The Shield Game

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XVII, Issue 177, 12 July 1927, Page 3

The Shield Game

NOTES ON PLAY & PLAYERS. "HAS BERN’S” IMPRESSTONS. Early in the season, I expressed the opinion hat there was not a more loyal football public than Hawke’s Bay, and this was borne out on Saturday last when our team met Wairarapa on their home ground. Cars with black and white streamers simply poured into the main street, and everywhere one ran into somebody from the Bay. It was be pietty safe to *ay there were over 1200 from Hastings and Napier alone. The Wairarapa Union catered for three thousand people less than was actually there ,so you can imagine the rest! People who paid two shillings to go in the outer were in the inner five minutes after the game started, and anybody arriving on the ground after 1.30 found it impossible to get on the grandstand, although they liad tickets to admit them there.

bpeuking of the game generally, there is no good disguising the fact that there certainly , .is afr undercurrent of feeling that were not altogether welcome in our quest sor the Shield, and that wc should have kept ofir noses out of the valley this year as far as the Shield was concerned. Whether this feeling was carried on to the ground by the Green players I cannot say, but never have i seen a game so chockfull of incident and certainly never a Shield game so willing, or if you would like a more temperate Wc_d, so strenuous. Whai with the crowd breaking through behind the players when they came through on to the ground, the leading off of the goat by a well-known celebrity of Napier, the breaking down of one of the auxiliary structures, the Worry Brownlie—Quentin Donald. and Jack Blake—Ginger Donald incidents, added to at least a dozen other stoppages, you can imagine the fever, especially amongst the Bay supporters. So glaring did the Blake incident appear to several of the Black and White supporters who were in close proximity that 0.. e or two nearly lost their heads.

Why Ginger Donald was not ordered off in the early part of the game beats me.

The writer fully intended to take statistics of the number of scrums free kicks, line-outs,etc., but after the first five minutes play I forgot ;.ll about them. What might have been a good idea would have been io have taken the number of stoppages.

As regards Worry Brownlie and Quentin Donald being sent to the line, there appeared to be nothing that warranted this, for they just seemed to be holding one another off. There was at least a score of other things more flagrant than tms. The question has arisen: “Why did we appoint McKenzie referee?” As a matter of fact it was our own players themselves who did this, and the vote was a unanimous one. To my mind his decisions are very fair and always have been, but on Saturday he made a very hasty one. Even the Wairapara players themselves--not all of them of course—were quite outspoken after the match, in their condemnation.

And uuvv we come to the play, and the players themselves. The play has already been described, and I do not intend to enlarge on that. Who did not read it had the pleasure of “listening-in.” The game was essentially a forward one, and a titanic one at that, with an occasional movement from fhe back. Our forwards in the second spell played like devils possessed, and there was one part of it, where for about ten ‘ the Greens took the ascendancy, and 1 thought we had shot our bolt. No, into it again, and they played as we have seen them playing in the past, with short snappy jiassing rushes, the backs waiting in readiness to pick up the ciumbs. They ran all over the Greens at the finish and the game on Saturday should improve their confidence considerably. It would be unfair to pick out any one rorward from the rest, for they all played so wonderfully well, and when their captain went off they gave the impression that they would never give in.

Gynl jbruwiHie played one of his best games, and the last twenty minutes he was a supfer man, and it would Lave taken his more renowned brother all his time to have touched him off. One pleasing incident—and it impressed me considerably—was the manner Brother Morry congratulated him when he came off the field. These little things are very hard to forget. Sam Gemmell’s star was also shining, and the way he ran, evading live or six forwards,/and then two or three backs, was an eye opener. His play all through was exceptionally clever. Conrad was another whose reputation was enhanced, and time and time again he was seen in the front of forward rushes, whilst our friend Tuna Swain was here, there and everywhere. It would not have been a game if he did not get a try, and he should have got his second. If there is a better forward in New Zealand for his weight, 1 would like to hear of him. Campbell, Jack Gemmell and Tankard, whom I have been advocating for a long time, were all good and deserve just as much praise as the others.

Wc cuuxu lu lhu uucmo: izUwards at half, although only a boy, did everything he was asked to do, and he got a very heavy gruelling, but always cam e up smiling. 1 particularly like his style. The only thing I did object to was his running into the pack, but it appears he was acting under instructions; the motto was “to make it a forward game.” Te Ngaio some did not like. He was very steady, but unfortunately was unlucky in getting eaught several times when giving it a “go.” In spite of criticism, 1 still think he is a good five-eighths. Barclay was very safe and marked Cooke, I which seemed his special duty. Jack Blake played one of his nest games, his line kicking—what he did was very fine, and it is a wonder to me Morry Brownlie does not give him all the line kick's. Jack on throe or four occasions almost got. away, but it wasn big handicap to only get about two yards start and have a ball in your hands. Bort Grenside played his usual solid game and was in most of tbo

movements that ended in tries. His turning of defence into attack was one of the features of the game, whilst Huxtable surprised everybody by his fine display It would be mean to criticise Tommy Corkill at fullback, and he is too good a man to leave out of the team. No doubt when Barclay goes on tour with the Maori team, Corkill will come in at five-eighths, the only place tor him in the team, and his right place and we will have to find another full back.

Of the Wairarapa players: Among the forwards Irvine was particularly ffbticeable and made several solo runs. He was in the hard stuff as usual, and was one of the fittest forwards on the ground. Raeside, the big Maori forward was another who stoou out and how on earth he got left out of Maori team to Blighty, beats me. He runs strongly and handles the ball like a back. He was one of tne players who did not get off too lightly, and you would have thought, if you had seen one of his eyes, that he had put his head in a bee-hive. All the other Green forwards worked well, but on the day’s play ours stood well ahead of them and at the same time our hooking was considerably better. Hiroti at naif, played his usual sound game and although not a Jimmy Mill, passes the ball from the scrum quicker than any half about here. Cundy at first five-eighths was very prominent and the opening he made for Cooke to finish off was a very fine one. His kicking in the field was also powerful and well directed, but he dia uui have the success with his goal kicking as hu did in Napier. 1 would not 20 too much on Cundy where there was any tight playing.

Now we come to our old friend Cooke, the genius. No matter what anybody else says, I still think Cooke the finest inside back in New Zealand. He was a marked man on Saturday, but for all that did some wonderful things. He got hurt early, for which I was sorry, but gamely started again. It is not often you see Cooke have to run back to kick the ball, but h e was forced to do this on a number of occasions on Saturday. I only wished we had him, tor ne will do me. Stringfellow at centre played will without being prominent, whilst Hart on one wing and Booth on the other were just fair. How Yates was replayed by the former I cannot understand. Lt was said that his game against Bush Union was not inspiring and that he is inclined to be in and out. Certainly alongside of Cooke, ne was one of the best backs on tne ground at Napier on June era. Roach, at full-back played a very safe game and could always be depended on. He made many fine saves and Wairarapa are very fortunate to have such a dependable player. Roache put his thumb out early in game, but piuckily continued.

One amusing incident was w hen one of uux forwards and not the biggest either by any means, happened to b e on top of another forward wearing the green jersey and who at one time played for the Bay. The one underneath wasn’t half going off and vowed all sorts of dire things when he got up. There were others besides the team who heard this: “Oh, Bill, you surely wouldn’t do that.”