Ground Conditions Were Against Players On Sunday

Greymouth Evening Star, 2 September 1949, Page 3 (Supplement)

Ground Conditions Were Against Players On Sunday

There was a lot of criticism voiced at Wingham Park last Sunday because the officials of the West Coast Rugby League did not transfer the senior match to the No. 2 ground, instead of allowing it to be played On the ground in front of the stand, which was in a very bad state. Admittedly, the ground was not really fit for football, while the No. 2 ground was comparatively dry, but the solution of the problem was not as simple as it appeared to the casual onlooker. Apart from the senior teams, two senior reserve sides had been given a fixture at Wingham Park on Sunday and both had travelled to the park to play before it was realised that the No. 1 ground had not recovered from the cutting-up it had received the previous week. The ground position in the Grey distirct is not such that alternatives can be found within a few minutes, or even within a few hours, especially on a Sunday and the dilemma of the officials can easily be understood. .Use Of "Second” Field The same position will not arise this Sunday, however, as the Board of Control has wisely decided to "spell” the No. 1 ground and this week’s games will take place on the other field. The state of the park, incidentally,’is, a commentary on the excep-, tionally bad weather which has been experienced throughout the present season. , Under the circumstances, Marist and Brunner seniors managed to play reasonably good football on Sunday although it was inevitable that much of the game should be confined to the forwards, rucking, for a ball that literally buried itself in the mud. The first try of the game, scored by Marist, was one of the finest pieces ot tack play seen on the park this season, on a wet or dry ground The initiative came from M. Teen but all members of the backline did their parts welltaking the ball at speed and sending it on after drawing oponents. The actual scorer was L. Dunn, who played his best game for a long time on Sunday. Strangely enough, his handling is usually the worst feature of his game but on Sunday he took his passes cleanly and when he does that, he is an extremely hard winger to The P star of the Marist backs, however, was undoubtedly L. Dargan, who could hardly be recognised as the same player who made mistakes in the previous match against Blackball. On Sunday, Dargan gave one one the best displays of full-back play seen at Wingham Park this season. His handling of the muddy ball was exceptional, as was the manner in which he scooped it up from the ground while running at near top speed. He did this once to score a try and twice to save Marist’s line when it was threatened by A. Bernard and P. Walton. Walton, a newcomer to the Brunner team, showed definite promise on Sunday. He looked certain to secure a well-deserved try when he broke through dribbling the ball and had only Dargan to beat. Dargan, however, took-the ball from his feet in a brilliant save. On his display on Sunday, Walton will do well when he becomes accustomed to the play of his team mates. Brunner suffered a loss when J. Clark, its biv front row forward had to leave the field at half time as the result, of an injury. Up to that stage Clark had been one of the most impressive forwards on the field, particularly on defence. He is young and is inclined to throw away chances through over-impulsiveness but next season it will be surprising if he does not reach the best class. Endurance Test Most of the players on both sides found the muddy ground a severe strain’and only the fittest were showing any- dash over the final 10 minutes. This made all the more remarkable the performance of the Brunner full-back, R. Parmenter. He played a hard third grade game, came to the sideline for only a’few 'minutes and then, took his place .with the senior team for an-

other 80 minutes gruelling. He did well in the second game but is was asking too much of a young player to play two games in succession, particularly under such conditions. It is realised that “emergencies” do confront all teams, particularly at this stage of the season, but there should be a limit to the calls on young players, no matter how willing they may be to assist. Another young player to impress on Sunday was the Brunner breakaway, E, Gutberlet, whose play was always constructive. He received plenty of attention from the biggest Marist forwards but stood up well to the test. There are few good breakaways available at the present time and Gutberlet may prove more than useful next season. *