RUGBY FOOTBALL

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXI, 29 March 1938, Page 3

RUGBY FOOTBALL

* NELSON UNION’S ANNUAL REPORT | j REVIEW OF PAST SEASON'S | ACTIVITIES CLUB DELEGATES MEET TO-MORROW i The annual report of the Nelson 1 - Rugby Union which will be presented at the general meeting of delegates to- i : morrow evening, indicates that the fin- | - ancial position was maintained satis- ; 1 factorily, but to achieve that result very ; > careful management was necessary. f The full review of the past season s ’. activities is as follows: — i j j FINANCIAL POSITION ! The financial position at the com- j - j mencement of the season was a credit s balance of £66 16s lOd, and the credit j i 1 of the funds of the Union for the 1937 , t season stands at £63 16s Id, showing a , f loss of £3 Os 9d in cash for the sea.l; son's working. To offset this, the j ! assets of the Union have increased to 1 e I the extent of £35 Os Odin the purchase j ~ of the seating accommodation at Tra- | * j falgar Park which will prove to be a 1 s j valuable asset through the coming ' e years. e The expenditure of the funds of the | Union has at all times received the s 1 careful consideration of the Manage- ’* j ment Committee, and a review of the ; figures will reveal that everything posI sible has been done to reduce the ex-

! penditure. The entertaining expenses have been reduced from £46 3s 6d to . £3l 10s 6d, and the miscellaneous ex- ! penses from £64 Is Od to £44 6s 6d, a j matter of £34 8s 4d reduction in gen- | eral expenses, while an increase of Re- | ferees’ Association expenses of £5 17s, l | printing and advertising £ 1 Is 8d is i ; shown. The ground rent also shows a 'reduction of £2 7s 6d, which is unfor- ! j tunate, as a reduction in rent means j I also a reduction in revenue. This is ( unfortunately true, as our representai live match receipts have been reduced | from £96 15s 6d to £3O 2s, and the re- ! ceipts from the Seven-a-side Tournament from £lB 13s 6d to £3 14s. On the other hand it is pleasing to note that our club matches are receiving more support from the public, and the gate takings from same have increased | from £56 11s 6d to £74 9s 6d. This increase is offset somewhat by the reduction of honorary members’ subscriptions which have been reduced from £lB 4s 6d to £l4 4s 6d. The School Jersey Fund shows an increase of £6 ; 16s; this fund is built up from the total j 1 revenue received at gate from school ' boys and is placed to a special jersey ; purchase fund. The revenue received : from the Seddon Shield Match shows a big drop from £53 7s 3d to £22 4s sd; ' this matter is dealt with under Seddon J Shield Challenge in this report. A review of the position shows that the i ’ Management Committee has at all times ’ exercised a careful watch over the exE i penditure of the funds of the Union. , and no expense has been incurred that ! has not been fully justified and in keep- ' I ing with efficient management of the j p : affairs of the Union. " - CHAMPIONSHIPS

! The 1937 championships were awarded as follows:—Senior, Old Boys; junior A, Regimental; Hospital; i third grade, *Nelson; fourth grade. | Waimea; fifth grade; College; senior knock-out contest, Rival; senior seven-a-side, Old Boys; junior seven-a-side, j Regimental; goal kicking, S. Winter l (Old Boys); most points, Old Boys and Regimental equal. | Senior representative matches: — Nelson 20 v. Marlborough 17. Nelson 13 v. Marlborough 14. Nelson 3 v. Golden Bay-Motueka. 11. Nelson-Golden Bay-Motueka 14 v. Marlborough 11. Nelson 3 v. Buller 19. Nelson 3 v. Buller 9 (Seddon Shield). Nelson 9 v. Golden Bay-Motueka 8. Springboks *22 v. Combined Team 0. 1 Junior representative matches: Nelson 6 v. Marlborough 15. Nelson 18 v. Marlborough 13. Nelson 8 v. Golden Bay-Motueka 12. Nelson 21 v. Golden Bay-Motueka 5. ■ j Nelson B 6 v. French Pass 6. , j SEDDON SHIELD CHALLENGE ) The interest in the Seddon Shield »! matches is still being maintained in the Seddon Shield area by the Unions concerned, the holders for the 1936 season, the Marlborough Union, being defeated by the West Coast Union in the i first challenge match, and they in their turn were defeated by the Buller Union a few weeks later. The Buller Union successfully defended the challenge of the Golden Bay-Motueka and the Nelson Unions, and we offer our congrat- ] ulations to them in retaining the Seddon Shield for the 1937 season. Supl porters of the game will well remem--3 ber the conditions that existed on the t afternoon of the Nelson Union’s chal--1 ! lenge. After the promise of a good day. y ! the weather turned out to provide the - worst possible conditions that could s exist for the match, and although our t I team gave a good account of themn selves, the conditions totally upset our - j play, and after a hard game we had to - accept defeat at the hands of the Buller J representatives. The above conditions -'seriously affected the attendance at the ti match, and the trip to Westport resultg i ed in a financial loss to the union, and t i had it not been for the good work that - j had been done by sympathetic supporters of the game in Nelson in raising funds to enable the Seddon Shield team to travel, the financial position of the union would have shown a severe loss over the challenge. SCHOOL FOOTBALL The interest taken by the schools ir the Rugby Code is a matter of greal , satisfaction to the management of the (i( 1 Nelson Rugby Union. This season it 1,1 | has been possible to put into operatior ! football for the school boys on Satur ‘ | day mornings, and four teams have J ’ ! taken the field in these matches. W< 111 extend our thanks to those supporter: a _ I who have interested themselves in these ,j. games. ! The school representative team agair n I took part in the annual tournament o h, | the Seddon Shield Area, and while no ill successful in winning tournamen m | gave a very creditable account o \v j themselves during the tournament. Lli: OFFICERS Lli j 1 The management committee held 2<

meetings during the season, the atten- j || dance of delegates being as follows: Newton, McPherson, McGregor, Mor- i gan, Lock 24: Croucher, Johnson, 23; Richardson. 21; Crawley, Eyre. Mcll-1 wraith, Winter, 20; Methven, Thomas, j 18; Price, 17; Brownlie, 16. I HOSPITAL TEAM At the last annual general meeting, i the Hospital team applied for affiliation and were granted junior grade classification. The admission of this j team has added considerable interest j to the junior competition. The number j of teams in this grade now stands at 10. This competition was divided into an A j and B grade, and it was pleasing to note that the Hospital team was successful in winning the B grade championship in their first season in the competition. GENERAL The most outstanding feature of the 1937 Rugby season was the tour of New Zealand by the South African touring team, and while we did not have a game in Nelson most of our supp n*ters i had an opportunity of witnessing this fine team in action. The results of this trip will no doubt do a power of good to the Rugby code generally. The Nelson union was well represented in the Combined Teams match at Blenheim. This tour again brings us back to the question of finance, and the effects that | a touring team has upon the finance of smaller unions in respect to the broadcast of matches which undoubtedly I affects our gates, as shown in the bal- ' ance presehted. This matter is receiv- ' ing the serious consideration of the j New Zealand Rugby Football Union. * and no doubt we shall receive finan- ; cial assistance from this body to assist i us in successfully controlling the | affairs of our Union and building up the Rugby game in our area. A lot of good work has been done 5 at Trafalgar Park. »nd the manage-, r ment has received the close co-oper-s ation of the Nelson City Council in its 2 endeavours to improve conditions at the ‘ Park, the most notable from the play--1 ers’ point of view being the installation * of hot showers, and from the public in- : " terest improved seating accommodation * in the stand, also seating on the grounds 1 for 1000 people with an excellent view E j for all. The question of the new grands j stand has not been forgotten, and will again be dealt with this season. Tours were undertaken by our senior representative team to Blenheim. :1 Motueka and Westport for friendly t matches, also to Westport for the Sede i don Shield Challenge, while the junior t j representatives visited Blenheim and n j Motueka. We received visits from _ : Marlborough. Golden Bay-Motueka. and e ! French Pass teams and also the Come bined Trials. The results of these s ; matches are listed in the representative e I matches. These matches, besides giving our supporters an opportunity of viewn ing a representative match, have created friendship and goodwill among the unions concerned. lt A pleasing feature of the past season is the support received from persons interested in the game, and we have been donated two cups for competition, and a donation of £25 for the encouragement of country football. We 4 express our thansk to the donors for

their generous donations to the union. We extend our thanks to the press for the reports of matches, publication of teams, fixtures and matters of general interest to the game of Rugby; to the Rugby Referees’ Association for the time and attention that they give to the j game in the controlling of matches; to our honorary surgeons and St. John Ambulance for valuable services rendered to injured players; to the selectors, coaches and trainers of representative teams; also to the club officials and players who have helped to carry on the game of Rugby Football during the past season.