THE LEAGUE CODE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22223, 25 September 1935, Page 20

THE LEAGUE CODE

AUSTRALIANS' TOUR HIGH STANDARD SET FINE POSITIONAL PLAY 1 The Australian Rugby League representatives made a successful start of 2 their tour at Carlaw Park last Saturr day, when they set a high standard of ) play which greatly pleased the crowd. " It is 16 years since an Australian team 1 visited Auckland, and the present side promises to be oven a better attraction than the last English team. Against Auckland on Saturday, the visitors showed how the game should be played. Their clever .handling and fine positional play will not readily bo forgotten. It took the Auckland, team a long time to settle down, but in the second half the local backs did better. The weak tackling of Auckland was a surprise to many, for the offenders are usually outstanding in defence. The hard ground may have been the cause for players tackling high, but a better standard in this department is expected from the New Zealand representatives. The lessons learned from the Auckland match should be valuable to players included in the New Zealaud team fot the first test next Saturday. POOR KICKING SATHERLEY OFF FORM It is difficult to account for the poor standard of goal kicking, and valuable points were lost by both teams. D. Brown, the visitors' captain, is claimed as the greatest goal kicker seen in Sydney, yet he missed three kicks from reasonable angles. Satherley was also in poor form and missed goals from rather easy positions. A good goal kicker for Auckland would have made the game closer, as the local team was awarded several penalties inside halfway. PENETRATING BACKS NORMAN AND THICKNESSE No finer penetrating backs have been seen at Carlaw Park than E. Norman and V. Thicknesse. Norman did some really brilliant work on attack, and often wriggled his way past an opponent in amazing style. He has & lot of pace off the mark, and this gave the threequarters plenty of opportunities. Norman frequently changed direction to enable a supporting forward to improve the position. Thicknesse is probably the fastest halfback seen at Carlaw Park. His pace often gained yards of valuable ground before a pass was thrown. From the base of the scrum, Thicknesse whipped out the ball very quickly, and each pass was perfectly directed. It is apparent that the Sydney halfback has improved with his English experience last season. FIRST TEST MATCH NEW .ZEALAND PLAYERS Considerable interest is being taken in the first test .match, which will be played against Australia at Carlaw Park next Saturday, and the selection of the New Zealand team has heightened the enthusiasm. The team appears a strong combination, although several of those included were failures in the Auckland match. It would have been pleasing to many to have seen H. Lilburne included as fullback and Cooke moved to centre. Tittleton has earned his place, but would have sharpened up the attack by playing at five-eighths in preference to Prentice. Lilburne is a fine defensive player, and often proved a success at fullback in representative matches. If he shows good form to-day against the Australians at Wellington Lilburne should have a good chance of inclusion in the first match, even at this late hour. It was surprising to note the exclusion of Tetley, for his form throughout the season and in the Auckland match was outstanding. J. Anderson, the West Coast forward chosen in the back row, has not had enough experience to fill the position ably. Tetley did some effective work at the back of the Auckland pack last Saturday.