FOOTBALL

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15563, 21 March 1914, Page 10

FOOTBALL

THE RIJGBY GAME. A DECADENT SPORT. SOME SUGGESTED REFORMS. Although the curtain lias not yet been rung down on the cricket season, footballers ate already astir, and in the course of a few weeks King Rugby will once more hold sway. During the summer one hears little football talk, but it will be remembered that long before last season concluded there was a great controversy about reform in our national game. Everywhere one heard the cry "Rugby is deteriorating,' and there were many pessimists who predicted the demise of what is, when it if properly played, the King of all outdoor games. That reform is needed few will deny, and in this connection the following article by Mr. F. A. de la Mare, of Hamilton, should prove of interest to all who have the true interest of the game at heart. Mr. de la Mare, it may be mentioned, was for several years one of the best forwards in the Victoria College (Wellington) senior team :— We are at the beginning of another football season and the. old problems will be seeking solutions, old and new. Each season in these later days seems, to close in battle-smoke. The partisan spirit is so rife and the general issues 60 lost in particular instances that the truth of the matter eludes us and we begin again full of new season hopes and forgetful of certainty that history will repeat itself. A discussion at the beginning of the new year, the past forgotten and perhaps forgiven, may at least remind our governing bodies and those who own their sway that the rule has not been entirely successful, , that the law has not always been obeyed and that players themselves may have their limitations. There is no secret about the matter, the murder is out. Reform is, needed, but what reform! The True Spirit of Rugby. There can be no doubt that the public •mind is* seriously exercised as to whether Rugby football— as it is played— has; after all, that clean and wholesome influence on the life of the people of our country which its proud position as the "national" game-gives us the right to expect. Some, indeed, have arrived at the conclusion that Rugby is a game which lends itself entirely to the satisfaction of the more brutal instincts of mankind; that the players are "roughs" who" are ever ready to take advantage cf their opportunities, and that the- "barrackers" are removed only in dress and language from .the -crowd which thronged the'amphitheatre on a Roman holiday. Such conclusions are net likely to commend themselves to us as fair and just, but the spread of the professional spirit of recent years reminds us that they -contain an element of• truth. I believe that unless the truth is promptly recognised by the players themselves, there, is a grave danger that one of the beat of all Winter games, 'New. Zealand's natural game, wilt Jose its hold upon those whose support alone"-makes the game worth playing. IFor there are circumstances in which the, best of games way lose its worth and find the wages of sin in death. If football we'' € to a great -extent in the hands of -men to whom victory were dearer than fairplayif it did excite the' baser impulses of the mob' aV the expense of its liner feelingsthe case for its ' extermination would be complete. ■'-./.* that Rugby is a game which lends itself to the man who is wiling to scheme for a mean advantage need not be disputed. It is of the essence..of, Rugby rules that a player may tackle and throw an adversary who has the ball, and' the, referee has* about as much chance with a man who exceeds the limit of necessary violence as a policeman has with a motor-car.. But that is only the other side of the fact that Rugby football gives to the -clean and generous player an opportunity for self-. control and self-restraint; gives ari opPorV tunijy for' displaying those qualities which —without any ostensible display of generosity—give " men the joy they feel when they are playing with those who scorn to take a mean advantage, who play the game because they love it, because it is healthy, -Vigorous, and full of "that stern joy which warriors feel in foemen worthy of their steel." This is the true spirit of Rugby—the spirit which makes a school or university match "a dream beside the nightmare of some of the cup fixtures In '' pur larger, centres. "

%ough and Unfair Tactics. With a game which has its possibilities, both for good and evil, the. quality of ijje game must necessarily depend, largely upon the character of the players, I do not intend to advance evidence to chow that the class of man which plays now now is lower than _it was 20 years go. I am not in a position to make "a' clear or satisfactory comparison, though it would seem a fair inference that other games,-«uch as golf and hockey, which have developed, strongly of late years, have deprived Rugby of many players of the desirable stamp- The fact that every Rugby union in the Dominion has its crusades against " rough" and " foul" : play, tells plainly enough that' there is ground for reform. There has been a double crusade inside and butside of the Rugby Unions, and the fact that, such crusades are necessary is doing much to injur* the game in the eyes- of parents with likely boys,. The agitation, however, may be founded on the actions of a few men who give a bad name to the game they disgrace.. This is, I believe, the case. But it must be remembered that one or two mem may so act that by half-time both sides are' playing with clenched' teeth and a reckless disregard of the consequences. One piece of gross brutality or unfairness, unseen by the referee and condoned by the offending side, will often lend its tone to the whole game. Not, that a clean side will pay . back in kind the blows it receives,' but the game ceases, to be friendly, and mutual dlstrust-and suspicion replace the'confidence which true sport should engender, and everything which makes the game worth playing, except the endurance and the skill, is swept away. When I first wrote on this question, in the year 1905, it was after a season of strenuous football in Wellington, a season not without many counterparts. It has been, winnowed by memory, but the grumbling which followed a mistake of the referee, the talking of the other side, and, bitterest of all, the talking of ' your own side, are not easily forgotten. Even in representative matches one often sees, especially on the line-out, the old game of obstruction—playing the. man instead of the ball. When the ball is being placed, as from a mark, it is no uncommon thing to see men endeavouring to improve on' the position law and good faith hava assigned to them. Tripping and other branches oi the obstruction game are more apt to be done on the spur of the moment, though 'it is hard to make excuses for the man who screws your neck in the obscurity of a rough-and-tumble.

Suggested Remedies. My contention is, then, that there is in Rugby a class of play 'which should be exterminated." How is : this extermination to be about? Perhaps little new light can be thrown on this question, but it is destined to be discussed, many times before Rugby is either regenerated or extinct. My first suggestion is based on the eonfiol.ion that fiiost of the" rough arid foul play is due to a few men, and that the other members of the teams for which they play know- before going on the field who are the men likely to provoke mischief, and who are the men who will play in that reckless spirit which defies skill and merely datnages the other side.' It is v not ' the gift'of prophesy which brings this knowledge, but observation of habits, "of human character, and

bitter experience. Now, if it. is .true that these men are well known to their own side, is it not fair and reasonable to penalise the side which takes advantage of such doubtful service? The argument is not less strong, though it lacks something in poetic justice, if the malefactors are not known for their vicious propensity. There is no need here to detail a, scheme, but it seems to me that if, when a man is warned or turned off the field, his side were compelled to lose a fraction of a championship point, there would be a moral force on the side of reform which would work wonders. It might be urged that if such a scheme were in force the team which won most matches might not take the championship. That is just what is wanted. We tend to think a great deal too much of championship points and a great deal too little of the game, forgetting that the ultimate and true judgment on foot! all will rest on something other than the number of matches won. The vital question js nol who von the victor, but how was it won! A foul player may escape the referee for a long time, and his side' may owe much spurious success to his efforts, but the team, if it is fit to play the game at all should hold itself disgraced by the inclusion of such a player. A sportsman always feels the bitterest thrust, not in the foul. pJay of his opponent's side, but in the, foul play of his own. The Power of Touch Judges. In this connection arises the question of giving touch judges the power of reporting rough play. Considering the fact that both players and public demand a cleaner game, and that the cunning of the culprits is most often able to elude the referee, I incline to the belief that power should be given to the tquch-judges to report to the referee cases in which one player actually strikes or kicks 'another. Such cases, are perhaps not frequent, but when tjbey, do occur they are a public scandal- The touch judge should have to state merely a straightout question of fact, and the referee would at any rate be warned. The real difficulty in cases of this description is that the worst culprits watch the referee and defy detection. It is easy to beat one man's eyes, but some circumspection is required to avoid the vigilance of those of three. Make Clubs Responsible. This is a day of trophies, souvenirs, etc., "but if there is one branch of sport which has never been encouraged in this manner it is "clean Rugby." It is easy to make suggestions, but often difficult to put them into practical shape; it is easy to overlook the fact that a man cannot be turned into' a sportsman by Rugby Union rules. Something, however, might conceivably be done in this direction, to .■ suppress " hooliganism," and if each team could be made to feel its true responsibility for using vicious- and reckless men.a step forward should- be made. Rough play might be stopped at the outlet. Above all,' - if the teams set out with the conviction that the player who played the man instead of the ball, who would fake an unfair advantage, was not only an enemy of the opposing, but, also pf «is own side, Rugby would still give the old delight, would still be the joy oi the "superannuated." There. is one fact in connection: with football management which makes the indifferent cynical and the earnest sick at heart. Ido not" intend to labour this.point, but I say that any man convicted of rough play should be rendered ineligible to, represent his province. To accept tne services of such a player should be held it slur on a club, but it is a disgrace and a dishonour to a body specially entrusted with the fair fame of a sport and the honour of, a province. Abolish the Wing Forward. The next suggestion I have to make is a very old one. It has long been my con--yiction that the wing forward game should hp abolished. A good deal of the illfeeling which characterises some football matches begins, I believe, among the "wings." Wing forwards, in* my opinion, add little to the game as a game (from a spectator's point of view they certainly detract from it),' and they .give an opportunity for "scrapping" and "pointing" which is almost inevitable* in what is at best licensed obstruction. When ill-will do' gins in spbrt there is a contagion in it, and a vicious "winger" may well' be responsible for a vicious game.

P'ea For Better Conditions. Unless Rugby can be made pleasurable, it mast decline. Its recruits Swill drop off; and hockey, golf, or Association football will* reap the benefit. For Rugby demands some compensations. It requires the moat rigorous training, it demands every energy, and training and energy can be turned to better account elsewhere than in a, game which has lost it* sporting spirit. The love of championship points may supply impetus enough fox some spirits, but. they belong to a, type which heeds suppressing to almost any extent. In old days there were great fights for the abolition of championship matches on ihe ground that they had a bad influence on the game. While we recognise them as a npoessary evil, their evil quality should be borne in mind, a"nd if possible," counteracted, . < • ' . * There ar# many more questions with which one might deal, but, the question fli. space prevents. The justifications for Ihe time and trouble . and expense of athletics are, of course-, health first "and enjoyment second. It is better that a sport should be judged and criticised by its friends\than by its enemies, for friends see not only the vice but also the counterbalancing virtue. The worst enemies of 'Rugby football are the crowds who shout, but who never play, or rather those sections of the crowds "who so often give exhibitions of ungenerous and unfair and inhospitable partiality which is utterly distressing. What football wants is not the hoodlum who smokes cigarettes on the bank and howls down, the side he does not happen to support, but the man who has the spirit of sportsmanship, who believes in the high traditions of the game, and can see the merit of an opponent's play. Look after the Boys. What the Rugby Union wants is to get hold of the boys, and to make the game so attractive that they will stick to the game when the ties of school and college are broken. It takes a great game to support the pain and labour of football, and the race is fortunate that it is not yet reduced to parlour games. But no sport will attract the best men, which is pot clean, or which is contaminated with the lust of gold. Professional football is for the soulless crowd, the mere spectator, the gladiator. Gold is not the reward of the true footballer. His memory may linger without regret on the. trials and labours which are past, and among these none are dearer to the veteran than the uard-fought battles of the Rugby field. For- those battles, especially the school and college battles, were fought with men of tested strength and friendship who fought the generous fight in common cause for an honour not their own.

UNDER LEAGUE RULES. The annual meeting of the Auckland Rugby League will be held at the office of the league,' 30, Phoenix Chambers, Queen Street, "on Wednesday evening, April 8, at 8 p.m., as per advertisement m: this issue. Club secretaries are particularly requested to notify the league secretary, R. A. Spinley, not later than seven days beforehand of the date of their club annual meeting in order that a copy of the revised rules may be sent them. Clubs, or intending players, can obtain any required information from the secretary, or* Mr. P. W. Roope, chairman of committee, His Majesty's Arcade.