RUGBY FOOTBALL 'Incident’ Closed: Union Discusses Press Statement

Greymouth Evening Star, 31 August 1949, Page 8

RUGBY FOOTBALL 'Incident’ Closed: Union Discusses Press Statement

’That the board approves of the press statement issued by the West Coast Rugby Union, considers that Mr W. F. Ellis was misquoted, and that the board confirms its confidence in Mr Ellis as a manager, were statemen,ts included, in a report received at the weekly meeting, last.evening, of the management committee of the West Coast Rugby Union from the Junior’Advisory Board. The report was in connection with a statement critical of the Canterbury Rugby Union,’ which appeared in a Christchurch newspaper on Saturday. “It. was an incident which this union regrets very much,” said the president, Mr F. W. Baillie, introducing the,subject. “I was astonished that such a statement was said to have been made, and without authority. It was considered so important that a special meeting of available members of the management committee was called on Sunday and a correction issued to the press.” The action of the president in issuing a press statement of denial and in writing a letter of explanation and apology to the Canterbury Rugby Union was confirmed. It was stated that advice had been received from the Canterbury Union that arrangements for the postponed fifth grade match to be played in Christchurch at the' week-end had been completed. After a brief discussion the chairman ruled that the matter be closed.

Touring Teams' Reports The manager of the West. Coast team on the southern tour, Mr M. R. Bunt, presented a comprehensive report. He recommended that a studio photograph of the team be presented to each player. Expressing the union s thanks to Mr Bunt for his report, Mr Baillie said he felt sure that the standard of football on the West Coast would improve as a result of the tour. A motion of thanks to Messrs Bunt and B Kelly for their services, and of congratulation to the team for their excellent behaviour was carried, and the report was adopted. In his reoort on the West Coast schoolboys team at the Seddon Shield district tournament at Nelson, the manager, Mr L. B. Galbraith, recommended that the practice of assembling the team at Greymouth prior to the tournament be continued. This enabled some excellent coaching prior to its departure by Mr R. R. King, who gave freely of_his time, and also permitted the playing of a practice match. At the tournament the team appeared the best balanced of those taking part, winning every match. Referees at Nelson objected to aluminium sprigs worn by some of the team and these had to be replaced, concluded the report. The report was received and a vote of thanks to Mr Galbraith and to Mr King, who successfully coached the team, was passed. Congratulations were extended to the playeis on their excellent performance. The Junior Advisory Board m its report, recommended that Mr McEnaney be appointed manager of the fifth grade representative team which will travel to Christchurch tomorrow to play a match against a Canterbury team The board also recommended that the fourth, fifth and eighth grade competitions be closed and that Hokitika Star, and Celtic be declared the respective winners. The- recommendations were adopted. . Congratulations Extended Advice was received from the Nev; Zealand Rugby Union that Mr A. Fong of Greymouth, had been appointed referee of the Australia v Canterbury match at Christchurch on September 21. It was decided to congratulate Mi Fong on his appointment. . Arrangements for the Dittman Shield match, to be played at Hokitika on Saturday, were confirmed as follows:--Manager of the Greymouth team, Mi A. King; captain, G. Nelson; deputycaptain, J. Gillan; referee, Mr W. Hunt, of Reefton. A bus will leave the Post Office at 1.30 p.m. Advice was received from the New Zealand Broadcasting Service that permission had been' granted for a rebroadcast from station 3YZ of the West Coast v Canterbury match to be played at Christchurch on September 24. Visiting Officials Present Three officials of the North Otago Rugby Union, Messrs D. Loder, president, H. Strachan, and W. Budd were present at the meeting. Mr Baillie, welcoming them, expressed the hope that the party would enjoy its stay m Greymouth. Mr Loder, in reply, referred to the valuable personal acquaintances in the Rugby world made during such tours. Also present at the meeting, in addition to the chairman, were Messrs A. M Jamieson, H. Clifford. J. Webster, S. McDonnell, E. W. Shannon, J. Smith, W. O. Blair, M. R. Bunt, A. King, L. E. Tweedie, J. Jackson, A. Agnew, and the secretary, Mr O. Scott. FOURTH GRADE MATCH Although the Junior Advisory Board considered that the fourth grade match between Greymouth and Hokitika representatives, to be played as a curtain-raiser to the Dittman Shield challenge at Hokitika.on Saturday should be cancelled, the West Coast Rugby Union’s management committee last evening decided that the fixture must be fulfilled. The board objected to the match on tffe grounds that many players in the fourth grade competition were not available and that arrangements for a fourth grade Cobden v Sydenham match, to be played at Greymouth, had been made. “The union is absolutely obliged to play this match, which is a representative fixture and has preference over an inter-club match,” said the president, Mr F. W. Baillie. He was supported in this view by the other members present. Mr H. Clifford suggested that the difficulty could be overcome by selecting the fourth grade team and allowing' the Cobden Club to complete its team for the Sydenham match from other fourth grade players available. It was decided to instruct the Junior Advisory Board to select a representative team and to advise the Cobden Club accordingly. Arrangements were made for a bus to leave the Post Office at noon on Saturday and the board was requested to appoint a manager. Fixtures For Saturday The following fixtures for Saturday were approved, at the weekly meeting of the West Coast Rugby Union last evening:— Dittman Shield.—Greymouth v. Westland, at Hokitika, 2.45 p.m. (W. Hunt). Junior (Graham Wise Cup).—Ross v Technical 0.8., at Kumara, 3 p.m. (J. B. Hogarth). ' ' Third Grade.—Blaketown v Technical, at Technical, 1.30 p.m. (A. R. Lindbom). (Friendly game.) Fourth Grade—Greymouth v Westland, at Hokitika, 1.30 p.m.; Greymouth

v Sydenham, at Park No. 2, 2.30 p.m. (A. Fong). ‘ Fifth Grade.—West Coast v Canterbury, at Christchurch. 6th, 7th, and Bth Grade.—7-a-side tournament at Park, 9.30 a.m. (K. Tomlinson, T. Anderson, M. Olsen, J-. Webber, P. Butler). Post entry . Greymouth Team Changed Because Celtic Club players have notified the West Coast Rugby Union that they are unavailable for selection for the Greymouth Dittman Shield team, there have been several changes in the team that was announced yesterday. The team which will now take part in tlie fixture at Hokitika on Saturday is:—J. Lindbom, J. R. Steel, J. Gillan, N. Parker, S. Stewart, C. Hunter, G. Richardson, A. Krakosky, K. Fisher, F. Holmes, G. Nelson, J. Hagen, H. Mettrick, W. Curtain, A. McCone. Emergencies: N. Hopkins, J. McKenzie, B. Dixon and R. Watkin. There will be a practice at the Celtic ground at 7 p.m. tomorrow. ■ Apology Sought From West Coast Manager CHRISTCHURCH, This Day (0.C.). —Because it claimed that statements made to a newspaper last week-end by Mr W. F. Ellis, manager of sixth and seventh grade West Coast teams which visited Christchurch, “reflected on members of the union individually and iccjlectively,” the management committee of the Canterbury Rugby Union decided, last evening to ask the West Coast Union to obtain an apology from Mr Ellis.

“I want to refute every sentence which appears in this article,” said the president of the West Coast Union (Mr F. W. Baillie) in a letter. A special meeting of the West Coast Union had been called to discuss this “disastrous and unfortunate matter.” Mr Baillie added: “I also want you to know that my union fully appreciates all that your union has done for this union over the last 20 years or more and that you are one major union that has given valuable service in assisting minor unions, ours in particular.” In requesting the apology the committee decided to thank the West Coast Union for its prompt action and to emphasise that there was no difference between the two unions. Trip To North Island Two teams from the Cobden Rugby Football Club will leave by the express tomorrow morning to play matches in the North Island. The junior team will journey to Napier where it will play' an early curtain-raiser to the Hawke’s Bay v Wellington game at McLean Park on Saturday. The third grade team will travel to Wellington where it will play the annual fixture with Hutt Club in an early curtainraiser to the first test match between Australia and New Zealand, on Saturday. An interesting programme of entertainment including sight-seeing tours has been arranged for the junior team, which will not return to Greymouth until Thursday week. The third ..grade team will return on Tuesday.