ASSOCIATION FOOTBALL.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLII, Issue XLII, 24 July 1923, Page 3

ASSOCIATION FOOTBALL.

N.Z. SOCCER TEAM'S TOUR OP AUSTRALIA. Some Notes by G. E. Jones. The team assembled in Wellington on May 17 3 and were equipped with football necessities. An official sendoff was given by the Mayor and prominent citizens of Wellington, along with officials of the N.Z.'F.A.j in the Town Hall on the eve of the team's departure. The trip across was uneventful, with the exception of the last night, which proved to be very rough. This was resrjonsible for the Marama arriving in Sydney a few hours later, than schedule time. However, the sea calmed and the weather improved on entering the harbour, and we were fortunate in being able to view the wonderful harbour under ideal conditions. On arriving we were accorded an official welcome at the Sports Club Rooms by the N.S.W.F.A., and later were accorded a civic reception by the Lord Mayor of Sydney and councillors and M.P.'s in the Town Hall. We played our first match two days after leaving the boat, nnd the game being won by the Granville team was due to the New Zealand boys still being in possession of their "sea legs." The next game, a draw, against N.S.W. rep. team, proved that the visitors soon got down to business. A report in the Sydney paper declares that the Enzeds were robbed of the game, but we had to abide by the referee's decision. After playing these two matches the team left for Newcastle, where the football enthusiasts of that town gave us a warm welcome. This town was one mass of smoke from the different coal mines and foundries. Even the football field had a top-dreeing of coal dust at least six inches deep. Little wonder at our boys losing matches on grounds such as these. We found this district \to h^e a hotbed of soccer, ard yet they ] could not sport a better field- to* play on. When we heard that the third test match had to be played in Newcastle we made it our business to see that a different pitch would be arranged for. Before leaving for Brisbane we were taken across the harbour to Walshe Island, where we inspected the Government workshops. This proved to be an education to us all, as we had the opportunity of seeing a ship in the making:. On our way to Brisbane we- were unfortunate, in pas-sing through the well-known Darling Down? while they were in a state of drought. Animals were to be seen dead for the want of water, and this gnvo us a bad impression of Australia. When we returned through this particular part we saw the country under totally "different conditions, as only two days previous three days' rain had fallen, and it was real good to £«<? green gws«- again. It did not come up to our Taranaki country . though. On arriving in Brisbane the team were accorded a ci"j> welcome in Government TToupe. whi-'h wa.<= presided over by the Speaker of the House, Mr. Bertram. A Pt-er tbo reception we wore shown o"er t>-e hirildino-. indudinp- the chamber in whK-h the Prince of Wales stayed during his st,?y in Bris^aro. Tl'o Speaker also kept us amused T'ith different incidents that took place, during the Prince's si ay. Many members of Parliament wore also present at the reception. Our stay in the Queensland district was very pleasant. W? won all games in tnnt district N,vith the exception of th© first test. The Australian team was very fortunate in gaining this victory, as the deciding goal was scored right on the call of time. The Australian centre forward, Maunders, was very lucky getting the ball like he did right by the goal mouth, and as it was dusk the New Zealand goalie didn't see. the ball till it was in the net. , We found the people of Brisbane very ■ homely, and they left no stone un- { turned' to make our stay far more ! pleasurable than we anticipated. We were taken to fruit farms, where we saw bananas and pineapples growing in prolific abundance. The only thing ■ that spoilt our journey to these- farms were the roads. A twenty-mile ride . over soft, dusty roads.. with holes too numerous to mention, was hard to bear after being used to asphalt roads. i One of our games had to be played at a place called Nambour, a distance of 70 miles north of Brisbane, and it i was. on this journey that we saw the first glimpse of Australian native bush "■■ scenery. It did the heart good to see such -scenery after the rough, .rugged, ; rocky formation which prevails throughout the most rrnrt of the country !

through which we toured. At Nambour j we "-<> re taken over acres and acres of j nothing but sugar cane plantations. J The canes were then six to eight feet j high, and even then it was not ready i for 3yiilling. The fruit we had at this ; place was delicious, it all being ripened '; on the trees before being picked. j One thing that is worthy of mention j was the McKeen. ear in* which w« : travelled to Nambouv. This car runs j along, th-6 usiial train lines, but has an j engine similar to a motor car, only much larger, being of 240 h.p., and j capable of travelling at a speed of 70 ] miles &n hour. It has two compart- j ments-, and the seating accommodation is first class. The front one contains i the engine, the rear one containing J seating accommodation for 60 passengers. These compartments are mainly used for picnic parties. Those of us who are of a mechanical frame of mind fovin-d this t-o be full of interest, the more so when a few of us were per- : rnitted to ride in the engine room, i The entertainments that were arranged for us right through the tour were all first class, and all members of the team enjoyed them to the full. On completion of our tour in the Queensland district we left for Sydney to prepare for the second, test. This match was played under ideal conditions, with. i the exception of having to finish the ! game in semi-darkness. The ground, which.'is claimed to be the best sports ! ground in the world, the Sydney Cricket Ground, No. 1, was undoubtedily the best of the tour. A trifle hard, [ but not sufficient to affect the play of | tbe visitors, and a- 3 to 2 result was a i fair criterion of the game. In this game both goalies had to defend rather frequently. We found the spectators [ were as many for as against us, a fact ?.rhi;h was very much appreciated by .the New Zealanders. This result left it for the- third test to he tlie deciding game concerning the "a.shes," and we all concentrated on that- or.c game. We had to journey back to Newcastle to play this game, i and were "D-leased when we heard that | the show ground was at our disposal for , this game. It was a hard, even game | for trie first half, and the people were very keen to see the players enter the field tx) continue and decide the game. The first ten minutes of the second spell was sufficient to show the people which team had the better chance. The training of the Pig Islanders, as we were scone-times called, soon overshadowed that of the local players, and the game ended just as the All Blacks wanted it. The Australians played mere or less a spoiling, game for the first half, but in the latter part of the ! game the short, passing method was played by the visitors, and on the whole the" spectators enjoyed these tactics. After the test match, was played all ovit boys were only too pleased to get back to Sydney, .aY Newcastle was often called the Black Hole of Calcutta,, and this name seemed to fit all right. Be-

fore tearing Newcastle we had to jour- ) new to tiie centre of the coalmining ; district to play the Weston Club team I We lost this game by 4 goals to 1. The ; people in New Zealand wonder why it i is, after winning big matches, we can- > not win the club matches. The first thing to consider is that these clubs j are used to their own grounds. Then 1 again our boys are used to full-sized grounds, and wiien games are to be . played on grounds only 60 yards wide . and 90 yards long, with a surface of sand and tussocky grass, thej- cannot take the same interest in the g»m«. After winning tne "ashes" little did we care who won the other games as long as they v/ere made interesting to the public. We round tho grounds very trying, as in addition to the pitches already described we sampled still another class of football ground. These were exceptionally hard grounds, with very little grass growing on them at all. It wits only when we had to meet provincial teams and the test teams . that we had good grounds to play on. ■ On arriving back in Sydney we had a- trip around the harbour m one of the trovernment ferry steamers. This was a very fine trip, and appreciated by all the team. The last two matches of the tour were played against South Coast at AVoollongong, and Lithgow at Lithgow. We found the district down the South Coast very similar to New Zealand, with nice green fields everywhere. We also visited the Port Kembla copper works while at Woollongong. and saw how they made the coils of copper wire and sheets of copper. Visits "to these sort of places were quite an education to us all. These copper works, along with the numerous brick kilns and coal mines, make Woollongong a very busy place. After visiting Woollongong we journeyed to Lithgow, about 100 miles inland from Sydney. To reach, tins town we had to travel over- the Blue Mountains, the train having some very steep grades and sharp curves to negogiate. All along these mountains the track for the railway lines is cut out of huge solid rocks, which rise for hundreds of feet above, while there are chasms hundreds of feet below. At Lithgow we were taken to the Small Anns Factory, where th« well-known .303 service rifle is manufactured, and we saw the making of these rifles right from the rough state through all the stages to the finished) article. These works were, practically I idle at the time, but the authorities I arranged for a few men to be there to bo working on different parts of th« rifle just for oar benefit. ■At Lithgow we witnessed our first snowstorm, three inches of snow falling in a very short time. The day before I leaving for Sydney we rcse at" G a.m., ! and were ridden charabanc to the Jeno- ! lan Caves. We did an hour's drive before breakfast, which we had at what is j called Half-way House; then for at least eight miles we travelled through snow that was at least a foot deep all across the road. We thought this* was great, and enjoyed it immensely. Of the twelve caves we only had time to go through two, the Orient and the Left Imperial. The Orient is reckoned as the best of the twelve, and was un- I doubtedly wonderful. Those who had i not seen eaves of this nature before could not find words to explain them, ■but we can still say our Waitomo Caves are out on their own as far as beauty goes. All the Jcnolan Caves are shown to perfection by electric light, which is installed right the .whole way through, and that is where they nre a he-id of our caves. There were formations in the Left Imperial resembting coloured blankets, with markings so natural that it almost seemed as though the human hand had painted them; and formations resembling shawls hung on the walls. These formations are absent from our Waitomo Csve-s ; but the ptalactite and stalagmite is not so vast or nearly so pretty as in ~ the Waitomo Caves. However, we thoroughly enjoyed this trip, and lert for Sydney with groat satisfaction of the whole, of our tour. The accommodation which was provided for us was all that could be desired, and the hospitality accorded us by all whom we met was something we shall never forget. We arrived on the wharf at Sydney on the morning of July 13, with a great number of friends to see us off—friends whom we shall never forget and who are responsible for placing in our memories happy recollections which will remain with us for a long time. The return trio was made per the Manuka, and after being away for two months we all were pleased to see New Zealand again and'proud to bring back the honour for which we all worked to i get, ______