MORE TOURS

Evening Post, Volume CXX, Issue 6, 6 July 1935, Page 29

MORE TOURS

RUGBY LEAGUE PLANS

NEW ZEALAND AND AUSTRALIA

KANGAROOS COMING

The first tour of New Zealand by a' Kangaroo team—the first Australian side to visit the Dominion under the auspices of the Australian Rugby League Board of Control—will be undertaken this season. Mr. H. R. Miller, secretary of the board, was present at a recent meeting of the New Zealand Rugby Leaeue Council in • Auckland, and he discussed preliminary details with a view to finally arranging the proposed itinerary of matches for the tour. The Wellington Rugby League Board of Control has been advised of the proposed tour, and it is steadily preparing for this and other important events in view. It was faced wtih a big task in getting the game going again in Wellington, but the indications are ,that the sound policy being adopted by the new controlling body in Wellington will serve to overcome difficulties much more easily than .was anticipated. FIRMER LINKING-UP. "I am here in New Zealand to assist the Rugby League code in every way possible." said Mr. Miller, when tendered an official welcome by the Auckland Rugby League in the presence of representatives of all units in the game and club delegates (reports the "Auckland Star"). "Your troubles are our troubles," he said. "We think there should be a firmer linking-up with New Zealand than in the past. We realise that you are just as much part of this Rugby League chain in the Southern Hemisphere as New South Wales and Queensland. It is to find out in what way we can help you or you help us that I have come here. When I tell you that I have turned down four trips to England and yet I have come to New Zealand, it will show you how importantly I view the need of closer contact and understanding with New Zealand." . The speaker said he had in mind a five-year plan of team visits to and from New Zealand, with the. object of making the code as strong in, the Dominion as it is now in Australia. Mr. Miller went on.to give an idea of the strength of the code in New South Wales by an apt comparison. He said that five years ago the New South Wales body, refusing to pay an increased rental for the Sydney Cricket Ground, acquired the Sports Ground, and since that time the Cricket Ground Trust lost so heavily that it was glad to have the Rugby League back again. Even last season the Rugby Union played only two matches on the Cricket Ground, and the receipts did not ipay gatemen's wages. He gave figures of Rugby League attendances. SEEDS OF SUCCESS. The visitor said that he had not so far seen enough of the play in Auckland to form a definite opinion of the standard, but he was pleased with.the match at Wangarei. He had the idea, however, that more intensive training could be done. Condition, with brains, made for good play, for football was like a game of draughts, the players manoeuvring opponents into a position to get the "kings," equivalent to tries. Mr. Miller said that anything he could suggest or do to help the administration and to help the play in New Zealand was his goal. He hoped that in New Zealand all adherents would realise the need for harmony and unity of control to ensure success. "Remember," he said, "you are fostering the greatest game of football on earth: It has proved that whenever properly placed before the public." In reply to questions, Mr. Miller dealt with the supporters' clubs and their social objectives, the methods of club dire'etion, the financing of clubs, training and grounds. He urged clubs to endeavour to get their own home grounds in the suburbs. He did not think it was right that juniors should be allowed to train on Carlaw Park, and in that regard mentioned that the Sydney Cricket Ground now was not played on at all until Saturdays. Mr. Miller finally said he would like to see an Australian-New Zealand Board of Control, composed of New

South Wales, Queensland, and New Zealand representatives. It could issue a uniform book of rules. This body could confer two or three times a year. He hinted also that" he would like to see the next team going abroad—to include France, where the game was now well established —include a half-a-dozen New Zealanders, who, profiting by such an extensive tour and experience, would be able to coach in New Zealand on their return.