UNDER LEAGUE RULES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15604, 9 May 1914, Page 5

UNDER LEAGUE RULES.

NOTES AND COMMENTS., , \ [■$£ The Canterbury League at a recent meet ..-, ing decided to ask .Auckland, Wellington, Taranaki, and Hawke's Bay to send representative teams to Christchurch this year • Canterbury is, perhaps, the best centre ; next to Auckland, and any centre which . . sends a team to the Southern province • should not lose on the venture. The League game is evidently going ahead more than ever in Christchurch. Thit year there will be four more teams in tin : field than last year. Four teaiiiß will com ■ pete in the Benior grade, five in tin juniors, and four in the president's Christchurch at present holds the Thackei Shield for the premier club team in New Zealand, which was won last year b\ Sydenham from North Shore, but it is cer tain that the Sydenham Club will have to put its best team into the field this year if it wishes to retain the trophy. An "unusual position arose at a recen' ; meeting of the New Zealand Council, when it was discovered that one of the auditor was a member of the disqualified Auckland League. As the annual financial statement was then before the council, it was found necessary to appoint a qualified auditor for that particular sheet. Afterwards Mr. Harold Rowe was appointed to the vacancy, and he has since intimated his acceptance of the position. A request has been received by the Ne* Zealand Council from the NorthcoteRamblers Club that the disqualification imposed oh Mr. J. G. Jackson, a member of the old Auckland executive, should be up lifted. The application will be considered at the next meeting ol the council, but, in view of the recent resolution passed by that body, there seems little chance that Mr. Jackson will participate in local League affairs his season. Applications for grants are already pour- . ing in from various leagues to the View Zealand Council. So far Auckland and Wellington have each applied for £100, Manawatu for £25, and Marlborough for £25. | It would seem as though the Northern j Union game has secured a hold in the Manawatu district. In Palmerston North four teams have already been formed, and 1 ■ another" is expected before the end of next . week. Grounds are available, and a good j season should result. The Manawatu | League has affiliated with Wanganui. ■ The handbook of rules of the New Zea land League, which is at present in the printer's hands, contain? a number ol valu able rules and rulings on points of law in the game, taken "from the latest do cisions of the English Northern Union. The Hawke's Bay League has written t" the New Zealand Council expressing it? appreciation at receiving a match with the visiting British team, and accepting July 18 as the date for the match. i Tho recent conference of Dominion rs ! ferees, held in Auckland, decided in favoui of establishing a New Zealand Ru»b\ League Re f erees' Association. The chief aim of the proposed body is to secure uniformity in and control oi the interpreta tions and rulings by referees on the laws . of the game in New Zealand, and to assist the New Zealand League to provide re ferees for inter-union and like matches when required. Such referees, it is sug gested, should be appointed bv a board consisting of one member nominated .In the New Zealand Council and two member). . from the Referees' Association The rules of the new body, which are numerous and appropriate, will be considered by the council at its next meeting. One of the rules passed in connection with the proposed ne".- hndy is that referees provided by the association shallreceive £1 a day and expenses. A motion that the remuneration be 10s and expenses , was defeated at the conference. i The headquarters of the Referees' As sociation for the season was fixed at Napier, under the jurisdiction of the Hawke's Bay League. Mr. J.' Vigor Brown, M.P., Napier, will be the first president of the new body. 1 Each affiliated association will nominate one vice-president. . Mr. D. McCarthy, the ! convenor, was elected . secretary and treasurer for the ensuing year, and the other officers have yet to be elected. A. Asher, better known to the New Zea land public as "Opai," has not yet given up football, and will crace the City team again this year. As his playing would lose him his seat on the Management Committee of the Auckland League. Asher has resigned his position on that bodv, and Mr. Tyson will take his place as City's representative. In all probability C. Savory, who was the initial though perhaps innocent, cause of all the recent trouble in League circles, will again be seen in the black and blue of Ponsonby this season. Savory is. with out doubt, one of the very best forwards in New Zealand, and his strength should be felt in the Ponsonby, Auckland, and New Zealand packs if he decides to play. Walsh, a member of Ponsonbv's second thirteen Inst year, is spoken of as the certain halfback for that club's senior team this season. He is described as a fast and trickv-'player, and his admirers predict that he* will be well in the runnin ff for representative honours this year. If he does fill the position behind Ponsonby v pack, one cannot help wondering when Webb will play, as McClymont and I mi bert are mentioned as the probable five eighths. • lambert, who is well known on the running track..should make a good centre or wing threequarter. He has plenty ot weight and a fine turn of speed, and shnu'd prove of great value to the Ponsonbv team Morgan Hayward, one of New Zealand's 1 best forwards, will probably be a resident in the citv during the comino season. If, such is the case, he will be an acquisition to one of the teams. Both Morgan and 1 " Circus" Hayward are said to be in good form, and when in condition these two compare very favourably with the Dominion's best. ' Clark, who toured Australia with the ' New Zealand team last year, has now recovered from the severe injure to bis foot sustained on that trip, and will be in harness again this season. I Rumour has it that R. Mitchell, the I Auckland and New Zealand representative ! forward, will be playing for Grafton this ! year instead of Citv. Dawson, who played I last year for College Rifles' Rngbv team, 1 has also thrown in his lot with the new club. , ; Joe Bennetts, the Newton forward, will ftWin don the red and white this year. Joe will be as keen an aspirant as evor for representative honours. Grafton have secured the services of Harold Rowe as coach. Under his tuition the club, which has first-class material, should do well. The Auckland League's competitions will open next Saturday, and the draw in the various grades will bo announced early in the week.