RUGBY AT THAMES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21396, 20 October 1934, Page 11

RUGBY AT THAMES

REPORT BY COMMITTEE * [BY TEJ.EGBAPH OWN CORRFSI'ONDENT] THAMES, Friday The management committee of the Thame* Rugby Union held a special meeting last evening to consider a reorganisation scheme. A committee had been set up to bring down proposals for the improvement of Rugby at Thames, and it presented a lengthy re» port, which will be considered further at a subsequent meeting. Tlie committee in its statement said that players had lost sight of ths fact that they were playing the game for the sport of it, and assumed that the union had a duty to meet their demands, no matter how unreasonable. The difficulty of the union in collecting affiliation fees was explained by the exceedingly email .number of players who had even paid club subscriptions. The committee emphasised players' lack of loyalty in regard to training and playing in representative matches, which had been strongly evident in the last three years. The committee also referred to the dissatisfaction among the clubs regarding the method of election of the union officials, and the hopeless division of opinion on the question of one or more selectors. This did not make for harmony among thp clubs or members of the union, or co-operation with the selector. One of the greatest drav,backs to Thames football, stated the committee, was the lack of. suitable training facilities and the provision of a projierly equipped training shed would soon see a new era in local football. Deterioration in club football was attributed to a large extent to the changing about of players between the clubß. Whether a reduction in the number of clubs was warranted depended largely on t'hS number of players available. The abolition of the present ,club system and the formation of districts was a subject that must also bs carefully considered.