LEAGUE FOOTBALL

Greymouth Evening Star, 28 April 1938, Page 3

LEAGUE FOOTBALL

MANAGEMENT committee meet The weekly meeting of the Management Committee of the West Coast Rugby League was held last evening, there being present Messrs. J. Stokes (vice-chairman;, AV. Barlow, A. Kyle, B. Ramsay. B. Rathbun, J. J. Anisy, A. Fielding (Referees’ delegate), W. Moore (Junior Advisory Board) and D. Faris (secretary). Mr. Moore reported that the annual: meeting o. r the Junior Advisory Board; bad been held previous evening, there being a good attendance. They had found that they had a lot of work, ahead of them this year, especially in regard to the. fourth grade. They had' 12 or 13 teams under their jurisdic-' lion, with a. possibility of more to be, nominated, and it was hoped to as- 1 ;-.ist the clubs more in regard to the’ travelling of lower grade teams. It; had -been decided to hold weekly com-; petitions, instead of field days as last; year. The report was adopted. ( On the application of the Runanga; Club, J. Airns was reclassified from, senior to junior. • The Blackball Domain Board wrote! requesting that, in future, ten peri cent, of all gate monies received for’ League matches at the Domain should; be paid to them. It was pointed out that the charge was being made in, order to raise funds tor the upkeep of! the ground, and would foe imposed on all sports using it, impartially. ■ It was decided to allow the letter; to lie on the table until the next meet-; ing. The Inangahua League forwarded a’ challenge for the Northern Union Cup, and asked that a date be sug-, gested for the fixture. It was also: advised that it had suggested a change, cf dates for the trial matches, and that the West match be'; played at Reefton instead of Greymouth, in view of the Northern Union' Cup match. The Chairman said that as far as playing the, game at Reefton was concerned, it was up to the New Zealand Council to say, as it had set the match down for Greymouth. », They (the. West Coast League) .could not help it; if Inangahua had challenged for the Northern Union Cup. Without the sanction of the New Zealand Council they could not play the game at Reefton. , ■ . ' Mr. Kyle said that he thought Inan-

gahua went over their heads in applying to the New Zealand Council for a change in the venue of the match. They should have applied to the West Const League first.

The Chairman moved that J nangahua League be written to advising them that the AVest Coast League hud no power to -change the venue of the match, as it was arranged by the-New Zealand Council. The motion was seconded by Air. Ramsay and carried. The Chairman: if the New Zealand ■Council says so, we have to go to Reefton.

In reply to the League's representations, the New Zealand Council advised that the trial games at Greymouth, and Christchurch could be played a week later than originally set down, iky mutual arrangement between the Leagues concerned. •On the application of the Blackball Club,. AV. Vincent was reinstated to the code, his name to foe forwarded to the New Zealand Council, with a favourable recommendation. L. Balderstone was granted a transfer from Ngahere, subject to the approval of. that club, and reclassified from senior to junior.

The Kumara Club applied for the reinstatement of A. McKenzie, P. Gilbert, E. Hollis, T. Walker and J. Robinson. All were granted, to be forwarded to the New Zealand Council, with •favourable recommendations. Messrs. N. Griffiths and J. Behan were appointed as senior representative selectors, after a ballot. Owing to several clubs not record-, ing their votes, it was decided that tUie election of the Management Committee be deferred until next week.

FIXTURES FOR SUNDAY. ; .Senior: Blackball v Marist, at AVing-l ham Bark, 2.30 p.m. (A. Fielding).! Runn'aga v. Ngahere, at Ngahere, 2.30 j •p.m. i(L. Kinsella). j Junior: Marist v. Rapahoe, at Wiiig-i ham Bank, 2.3.0 p.m. (A. Williams).! Brunner v. Kumara, at Kumara, 2.30 p.m. (J. Griffen). Runanga v. Black-; ball, at Blackball, 2.30 p.m. (AV. Neil-1 •son). ■ Third Grade: Marist v. Runanga, at. Wingham Park, at 1.15 p.m. (If. Bas-; sett). Blackball v. Brunner, at Brun-! ner, 1.15 p.m. (D. Bernard). Ngahere a bye. Fourth Grade: Marist v. Runanga, at; Runnanga, 1.30 p.m. (M. Hall). Blackball a bye. Sixth Grade (Saturday): Marist B v. Runanga, at Runanga, 2.30 p.m. (J

Medlin). Blackball v. Kiinara, at Kumara, 2.30 p.m. (AV. Bell). JUNIOR ADVISORY BOARD. Mr T. Lord (president) presided at the annual meeting of the Junior Advisory Board of the West Coast Rugby League, and there were also present: Messrs R. Scott (Runanga), P- Sweetman (Brunner), IL Bassett (Marist) and \V. Mcore (secretary). An apology tor absence was received from Rev. Brother Oswald. The President submited the following report on the activities of the Beard during the 1937 season: For the first time in live or six years the Board really functioned, and during the year lower grade football on the Coast was all that could be desired, and in this respect,! think, we owe a. great deal of thanks to the Marist Brothers, and Brother Anthony in particular, members of the West Coast Centre, and the Referees’ Association, who all readily gave all the assistance possible to us. The season saw a radical change in the system of competitions conducted by our Board, the field days taking the place of an organised competition, and the players who took part in these field days fully bore out the conviction that the. boys cf to-day think more of the game for the game’s sake than the trophies attached to it. While on the question: of field-days, may I suggest to the incoming committee that a full programme of fixtures for the season be drawn up as soon as possible, and; may I further suggest that three; weeks bo the interval between such fixtures. A most gratifying feature: of last season was the increase of ten teams under the jurisdiction of the. Board, the number increasing from nine in 1936 to nineteen in 1937, and’ the' teams embracing pupils of five; schools —Kumara, Marist, Runanga, Blackball, and Nelson Creek. Only one' representative game was .played during the year, when the schoolboy team travelled to Christchurch and were successful in annexing the Norman Cox Cu,p by a good margin of points. The most gratifying feature cf the trip was the excellent reports received of the team’s conduct .both on and off .the field- In conclusion, I wish to express the thanks of myself and, colleagues on the Board to the Centre and the Referees’ Association for their valuable assistance given to us .duriug the season, and to express

the hope that the same cordial relations will exist again during the ensuing year. To fellow members, I express my sincere thanks for their valuable assistance and' co-operation during my term of office, and 1 feel •sure that the same co-operation will be extended to my successor. The report was adopted. Officers were elected as follow: — President: Mr AV. Moore; secretary, Mr H. Bassett; delegate to Centre, Mr AV. Moore. Tributes were paid to the work of the retiring secretary, Mr AV. Moore. Messrs Moore and Bassett were appointed a postponement committee. it was decided to hold a weekly competition, instead of field days.