RUGBY, FOOTBALL

Evening Star, Issue 17919, 15 March 1922, Page 8

RUGBY, FOOTBALL

SOUTHERN OLUB. Tho annual meeting of the Southern Club was held last evening in the pavilion, Bathgate Park. There was a large attendance and groat interest was manifested in tho proceedings. Tho president, Mr W Kindley, occupied the chair. Among thoso presont wore Mr T. K. Sidey, M.i\, and a number of old members and friends of tho club. Tho Chairman, in moving the adoption of tho report and balance-sheet, said that now that the club had its own pavilion a large increase in membership might be looked for, as the players could come along and practice regularly. Hitherto the club had been at a disadvantage owing to the inconvenience of its training arrangements; but now that it had a real good pavilion fitted with electric light, there was_ no reason whv the club should not get into early training and put up a better showing than was the case last year. Ho was looking forward to gratifying results. Reviewing the play of last year, ho said 1 ho thought the club could congratulate itself on the position it held. The back play, he considered, had been very poor; but the club had a forward division second to none. From the point of view of the spectators and the supporters of the club, he thought it would be better if there were more open play. In this connection he said he thought that, for a time at any Tate, it might he advisable to get rid of the wing-forward and give the five-eighths more opportunity of handling the ball. Judging by the standard of play shown, by the New Zealand team last year, ho thought such a change would have a rood effect if made general throughout the Dominion. With regard to the erection of the new pavilion, he warmly thanked the. club's supporters, and also congratulated the working bee on the splendid service it had rendered. Ho also mentioned the name of Mr Brown in connection with tho captaining of the team that toured the Goldfields, and added that the Tiroaru Zingari Club was earnestly hoping for a return match from tho club this year. In regard to tho balance-sheet, there was a credit of only £1 16s 3d; but the financial year had really been very successful, as the club's funds had gone towards tho building of its own pavilion. The amount contributed towards the pavilion, apart from the labor supplied, was over £SO. Mr Sidey, in seconding the motion, referred to his long association with the club, and expressed his delight at seeing it now established in its own home. He congratulated the members on the good performances of last season. The report and balance-sheet were adopted. An alteration was made in the club rules to provide officers as follows:—Patron, president, nine vice-presidents, club captain, secretary and treasurer, assistant secretary, captain of senior and junior grades, and a committee of nine members, five to form a quorum, tho captain of tho senior grade to be elected at the last practice by the first twenty players, and the other officers to bo elected at the an- : nual general meeting. Another alteration • was made providing subscriptions, as fol-lows:-—Seniors 7s 6d, juniors 6s, third ; grade 4s, fourth grade 2s 6d, fifth grade ; free, honorary members 3s 6d. All active , members' subscriptions must be paid not later than four weeks after the date of . the first flag match. The committee was ■ given power to alter the rates according to the accident insurance charges. A letter was received from the Timaru j Zingari Club inviting the Southern. Club to visit Timaru at Easter. The chairman nsked members who were prepared to make , the trip to communicate with Mr Alex- ', ander. j Mr Brown, in the course of a short address, stated htat practice would commence on Saturday next. The importance of commencing early could not be overesti- ] mated. , The following office-bearers were elected for tho ensuing year:—Patron, Mr T. K. Sidey, M.P.; president, Mr W. Kindley; ] vice-presidents—Messrs T. D. Goodman, A. Emslie, J. Carnegie, R. Richardson, W. Heffernan, W. Henderson, A.. Cham- , bers, E. R. Brigg 3, and H. Withey; club , Captain, Mr H. W. Alexander; secretary ' and treasurer, Mr A. Heffetrnan; assistant . secretary, Mr E. Chetwin; committeeMessrs A. Eckhold, B. Bern, W. Brown, J. 15. Wootton, C. Andrews, J. Brooks, ' J. Pearson, A. Tilleyshort, J. Sheridan; , delsgates !to the O.R.F.U.—Messrs W. J Brown, <T. B. Wootton, and J. Foley; wditor, Mr W. Kindley. A number of new members were elected.

ALHAMBRA CLUB. Mr G. Nelson presided over the thirtyninth animal meeting of the ALhambra Football Club, which was hold in the Waratah Tea Rooms last night. There was a largo attendance, including a high percentage of young members. The Chairman, in moving the adoption of the annual report and balance-sheet, said that members were to be congratulated on the success which the club a? a, whole had achieved in the various competitions. Although they had not succeeded in winning a flag, they had in almost every case been " knocking at the door," which, said ■Mr Nelson, was really better than winning one competition and being right out of the rest. The speaker went on to urge players, especially the younger players, to give the strictest attention to their training and to the instructions of their respective coaches. In regard to coaches, Mr Nelson expressed the hope that old players -would again come forward and offer their services, at the same time pointing out that a man need not necessarily have been a top-notch player in order to be a good coach. Speaking of the inclusion of Mr J. Richardson in the Otago and New Zealand teams, tho chairman referred to that player as the best forward ir the Dominion. The club had possessed 1 ho backs worthy of inclusion in representative teams; but in Richardson, Coombes, and Knox it had! forwards who would docredit to any province. There still remained a lot to be done to improve the pavilion at Opoho, and this would be attended to. The finances were entirely satisfactory, there being a credit balance of i'lo Is Bd. The speaker made feeling reference to tho death of Mr Fred Given, and those present stood in silence for a few moments as a mark of respect to the memory of their late comrade. The recommendation in the report that Mr A. Hobson be elected a life member had been made on the unanimous vote of tho committee. Mr Hobson had spent years as a player, and dwing the war period had done yooman service in keeping the club together. Mr J. J. Clark seconded the motion. He referred to tho splendid' mustoT of young members at the meeting, and expressed the hope that if the club did not succeed in winning any championships next year it would do better still, and deserve success. The motion was carried. The following office-bearers were elected for the ensuing year:—President, Mr John Mitchell; vice-presidents—Messrs J. J. Clark, S. Larkins, G. M'Kenzie, G. Marsden, It. Beimet, J. Sutherland, H. Whyte, M. Higgins, J. Walker, W. Harridge, A Morgan, C. Young; hon. secretary, Mr Geo". Gillick; assistant secretary, Mr E. A. Paterson; hon. treasurer, Mr G. Nelson; hon. auditors, Messrs J. T. Hamann and G. Davidson; delegates to O.R.F.U.—• Messrs G. Nelson, J. Mitchell, and G Young; committee—Messrs R. Watson, F. M'Broy, A. Glengarry, and H. Gillick; club captain, Mir J. Scott. Messrs J. Sutherland, G. M'Kenzie, and A. Glengarry wore elected a Temporary Match Committee, On the motion of Mr J. D. King, it waa resolved unanimously and with enthusiasm that a minute of appreciation of the services of Mr G. Nelson, the retir-. ing president, be recorded. The opening day was fixed for Saturday next, at Opoho. Mr R. M'Kenzie made an appeal to old! players to join the Referees' Association and assist in controlling the games. Mr G. Gillick pointed out that the Alhambra Club had mora than its proportion of referees on the association, and! this, he declared, was detrimental to the club, in that it lost the services of these men aa coaches, ,