Outside Chat.

NZ Truth, Issue 158, 27 June 1908, Page 3

Outside Chat.

Sid Orchard's decisions m rthe (Jreymouth match were by no means well reipeived by the spectators, the first spell m particular being a. succession of penalty kicks against the home team, only six being recorded against the Britishers , who were alleged to have infringed frequently and used some questionable tactics. By this time the public must be full ud to the neck with the piffle thrown at it !by Harding m extenuation of the test slaugh? ter and the walloping of his men by Wei- ■ lington, Otago and Canterbury. Harding ' finds the pills of defeat are very , nauseous to swallow, and he isn't the bit of stuH to own up to the agony. Stan Wickham is said to stand a good ■ chance for a place m the N.S.W. team for < England as player and assistant manager. Jimmy Henderson would be a poptuiar tip for manager, but his business duties, will stop him frommaking the trip. Jim- i my McMahon's chances for that billet are j second to none. The two members of the Anglo-Welsh ' team who nearly missed the number of their mess on the Buller "JRiyer became possessed of a boat and set out on a fishing expedition. However, their only catch was a snag, or crab, and their position looked serious, but they eventually scrambled on to a bank with nothing worse than a sousine; to remind them of the incident. : Southland's gate at the big' match was £440 8s 6d. The expenses totalled £93 ] 6s 9d, leaving a balance of £347 Is 6d, of which the N.Z.R.U. gets £226 13s. [ This is on the authority of an Inyercargill paper. A well-known ex-rep, has offered to coach the Wanganui team for the matches aeainst Taranaki and the Anglo-Welsh-men. •In the match South Canterbury v. An-glo-Wales, the expenses run into £128 16s. The surplus^ available fortheM.Z. R.U. at the finish was £207 10s. The Stratford-Tukapa matph played last week and wpn by the former by 5 to 4 was m the nature of a benefit for the unfortunate man Roberts, who was shockingly injured a fortnight ago at Stratford. The gate should produce a respectable addition to the fund. Feildingites have never yet had the pleasure of seeing a rep. match played m their town. They put up a fine fight for the Anglo- Wales v. Manawatu game to be played m Feilding, but the influence at Palmerston end was just a bit too strong for them. Mullock shovelled by Harry Mclntyre to' an Auckland reporter when on his way to the Waikato : '■ 'Taken all round, they (Harding's team) were a better team than Sievwright's, and the fifteen that held them cheaply would pay the penalty.) Were they to adapt themselves jo the colonial style of playing they would . not be recognisable as the same team." One would think Paddy Murphy, Jack Spencer, Dv Blois, Bill Adams, Hamilton, Dewar and' others of the Red and Blue vanguard get enough "squash" m the scrums, but the way they rush Arty Jb'ullford for lemons when breathing time in-

tervenes knocks this poaular fallacy clean on the head. One Colman., who has been airing his views m this part of the world on the Britishers' prowess, has also been chipping to the "Referee" as to the qjuality of club football m the Dominion, and he pronounces it ' an inferior -article to the Sydney commodity. Well, "Pakeha" isn't such an liass as to flute on the classy merits of Rugby m Wellington this season, but he would like to ask friend Colroan how it is that he can draw any comparison between the standard of club lootball m Wellington and Sydney, when on his own showing he has been absent from,, the Cornstalk land for some considerable time. Now, it might be news to Mr Colman to learn that I have letters m my possession from friends m Sydney, which serve to show that the display by senior teams over there is nothing to rave about, the back display especially being- very, disappointing. Fieddy Midlane, too, is only five minutes, so to speak, m Wellington, when he brays out that club football m Sydney ia of better quality than here. Yes, and there are hundreds of junior players here who are streets ahead of Freddy when at his very best m Sydney senior grade competitions. Some of his remarkable deductions on the playing . abilities of the Anglo-Welshmen as embodied ip. contributions to a Sydney news-pn-«r are screamingly fumm and entertain one 50 per cent, better than a night at Fuller's. Among the Tukapa Club players hauled . over the coals by the Taranaki Rugby Union for not attending the trial match or notifying their inability to attend were Mynott and Hardgreaves, whose plea was that they/ were unable to get the necessary leave on Saturdays and to afford ,the-time. The Managements Committee of the Taranaki Union accepted the explanation. Sonic Rugby officials have the notion m their heads that players should chuck up their jobs at their beck and call. The question of how many others may be depending upon them (the players) for their bread and butter is one which never troubles these fat-^headed jossers of Rugby officialdom. It must have brought an immense amount of satisfaction to the hearts of the men who have been laboring for months and months to fight the stern opposition against them m their efforts to bring League football before the Australian public, when they saw the thousands upon thousands streaming, through tlje* various gattes at the Agricultural ground, Sydney, on the occasion of the matches with the Maori boys. And what was more, it was a paying crowd. No free paste boards flying around as m the case of New Zealand Rugby Union matches m Wellington. , George ' Spencer or v Mick Kvan should be forgiven if either one turns out a toner. The skipper of the team invariably will insist on placing them so temptnsly close to the bar. It is stated that Hooker, the promising Tukapa Club three-quarterj will shortly be located m Masterton. It is a curious fact that not a single forward m the Taranaki northern division gained a place m the team, it would seem to demonstrate that forward play m the southern and western divisions is' superior to that at the northern end of the butter province. A boozed bloke caused a lot of fun at tho Maori v. N.S.W. League match m Sydney. \ A clean-shaven Chow was standing near the uprights, and the inebriated one, talcing him for one of New Zealand's dusky sons, embraced him m lover-like fashion, at the same time yelling "Kai Ora !" The Chow's terror and his desperate efforts to escape caused great fun among the onlookers. Some remarkable decisions, quite foreign to Rugjby law, were given .byi Referees Francis m the Athletic v. Petone match at the Park. The climax was reached when an Athletic man made a save, and Francis promptly gave a try to the suburbanites. Why, heaven only knows!. "Come on Petone" plaintively yelled Tommy Wilford from the Park stand what time the suburbanite juniors were knocking the stuffing out of the Athletic lads. Tommy evidently had the idea m his "nut"' that his Rugby constituents were going to have axilose call, but a sympathising pressman gave him the chat that they Were only 14 points to the good, with ten minutes to go, and Hutt's Parliamentary battler was then made happy. Reports' go to show that the scheme for sending a Maori professional team to England at no distant . date is reaching fruitition. I am told tuat it is going to be a strong combination. Who is m the syndicate that is 'reported to be negotiating for the acquisition ol two first-class grounds for professional football next season ? One sport who has plenty of the rhino is said to be prepared to plank down a cool , thou. m aid of the project. Rugby football is too brutal for the soul of one puritanical ■ coot up Auckland way. He objects to the Yankee tars being asked . to witness a football display. Perhaps Teddy Roosevelt's boys m blue would even prefer this sport! to being compelled to listen to an exhibition of biblethumping by this wowseristic spouter. A person who does not understand the fine points of a game should keep his excited feelings within bounds. At the Melrose-Oriental game on Saturday an Orie barracker, as Mona Thomson went flying over the Melrose chalk-mark, yelled "A goal ! A goal !" The first Maori professional match m Sydney was responsible for a £Xußs "gate.'.' From what one is officially told the Maoris have little or do financial interest m the "gate,", though some ol them appear to think differently. - Anyhow, the N.S.W. Rugby League has reapi ed a big harvest over the first two matches of Opie Asher's dusky brigade. The leather-lunged spectator m the Park stand who performed a series of gymnastic feats when Ories registered their first and only score against Melrose was dead to the world after Jack Spencer had burst across the Black and Whites' chalkmark. If all the best players be available, N.S.W. will have a strong side back and forward for the Home team. The 2'J men to be sent will likely comprise 16 forwards and 13- backs. ' Referee O'Connell's gymnastic movements when Melrose committed a breach of the rules m its tussle with Oriental was something we have not hitherto been treated to by local whistlers. His sympathies may or may not have been with the Red and Blues, but Saturday's evolutions were calculated to give one the impression that Ories' opponents were his pet fancy. I almost expected him to apologise to the Melroseites when occasion demanded their penalisation: r