very ( greasy after heavy rain, but this did not prevent the Central backs from giving a bright exhibition of the passing game. A feature that appealed to the recruit was the absence of rough-and-tumble and sacks:on-the-mill, which Have been eliminated by the play-the-ball rule. In the Rugby League game the tackled player must be allowed to immediately regain his feet and the man marking him, who need not necessarily be the tackier, must stand back at least a yard. This rule is still very much abused in Wellington, most of the players taking far too long to put the ball into play again. Two'seconds should be sufficient. The referee should insist on a strict interpretation of this rule, because, as it is now, instead of speeding up the game, it definitely slows1 it down. Apart from that, it is liable to cause the fraying of tempers among those players who understand the rule.'

A noticeable feature in Sydney League football and one which may be recommended to club coaches locally, is the tendency still further to keep 'possession of-the ball. For instance, a player in possession who ■is tackled makes every effort to pass as he is falling and-before the ball touches the ground. Once it touches the ground it has to be played, which means possession may be lost. To be caught in possession, although considered unpardonable, is sometimes unavoidable, and the tackled player should then endeavour to drop the ball or pass it to one of his own side able to regain it. ■ J