RUGBY

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 28 March 1925, Page 9

RUGBY

THE COMING SEASON.

PROPOSED SUB-UNIONS

(By “Quidnunc.”)

Just at present the question of a scheme for t'he better controlling of football in Taranaki is agitating the various clubs. A proposed notice of motion from the Okaiawa Chili has been discussed at the various annual meetings, and, judging by the reports, it seems that not a great deal of knowledge is displayed. The leading officials of the union are quite ill-informed about the matter, and it should have been possible for all information to be gleaned from other sources where simi. lar schemes are in operation, so that clubs would lie able to pass opinions on a clear cut question without any suggestion of a leap in the dark. To the writer’s mind the question of provincial unity does not come into the field at all. Such an argument is I really a drawing of a red herring across the scent. As at present constituted, the Rugby Union has to deal with all the details of the game throughout the province, dncl ' committee meetings are so taken up with trifling routine affairs that the major affairs do not get the attention they should. From any angle it is ridiculous for a parent body to have to spend valuable hours on such matters as

transfers of players, and the worries of arrangements of fixtures, etc. Every .. little piffling trifle from the club has =to •be sat over' by the• management committee. Say there were two sub-unions North and South, and each ran its

own competitions, and managed all the details.connected with the matches, this would leave the major executive free to attend to matters of policy, and all affairs' connected with the New Zealand Union and sister provinces, as well as enable it to control more closely the finances. Judging by the way the sub-unions work, say in Hawke’s Bay, it seems to the writer that a similar scheme would prove a success in'; Taranaki. After all, the division into sub-unions would really mean that two or more sub-committees would control the competitions and all minor details.

Travelling is always a bugbear, and no argument can be adduced against the utter futility of sending teams say from Waitara to play at Pa tea, or in fact sending any team fifty miles to play its matches. Time and expense would be saved, and. as to the raising of the standard being defeated, it is more likely to be the other way, as local rivalry is a great incentive. Also where players have more time to fraternise, there is a camaraderie infused which is quite impossible where time is limited and players travelweary.

Other points were made by certain speakers, such as.,clubs not having the same- privileges under sub-union management as under provincial, and the fear of domination by a certain coterie over al|, the,others. The first, has no grounds to-go on, and the second is one that always has lo be faced when a strictly limited management committee has control of affairs. To the writer’s mind, where the management of a sub-union’s affairs is controlled' by a committee composed of one delegate from each senior club, and one or two, according to numbers, from the various junior clubs, one fails to see where the interest of clubs are jeopardised in any way. The'parent committee being composed of delegates from each sub-union only should easily settle the question of "domination by any particular area. Mr. Jas. McLeod, in his speech at the All Blacks’ welcome, suggested that control of the various divisions by subunions was bound to come, then why not set about getting the house in ■order, and working up the details of the new; departure, ft could not be done this winter, as there is no time, but there is no reason why it may not be dealt with during the summer recess.'