THE LEAGUE CODE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23017, 20 April 1938, Page 18

THE LEAGUE CODE

KEEN COMPETITION HIGH STANDARD REVEALED MOUNT ALBERT TEAM'S WIN The senior competition under the control of the Auckland Rugby League promises to provide many keen games i:n the future. Already a high standard of play has been witnessed. Richmond and Mount Albert, probably the two strongest teams in the championship, had to light hard last Saturday to win against Ponsonby and Newton respectively, and it was only in the final stages that the games were won. Superior condition aided Mount Albert against Newton, which looked comfortable winners nt one stage. Newton tired badly and the Mount Albert forwards completely dominated the game. Had the .Newton vanguard been iible to cheek its opponents in the t.eriim victory would have been assured. The splendid condition of the Mount Albert forwards reflects credit on the coach. The Mount Albert backs, however, can be beaten, especially round the scrum where there is not a good combination. Walker is not an easy jplayer to combine with although there us 110 doubt lie lias sound scrum knowledge. There is still a tendency by the five-eighths to run across the ground and until this is corrected, the Mount Albert three-quarters will lack opportunities. The set, McNeil, Mincham and McCallum have speed, but they are forced to do a lot of work standing flat-footed. The Newton backs were served in brilliant style by W. Brimble whose play round the scrum was of a very high standard. His speed often cut the defence to ribbons and twice lie could have gone further when tries looked easy. No fault could be found with his * passing, which was well directed and very snappy. With more solid training, particularly the forwards, Newton is likely to upset the calculations of some strong teams, especially on dry grounds.

PONSONBY UNLUCKY LOSS OF PLAYERS Ponsonby, which was without the services of Kay and .Riley, two good attacking backs and was unlucky to lose Black, the half-back, in the second half, went close to beating Richmond. In goal points alone Ponsonby missed five easy shots. At least three were taken from in front of the goal posts. This defect should he remedied next Saturday, by the inclusion of 1). Schroder, a Rugby fulback from the King Country, who is a splendid goal kicker. Schroder played for the reserve grade team last Saturday at Grey Lynn and his line and goal kicking were impressive.

The Richmond hacks made many mistakes against Ponsonby especially in handling. It was something unusual to see Bickerton and M. Tittleton offend while Mills, on the wing, dropped throe passes and missed tries. Richmond's forward play was not up to the usual good standard and there was a tendency among the forwards to get offside, Tetlev was given a lot of latitude in this respect, and many times detached himself from the scrum to run in front of the halfback. The inclusion of Watkins, the former Mount Albert halfback, in place of Powell should sharpen up the Richmond attack.

Watkins is a sound player, although lacking the experience of Powell, who is now to play at fullback. The rearrangement brings Furnell up to centre threequarter and he should get plenty of chances on attack. Furnell is only a young player, but he would be well advised to refrain from taking and giving passes with one hand.

CHANCES LOST CITY TEAM'S SUCCESS After drawing the first bye in the senior competition, City did well to defeat Papakura, in a game which was very closely contested. Both teams missed numerous opportunities, and the standard of play never rose to great heights. The Papakura forwards did a lot of useful work in the first half, hut the backs failed to finish off many promising movements. The absence of Cossev, the half-back, who was injured the previous week, upset the inside backs, although Kelly, a five-eights, filled the position well. Papakura will probably have B. Crocker, the Marist half, next Saturday. A feature of the game was the good play of G. McCarthy, the City forward, who scored three tries. McCarthy showed a lot of speed in the loose, and frequently took part in passing movements with the backs. Both teams can be expected to improve, and are likely to cause some surprises. FORM OF MANUKAU BETTER COMBINATION Manukau has failed so far to show the form expected, but the Maori players are fast developing a combination which is sure to be formidable. J. Hemi, at fullback, has greatly strengthened the team. He kicked four goals against North Shore and scored a fine try from fullback. Nothing finer, however, was seen than the try scored by J. R. Batiham, the Australian coach. From 40 yards out he started a brilliant side-stepping run and showed a great burst of speed going through the defence. The Manukau forwards showed improvement and beat North Shore in the loose. Good passing between Brodrick, Gault and Ririmui was a feature of the game. Whye also played his best game for some time and he has only to let the ball out quicker to improve his football. Manukau is likely to be seen in the principal game against Marist on Saturday. . The draw is as follows:—North Shore v. Mount Albert; Manukau v. Marist; Richmond v. Newton; City v. Ponsonby.