MAORI RUGBY PLAYERS

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXV, Issue 3369, 24 September 1931, Page 5

MAORI RUGBY PLAYERS

DISCUSSION BY N.Z.R.U. CLOSER SUPERVISION ADVOCATED. (By Telegraph.—Press Association.) Wellington, this day. The control of Rugby football among Maori players came in for some adverse criticism at last night's meeting of the management committee of the New Zealand Rugby Union. Mr. Kingi Tahiwi, representative of the Maori Rugby Board on the committee, admitted that the Board was too unweildly and required a thorough overhauling. The commitmittee decided to inform the Maori Advisory Rugby Board that a subcommittee of the New Zealand Union was prepared to confer at any time arranged with, the Maori Board. The Hawke’s Bay and Southland Unions complained that, in arranging a Maori match the Maori Advisory Board communicated direct with the Maori players under the control of those unions, and asked that instructions be given for a discontinuance of the practice. The Chairman, Mr. Dean: “One thing is clear—-the best Maori team was not picked to meet the Australians.” Mr. A. C. Kitto agreed with this view.

“We sent a Maori team on tour through the South Island,” he said, “with the object of enabling it to acquire combination for the match against Australia, but it came as a great surprise to find that only eight players were chosen in the team which played Australia.” Mr. Dean said the selection of Bell, of Southland, in the Maori team was absurd, especially as he had not taken part in a game in -Invercargill this season.

Mr. Tahiwi said Bell had been selected on the form shown in the Prince of Wales Cup matches. Exception was also taken to the fact that the Maori Advisory Rugby Board had not adhered to the agreement that no players beyond halfcastes be regarded as Maoris. E. S. Hylton considered that far too many pakeha players had taken part in Maori matches this senson. On the motion of Mr. Dean it was decided to inform the Maori Advisory Board that in future all communications concerning the selection of players required for Maori matches must go through unions to which the players belong.