Out Door Sports And Pastimes

Free Lance, Volume XIII, Issue 671, 10 May 1913, Page 19

Out Door Sports And Pastimes

By Touch line

, Rugby Football. SUGBY football is .essentially a winter pa'stime, and hard grounds and v sunny summer afternoons are not: -in .keeping with the playing ',f it. But there is a limit _ in all things, last Saturday's experience that limit. It had been raining pretty consistently from the Thursday; but, although there were' clouds. in plenty., hanging practically no, ram'!r.fell during players ; should be'satisfied,' but the cold southerly breeze '"that blew in : from I the sea must have come straight from the South Pole, for it was ..bitter . ,and chilled right to'tlie ,very!centre of .one's being., : Lqst. season -was one of the worst exWellington for j many a ■yeaTi'^and l - the' state of "the weather last weekend* <does not" lead - one to expect •that wev in for anything better this year. Some. people -have averred that the wireless. telegraphy is to blame for the disorganisation of the weather of -recent vears. -I do not subscribe to this , •theory myselfbut would fain, like afternoons likfe." last Saturday, .to be few and far r between. * ■■■■■::■*" ■ * ■■ . * v I was pleased' - to see such a s good gathering of enthusiasts, at the Athletic p&rk last Saturdaiv—the bleak weather and the shilling charge" for admission notwithstanding. It says much; for the hold the Rugby game has in Wellington .when close on a thousand, people could find their way; to the principal playing ground on such a vile afternoon. Critics may throw mud—some of which sticks, : as' a matter, of, course —but the fact remains; that 'Rugby is still the most popular game of all with the sporting public of Wellington. ■■ ». * . * • A cold snap like last, Saturday's is not . good; for the physical well-being of the .--players. I know the Rugby TJnion want : every Saturday theycan possibly use to get through' their season's engagements, ■ but;, in my opinion, it is unwise, to risk players being injured'in asking them' to pky oji *such a bleak afternoon. ' In both games at the Athletic Park therejwere numerous stoppages because, of accidents of one sort or another, and the,cold.was mainly responsible for the knocks given assuming a serious aspect. -No doubt as the season goes on, 'and the players rise, to- the full measure ; of their form, they will impervious to the'cold, but there is no denying the fact that ,many of : them could not do full justice to themselves under the conditions that prevailed ; last Saturday. '■ \ * * . ' * ■ .' A word about the state of the ground , at the Athletic Park. The--amount of rain that had fallen led to the. belief that there would be water lying on the surface, but a pleasant surprise awaited the players and the public,: for Arthur Fenton (the caretaker) had: things in tiptop order. There was no mud on the 'surface at all, and for playing purposed the ground could not possibly Tiav© been better. The hope is mine that the change will be a permanent one. and I am satisfied that it will not be the fault of the caretaker if things get as bad as thev used to be. ' * * * * The principal match last Saturday was between the . Oriental and • Athletic teams, and a dour struggle it was. Right through the piece there was very little to choose between the teams, victory coming to the Athletics'as the result of a slightly better display on their part. As an exposition of Rugby football, however, there is nothing to write home about " as the result of the game being played. There was one feature that I could not understand about the efforts of the players, and that was the poor use they made of the wind. In the Athletic—Oriental game, the ball times without number went sailing away over the fence down into the deep gully, and it took many minutes to bring it back to the .field'of olay once again. As a matter of fact, the two balls used m the

game were both' down there together, at one time. . It Seems to me that local referees should be empowered to penalise the players who cannot keep the ball from going over this bank on windy days. - It would make the kickers more desirous of keeping the ball in the field as much •as possible, and would also tend to keep the public. interested in the game. This may be something new to suggest, but watching the futile efforts of the players on Saturday I was forcibly impressed that an alteration in this direction would be appreciated by the Voectators. for the reason that it would-make the play more interesting. . * * * This feature I have been drawiner attention to is the one that .is left with me. more than any other.; in reviewing the play in this game. The wind was, • however, responsible for the deadly dullness of • the pame most of the time, for, try how the players would, the ball was generally over the north touchline. Loose forward rushes were the order of the day, and the bouts , of passing were few and far between. On the whole it was a disappointing exhibition, although one' could not expect much under - the: .conditions so early in the season. ■ V., -. .-• * ... « ... -« « E. Roberts played a great game for Athletic, mainly in. defence; When' the Oriental forwards came . away; Roberts was wont to turn up in. unexpected places, arid generally sent, them back with useful kicks. His half-back work was not at times up. to standard, though now and a gain'" he trekked through the opposition in good style. '!* # * * McYav, ;for such a little fellow, has an astonishing amount of pluck. One tackle he made' on Saturday will live' in the memory. .Tfingle'. Oriental's left wing three-quarter, came at. the Athletic fullback with a; full head of steam on. There was only the little fellow between him and the goal-line, but- he was equal to the 'occasion, and the way Dingle was bundled, right across the corner 'flag with a low diving trickle wasr-'aitreat to witness. So solid was the impact that both pkyers were laid out; temporarily, which was only natural ."in McVay's ; case, for. • he was giving .-.-away fully twti-'stdhe' tohis opponent. ;;; The Athletic three-quarter , line 'was satisfactoi-y under the circumstances,.: although it gave evidence that it would crumple up if asked* too; serious a question. That, is my impression, but, maybe.,. there are : not sufficient grounds -to justify, it,-. ;-Si. Wilson did many circus tricks ,during the afternoon, and did. them very well indeed. ■ Madden kept his end up. well-, and made a fine effort to tackle McKeowen the time he scored. Weight ih -this instance was just-a little bitVtoo much, for him. McDonald I did not notice a great deal. The five-eighths were new to, me, and I will want to' see them again under better conditions to sum them up fairly. Robinson will imorove on acquaintance, , I r think. This is the first time I have seen the Athletic team in action this season, and my first comment on the forwards team, is that they are not quite as good aS they were last year. It is true that Levick was not in the lock position, and tne others had to be changed a bit in conse.quence. This may have made all thei difference, but the fact remains that the Oriental front-rankers had as much of the ball as their opponents, which indicates that the mating of Murphy with Perry has strengthened the ( Oriental hooking, or .that the Athletic pair—J. . Orsborne and Fennessy—are not aS good as their predecessors in that position last year. As old friend "Paddy" Murphy was one .of the hookers when. last I saw Athletic in action, the latter conclusion may be the correct one. A. Wilson, Bell,, and Paton were ,al- .. ways in the limelight, and do not'appear to have lost any of their cleverness or ability with the passing of the seasons. What a. pity, I often think, that Bell is not, say, a stone heavier, for, with his present, weight, he holds his end up with the best of them in the, pack, and comes right away in the loose. E. Orsbome— another • old-timer in the Athletic scrummage—scored the first try in a busi-ness-like style, and Cunninghame, though troubled occasionally with his knee, made much neat play from the wing of. the scrummage.

I have had some comments an the Oriental team the last two weeks, and therefore do not intend to say much on ifcis occasion. Sullivan,,, an ex-St. Pat-. rick's College hoy. who took McLeod's place at five-eighths for the time being, should be given a permanent position in •the team. He proved full of resource and very clever. Murphy was a hew " man in the pack, but I cannot understand why the. selection committee ] dropped Best. Although the combination ,of Forry and Best in the front rank was not too effective, the latter .is built the . right way for a forward, and a place eould be easily found for him in the . paok. . ; Ifce otheiv played right up to their usual form, which, however, did not' quite carry them to victory.' I have nothing to add to previous comments on the . individual efforts of the, players. • ; V' ; '* '; * * • * The match between. Melrose and Wellington was . dull and uninteresting for the most part, varied with a bit of a dash by the Melrose fellows in the con- • finding stages of the gaihe. They ; ,missed ' Dan Sullivan in the pack, and did not go as well as usual for. a long while. J. Parker, the® second five-eighth,.' was also %h- absentee, but a younger brother . shaped weir on the left wing three-quar-ier. He scored both the tries, the first in a very workmanlike style. "When he got the ball he hadn't aVpossible chance ©f getting through. He promptly dropped the ball and dribbled it a few yards. Then when , he got clear "he picked it. up again and dashed over the line in fine style. He should be kept in the team. An accident to Jack Marshall caused laim to leave the field! and Harold Murphy, last year's captain/filled the vacancy. He should,. also. • continue in the position. My last week's comment stul holds good, viz., that J. Twomey and H. Marshall should change places at fiveeighth and half-back respectively. • The forwards satisfied, and went at it right through the piece in good style. V . * * * • * . The Wellington team did not convince nie as much, as I expected them to—l had heard so much of them. Still it was a very bad day for their first appearance on the Athletic Park this season, and they should improve on acquaintance. Lambert kicked fairly well at fullV hack, and McGregor made one or two..-; nice dashes on the right wing three-quar- • ter. None of the other backs.were con-' vincing—not . excepting Grace—and Bridge would be better placed, at centre - three-quarter. He had bad luck in hurting his knee early in the game. The forwards were big and heavy, _'and| there were some slashing grafters , amongst them. Several of them I could not recognise—the faces were new to me in several instances—but a further op-, portunity will arise later on to comment on them individually. ' At present I am satisfied that there is the makings of a;. . good vanguard amongst them. .; ...' * * * ; '» The following is the result of the matches played last Saturday : — ' Athletic, 9 (try bv E, Orsborne and try and penalty bv E. Roberts) ; .Oriental, 6 (tries by McKeowen and ...Shearer).-,-Melrose, .6 (two t-K'cs $v .'-A::'Parkerii.: Wellington, 0. \ ' p.. '.. Petone, 10 (tries by Ramsden and A. Parker, two converted tries by Macfar-;; lane); St. James, 3 (try by Hoare). Victoria" College, 16 (tries by Entintr, L. Beard, 'T: Beard, • and Quilliam, two converted tries bv L. Beard); Ponekev O.v The, following table shows how _ the ' various teams Stand in the competition: ; f . ... -J. « :••• , , , •• -Q- " . . fcj) -W -. '■ -v''...; ■S c -t? -5 ---c = . g rt d .0 O' 'o 'o tSfk ? ,'■ p-J-.'.'-Q . " .fri .. 5u O Athletic 3 3 0 0 36 9 6 Petone ....- ... . 3 -.2 0 1 49 .15 0 > Oriental ... ,3 2 1 - 0 23 12 4 ■ Melrose ... 3 2 1. 0 .26 3 4 Victoria College 3 1 1 1 28 26. 3 . Wellington ~. 3 1 : 2 0 18 24 2 Poneke ; ••• 3 0. 3. 0 3 57 0 St. James ... 3 0 3 0 8 45 0 * * .*•■■■* It is many , a long day—longer than the'present writer ; can remember —since - the Petone sen'or team took the field without a Rvan in the fifteen. In turn . . Tom Jack, Pat, Mick, Jim, Joe, Bill and Eddie have done good service in the blue jerseys, but the greatest of them all was Jim. He attained to. the highest honour in 'the Rugby world of the Dominion, .-:, beintr selected as full-back in the _ New Zealand team that- toured Australia in* .. 1909. This week it is # announced that Jim Ryan .has played his last game. It will be remembered that was on the bark for a while last year, through an accident to his ankle, and, as he; felt the effects of it after playing against

Poneke on Saturday week, Ryan has, wisely in my opinion,' decided not to permanent injury by continuing playing - . Jim Ryan has been the backbone of the Petone senior team for some, years now, and his place will be hard to fill. He started playing football in the Pet9ne public school, was in, the fifth, class team of the Petone Club in 19Q2, and worked his way right up the football ladder while still a member of that club until he attained the honour of a Dominion representative. His first game as a Petone senior player was in 1904, coming into the team from the juniors when brother Pat had the bad luck to be. injured when playing against Poneke. Since then he (has not once looked back. In 1905 Jim Ryan won his Wellington representative cap for the first time, and has worn the black .jersey oh 50 occasions, as follows:—Against Wairarapa, 1905 (twice), 1907 (twice), ; 1908, 1909; Hawke's Bay, 1905', 1906 Auckland, 1905, 1906, 1907. 1908, 1909,'. 1911; Canterbury, 1905, 1907, 1908, 1910, 1911: Taranaki, 1905. 1906; 1907, 1908 (twice), 1909, 1911; Manawatu, 1905." 1906, 1908, 1910; Otago, 1905. 1906; 1907, 1910, 1911; Wanganui. 1906, 1907, 1908, 1909; Southland, 1905, 1907, 1908, -1910, 1912 Maori teams, 1910, 1911; New Zealand team. 1907; North Island Country, 1911Marlborough, 1911: Bay of Plenty, 1912. In these matches he has scored 65 points-—9 tries, .11 converted tries, 4 penalty goals, and 1 potted goal. So that it will be admitted that this member of the Ryan family has loomed large on the football world of Wellington. Into his. retirement lie can carry with him the satisfaction that he has played his part nobly and well, dnd can havb no regrets, for the simple reason that he is one of the finest sportsmen Rugbv has produced in these parts, or anywhere else, for the matter of that. I have ever had a huge respect for him-both on and off the field, and I am sorry Hhat the last has been seen of'him as a player of the good old game. . The Appointment Board, the.. . body; which ' fixes the referees', week": by week .for the various matches under the Wellington Rugby Union, . is composed of Messrs'. D. D. -Weir:- L. Sievers and 8.A. Man-is. The first two. are w;ell known in the football world, and they represent > Rugby TJnion. and the Referees' Ast: sociation on the Board. During a long iconnection with football an " Wellington I must confess, howeyer, that • I • have never run. across Mr. Marris before., He is well, and favourabl-. known ;as,.the secretary of the. Wellington Rowing Association but _that does not : help . '. .him; much in the important position he is how filling. The interest the senior " clubs -take in .'their member on the Appointment Board —for that is the position : -'Mr.. .Marris holds—can be ga\iged from the fact that he was the only . .gentleman'nominated for the position. • Two sets of circulars were sent out to affiliated clubs by the. Ruqbv Union. To the first one not a solitary answer was received 'at all. and to the second only one—vizi, from the

Wellington Club nominating Mr. Marris. 'It may not be an important position from tlie clubs' standpoint, but common decency lias it that, while the right is theirs to appoint a member of . the Appointment Board they should exercise it. '■■■■■.■ " . ■■■■ • ■ : • * - * * * : . George Freeman, the well-known Waikanae referee, gave me a call on Tuesday. He had come to town to see • a doctor, and his medical adviser has told him to lie up. for a week or two. ■ . A wh'.le back' he'had an operation for appendicitis; and an. after effect is troubling him. just now. freeman l is a« keien as fhey 'are inade, and: ; one of his objects in calling on me'was to get hold of the latest rules of Rugby football, so that he could do a bit, of studying while laid up.. < ■"