LEAGUE FOOTBALL.

Greymouth Evening Star, 23 June 1937, Page 11

LEAGUE FOOTBALL.

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Club football lias been non-existent in the West Coast’s League district for several weeks, due to unfavourable weather and the representative game, and the cancellation of a senior fixture on Sunday next, on account of the excursion to Christchurch, will put the championship even further behind. Those who travelled to Reefton last Sunday, ho-Wever, were treated to some exciting football, although, as a whole, the match was not a. good exhibition of the League code. The Inangahua backs set an example, with their accurate passing and speed, but the forwards on both sides were disappointing. Generally, they forgot the existence of their backs and indulged in “rip and tear” tactics, which wore not in keeping with representative football.

The Representative Team: The chief topic of conversation for the next fortnight will be the representative team selected to meet Canterbury, at Greymouth, on July 10, and it can safely be said that there will be few in agreement with the selectors on all'points. On his display on Sunday, T. McKenzie was entitled' to the full-back position, although C. Mountford is the most promising full-back to appear in West Coast League for many seasons. In deciding to let him mature before taking part in inter-provincial football, the selectors did a wise tiling. The three-quarters:

There will be many arguments in regard to the three-quarters, as N. Kiely is the only one who was a certainty on Sunday’s game. A Beban and J. Roberts can both be considered a little lucky to have been chosen in preference to R. Mitchell and R. McDougall. A. Beban had limited opportunities and in view of that, he was entitled to his selection, but taking both defence and attack into consideration. R. Mitchell would have strnegthened the three-quarter line. The combination of Scott, Kiely and Mitchell was the outstanding feature of the game, and it is to be regretted that it has been broken up for the match against Canterbury.

Five-eighths: Of the selection of P. Scott as second five-eighths, it is sufficient to say that he is, easily the best back playing League football on the West Coast today. The selection, of C. Walker as first five-eighth is the surprise of the team. As second five on Sunday he handled poorly and suffered in comparison with D. Kirk,' who was the strongest attacking link in the West Coast backs. It.is difficlult to see on wTiat grounds Walker was selected in preference to Kirk, who, apart from a good display on Sunday, has been playing excellent tlub football with Blackball. The first five-eighths position is a specialist’s job and it appears that the selectors have experimented with the most vital link in the team. R. Morris was the logical selection for the half-back position, and there need be no fear that he will not feed the backs well. C. Wade,’the Inangahua hall', played a sound game, but Morris’s experience told. The Forwards:

Of the forwards, four could be taken as certainties, on Sunday’s game, namely -W. Glynn, who remains in a class of his own, J. McManus, F. Jackson and J. Fox. McManus could not beat Glynn for the breakaway’s place, biit it was 'a wise move on the part of the selectors to include him on the side of the scrum. The most surprising omission from the forwards is S. Perrin. Admittedly he has played better games than on Sunday, but he did his share of work in the tight, and, as usual, repeatedly joined in rushes started by the backs. B. Dunn was lucky to have secured the place ahead of him. Dunn played a good game, his following up being particularly noticeable, but when it came to dribbling rushes, he repeatedly committed the error of kicking too hard, instead of keeping the ball at toe, thus giving the opposing side possession. W. Seguin is another who played well on Sunday, but not so well as to give him much of an edge on E. Chandler and P. Affleck. He has been included for his hooking, and with a good scrum be-

hind him, should do well. He was not given an opportunity to demonstrate his hooking ability on Sunday, nor was Chandler, through the general poor scrummaging. Next to Perrin, Affleck is the most unlucky forward, but R. Morris, who has been selected as emergency, was in the thick of the fray and certainly caught the eye as a likely looking forward.

Poor Scrummaging: Tho set scrums at Reefton on Sunday did not deserve the name. The number of times that the ball was put in properly and hooked cleanly by ■cither side could be coulntcd on one hand, and tho other times the ball did not pass the feet of the outside men. His laxity with tho scrums marred an otherwise good display of refereeing by Mr- R. Davis, and' if he had insisted from the beginning on the scrums being properly formed and held together until the ball was put in it would have made a big improvement to the general standard of the game..

Warning Enough: Towards the end of the first spell there were several willing incidents, which threatened to lead to several players being ordered to the side line. They did not pass unnoticed by the referee, however, and his stern 'warning that “the next man to talk fight goes off" had the desired effect. There was plenty of hard play in the second half, without the previous displays of temper.

Needs Attention:

It has often been pointed out that there is a lack of knowledge of the rules in the lower grades, and if the interpretations given to the play-the-ball rule in the Marist-Reefton junior curtain raiser on Sunday was any criterion. education of these boys on an important point has been sadly neglected. It was far from a good adveitisement for the code to see half a dozen crude attempts to play the ball, one after the other. An otherwise bright, exhibition was marred by (his fault. Overeagerness, on account of the closeness of the scores, was no doubt a. contributing factor, but some of the players did not appear to have any knowledge of how to set the ball in play again.

An Example: Th© manner in which Scott and Kiely exploited the spectacular scissors movement was an example tn the

other players of the field. It was done quickly, with a snappy' transfer of the ball and one resulted in the best try of the match.

Speed: Tito outstanding feature of the game was the speed of the three-quarters on both sides, and of four, Mitchell, Behan, Roberts and Kiely, it would be difficult to say who made the most brilliant dashes. All left the other players standing at different times, and provided the spectators with thrills. Mitchell was the surprise, as

far as the West Coasters were concerned, and he gave them many anxious moments.