FOOTBALL NOTES

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1533, 18 July 1901, Page 39

FOOTBALL NOTES

RUGBY.

(By “Touch.”)

The Wellington Rugby Union, by its last week’s action on the amalgamation proposals put forward by it last season, have stultified for all time the prospects of provincial unity in the football sense. There are those who rejoice at the news; but it certainly redounds little to the credit of Wellington’s governing body that, after receiving courteous and in two cases altogether favourable replies to their own proposals, they should without applogy or adequate discussion pass a resolution reversing all their previous doings, on the ostensible ground that the main object in view was to secure the adhesion of the Wairarapa Union—a beggarly combination of two clubs, separated by a distance of five miles from each other. With Horowhenua, Bush, and possibly Wanganui, Unions in the provincial union a good nucleus would have been obtained, and the two Wairarapa clubs would have eventually become a portion of the provincial body by the law of gravitation. Undoubtedly there is truth in the allegation that soreness over Wellington’s two successive defeats by Auckland was the cause of the agitation for amalgamation last year. But that fact does not in any way interfere with the merits of the case for provincial union. Unfortunately, though, the sight limit of the average Wellington Rugby Union delegate is positively parochial. The sooner some of them retire from football superintendence the better will be the prospect of the game being improved. The game of "Ping Pong” is now rapidly progressing. It is a harmless little parlour game, and there might easily be a Ping Pong Union established for each suburb of the city. Then when the little union delegates had left the Rugby Union and become Ping Pong Presidents the movement for football unity might progress along satisfactory lines. The question ventilated by Mr Crombie at a recent meeting of the Wellington Rugby Union—as to whether the second senior representative team of the union should b© entitled to caps—is a fairly large one. There is something in the contention that there can only be one representative team; but on the other view, there is no disputing the fact that the second team often contains players of a calibre second to none —men who are unable to get away with th© first team on its travels. Apart altogether from this, is the fact that in Wellington at the present time —and in truth at any time—there may be picked two teams of almost equal merit, so it is only right that the honour of "capping” should be conferred upon the members of each team. The Melrose Club has fallen away from its old-time doggedness, and is rapidly qualifying for disintegration by internal decay. To compare small things with great, this club, like the old Roman Empire, was nurtured in adversity, and by hard endeavour won to proud prominence along a track of years covered with crushing defeats, which were always contested to the bitter end. What adversity could not accomplish, however, a few seasons of success have consummated. We now see the Melrose Club defaulting its match against Wellington out of pique, because certain members of the club have been disqualified—rightly or wrongly does not, in my opinion, affect the matter in any way. The blood of the club must during late years have turned to water when for the first time in the history of the club (a period of about seventeen years) it wittingly allowed a match to go by default against it. There could easily have been mustered up fifteeen players of the bygone times who would, rather than se© the club default, have themselves donned jerseys (again and done battle, as thev did years ago on th© fields of Petone, when they usually began with a few cripples, and on its conclusion carried their wounded home to be healed for the next Saturday’s match. For Melrose Club now the word is “Ichabod!” , , Peter Gerrard, who has played for Athletic Club with distinction in the Ahree-ouarter line, left for Auckland last

week. For the sake of Wellington football his departure is to be regretted. He was a player of the "hard doer” variety: always going strong, and a trier to the last. It is hard on him that he should hav© been transferred from Wellington just as his claim for representative honours was comparatively assured. The Wellington Club is now assuredly the champion team of the city, and it has attained the position by systematic -training-and honest endeavour. The team, in this writer’s opinion, is the best that the city has seen for a long time, a fact in part borne out try a third of the representative team being drawn from its ranks. To the club and its captain I tender my hearty congratulations on the success which has at last attended its long struggle against adversity. I am indebted to Mr D. McKenzie, Secretary of the Wellington Rugby Union, for the following full tabic cf the doings of each club in the s« nk r championship contest of the union :

Auckland “Lynx” thus speaks of an objectionable practice among the northern back division:—"As our backs, and particularly the half-backs, are showing n tendency to. return to> the old order of things by lying on the ball in the attempt to stop rushes, the Auckland referees have decided to dcai stringently with offenders m the fucure. As matters stand now, the backs drop on the ball, and then, after working it between their legs, make a pretence at recovering their feet, of course, as they really have no intention of resuming an upright position until the danger is past. In future they w./l have to immediately resume their upright position, or at least satisfy the referee that they are doing their utmost to do so, otherwise they will be penalised, and a penalty or two will no doubt prove that the majority of them can recover their feet much more rapidly than they have done in the past-.” On the Athletic Park on Saturday, July 20th, th e Wairarapa Union’s team will meet the local union’s players. Last year’s games between these teams provided good matches, and though the country union is not now up to its strength of last year, no doubt it will b© able to put in the field a team which will be able to extend the local men. An Aucklander who has recently returned from Wellington informs "Lynx,” of the "Auckland Weekly News,” that Meredith, half-back, fully deserves all the good things the papers down below say about him, and that he must make the pace warm for all- comers when the New Zealand "rep.” team comes to be chosen. The suggestion made by Mr John Murray at last week’s meeting of the Wellington Rugby Union that the best way to minimise the chances for rough play would be to adopt the North of England Rugby Union’s system of two referees, is one that has much to be said in its favour. The system, though, would not do away with all opportunities t° be rough without risk—to do so tfie services of Argus and Biareus would need to be enlisted. But as a means to an end it might be with advantage investigated, and I would sug-gest to the local Rugby Union that it writes to the English body for particulars of their method of working a game under dual referees’ control. The movement to hold a Referees v. Veterans match, the proceeds to be given in aid of the funds of th© local hospital, is being enthusiastically taken up, and already a number of "old-timers” are taking running exercise by stealth in hack streets with a view to giving the white jerseys a hard time when the gam© comes on. Th© veterans now in Wellington, if they all turn out, will he able to put in the field a fine team, and provide for the football public a game well worthy of patronage.

T3 CD >> -PH CO a % CO -4~> . .s s CO • -4^> S3 P .£« to g-2 al p $ o t—1 pH P ° [xi o p j§P O Wellington ... 12 10 0 2 168 65 22 Pcneke ... 10 7 1 2 134 38 16 Melrose ... 10 5 4 1 95 54 11 Athletic ... 11 5 6 0 85 104 10 Oriental 11 3 7 1 56 156 7 Petone ... 10 3 7 0 68 106 6 Old Boys ... 10 1 9 0 49 143 2