THE ALL BLACKS.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 10 December 1924, Page 3

THE ALL BLACKS.

THE NEGLECT OF BADELEY

MR. STEAD’S ASTONISHMENT

[The fact that Badeley has been appointed coach to the' All Blacks was mentioned iii a Press Association message yesterday. The following statements, however, are extremely interesting.]

“I can’t get" over the. emission of Badeley. I think he is their first fiveeighths with NichoUs attd-Cookein that order out from the scrum, ’ ’ said Mr W. J. Stead, who was vice-captain of the 1905 All Blacks, when, discussing with an Invercargill reporter th© progress of the present tour of the New Zealanders iii Britain. “I ponder if the manner in which the captaincy was taken away from him has- anything to do with it. The tour has lost interest for me largely on account of Badeley, and if this is true. I think when the whole thing is thrashed out Auckland will, go over to the League. They are already smarting under a sense of an injustice, they feel was done them pver Wright. I may he pessimistic, but 1 foresee grave tro'uble if this is correct. “If one of - our representatives, White,, for instance, was treated in this way, don’t you think we would be hostile? I can’t see with the poor scrum work that these other players could have improved, so much as to have made Badeley into a second-rater; I hope I am wrong, that’s all. “I have had letters from both Messrs E. E. Booth (an, original All Black) and Vile (a noted f ormer British international), and both are of opinion that English, Rugby has not improved. Booth is especially emphatic. He says he does not think the play has improved one iota since 1905. He also says: ‘You know -about the Welsh de- ; bade,’ meaning that..the game has gone back in Wales. - - “Vile says he does .not think he. would Have such a, bad. time lis halfi back : agaixist the present Alt Black side >;s he did in 1905 1 . He had' at the; time jdf. writing refereed one match add seen j three others, and they, that iii : all of these engagements!the local ;side had got its share of. the-balk'' Although I | say it myself,, it!, Vyasi mighty seldom ; any British team got the ball from ius . iii 1905. ~ “i can’t fathom this t'eaih: at all. They don’t seem to have got the sorum. Booth is a. very shrewd judge, - and although I have not seen Aye. to eye with him in the past on some aspects of football, I value his Opinion on the play very highly'. He sees with Cok onial eyes, and knows what we regard as good football. Mv own : hottest opinion, is that, the Hawke's;.Bay team would; tour Britain with equal success. “I also think, that „■ until, Rugby at Home is backed by the masses it will never improve. They have sprely had an object lesson in the different teams from , all parts of the Empire in the last 3t) . years' or so. With all these teams travelling it must- have shown them that, their football was not np to standard. I am : very strongly of the opinion that; it is the support of the public that is heeded. Booth says in one of his articles that the game is still, largely confined to tlie leisured classes.

“I think our team has been fortunate in meeting Wales at a lean period, j ust as the Springboks caught: New Zealand on the hop' a few years ago. I don’t care what kind of Weather it is for tlie English match, the- tuff at Twickenham; will; be good. I would °hly prophesy a win if they are sure of getting the Ball." England lias got tlie; 1 hacks, from B haVe'i’ehd and fossicked out, and; are going to get' a chance with the ball, they might riiake themselves Very formidable playing' a forward game., Wakefield mentions the need' of trying to beat the All' Blacks oh tlie lirie-out, and their reported non-success in the scrums leads me. to think that they have developed their line-out play. If the All Biacks get. tlie half .in the serfim 1 should! say they will win. They now Have a good chance Of beating ouV record,. arid' this, T think, would be their biggest incentive.”

A REPLY

(By W. Heath.) Great surprise was occasioned to Rugby followers and to those who are interested in the tour of the present team in the Old Land by the “outburst” of W. J. Stead. In fact Mr. Stead has come into the picture very late with, his criticisms, and his remarks seem to contain something in the nature of disappointment at the chance of this team' eclipsing tlie record of the 1905 combination that Mr. Stead vice-captained. This gentleman, among a great number of others, never for a moment thought that the 1924 team lvould put up sucli a splendid record as they have done up till now. One may be excused for expressing bewilderihent at Mr. Stead’s rash statement that Auckland Rugby might be going over to league because an Auck--1 and player has not shown good enough form to be included in the important matches. Time and again. Auckland members of the New Zealand teams have failed to show form that would justify their inclusion in the big, games on previous tours, but nobody smarted under a sense of injustice owing to that. The Auckland football public are not so narrow-minded as Mr. Stead seems to think. ' For instance, take

the position of A. H. Francis (Boiler). This player was one of the best forwards in New Zealand in 1905, yet he ’ was omitted from the team Although j hls supporters regretted it,' it was re- ; garded as unfortunate for Francis, but ; nobody talked of starting a revolution : over it. , • Mr. Stead makes reference to the: : present team not being able to get the j ball in the scruni. There is’.no doubt ; about this, and it was generally agreed ; by those in the position to know that j the hookers in this team could not compare with George Tyler and co., nor did they have the great experience possessed by the 1905 hookers when stacked up against three opponents in the front row.

Mr. Stead states he has it from E. E. Booth and Vile (the latter a member of the British team in New Zealand in, 1904) that Rugby had made no improvement in Britain during the interval between 1905 and now, but we have had a score of well-qualified writers, including Col. Philip Trevor, who have informed. us that the game has improved a great deal since the visit of the original team. Even if it had not, it cannot be disputed that greater preparations were made by the teams at Home to meet the present All Blacks. One of the managers of the English League team, who recently toured New Zealand, stated, when interviewed, that the 1924 team would meet stronger opponents than the pioneers of 1905. Another matter that must not be overlooked, in of an improvement in the game was that during- the war, and for som© time after, Rugby was practically an army regulation ' game as far as winter sport was concerned among the men in khaki, and that

in itself must • have been responsible for some improvement. .. The southern critic also stated that before the game can go ahead the masses must be behind it. Well, they have had record gates in nearly every match they played/ so that shows that the old game still commands a good following among the-public at Home.