Outside Chat.

NZ Truth, Issue 160, 11 July 1908, Page 3

Outside Chat.

Seeing that the President of the New/ Zealand Rugby Union occupies the posivltipn of Valuer-General m the Public Ser-' vice of the colony; it i would be a good fthing to get' his unbiassed valuation of tfhe New Zealand Rugby Union officials Who were primarily responsible for the muddled arrangements over the Inter-: Island and Test matches/ I use the term primarily 'for the reason that twoor three oi the Executive are merely puppets in 'the hands of Gaily and 'Co,, who subordinateV them to ; their own wishes. Is Mr CampbellYthe game bit of stuff to- give, us an impartial opinion, on the management of the late matters as he is expected to do In his civil service role ofi vahier-»ge,neral. Admiral Sir Harry Ttawson, N.S.W.'s popular ''Guvnor.'? knows all about ; Rugger, and never misses an important : match on the other side. The old sea .dog—one of Briton's very besfr-7 has played the game himself, and his sons .have .emulated his example. , Tackling is said to be a weak ''feature of Wanganui play this season. In some of the recent senior games there most of the players have ignored the policy of going hard arid low for an opponent. It' is thought that ' the N'.S.W. -League team for England will be weak behind 'the pack- there being a dearth of really good halves. :' • Most of the All Blacks selected to do battle against Harding's men at the 1 Athletic Park a fortnight ago spoke their minds freely concerning their treatment at the hands of the Rugby Union's officials. 'It's evident," said one Northerner at . halMiihe. when nobody was m the dressing-room shed % to give them a rub down, "that the N.Z.R.U. don't want us to wiHv We provide the fun and they take 311 the dollars and firlory. I think the Northern Union scheme works out best after all." Another one of the team said he if as "full, up" pf the N.Z. ft,U« they treated their player's sca»-

dalously, but took all sorts of fine care to see that their friends were getting all the, good things that were going.

Nothing is being said about the officials: of the Hawke's Bay Rugby Union by representatives of sub-unions who were enlisted for service against the Britishers, It is alleged that they never saw an official or a selector., and were never invited to meet their opponents or introduced to them. They met for the first time on the field of play, and Harding had to ask to be introduced to the captain so that they might toss for ends. They were not conveyed to the erountf and had to hire cabs and eet there the best way they could. They were not driven from it, and had to find their own way to their, hotels when the game " was over. A par m a local newspaper stated that the" teams were to be driven out to Frimley, but country members heard nothing of it. The feeiing among these men is naturally strong. The N.S.W. Rugby /Union has accepted the Orient" Company's tender for all* round-the-world tickets, including America, for its team to leave shortly for the Old Dart. ... . ( ' For wine and. women, the team . now round parts; from John Bull's domain knocks all the records >of over-sea cricketing . and toetialling combinations m past years into a cocked hat. It is the first time m their "natral" that some of the visitors have /had the luck to gel housed amidst such palatial surrpundines as the Grand Hotel Most West Coast-, people short loudly when this team's doings crop up m the course of conversation. : . A question of the acceptance of a £50 fee to do some recruiting work for the Northern Union people is alleged to be the .real reason-" fbr- the; recall of Jackson by v the English Rugby Union. ' 7f the Cornwall man is up to snuff he will flatten out the fossils . who boss bastard Rugby m the Old Dart m one act. that is if the circumstances as reported to me are correct. But why make fish of one and flesh of another. !If Jackson is culpable, so is another 1 member of *: the party now round these Parts and m a much greater degree. He has cunningiy cloaked up his real intentions so as to hoodwink the derelicts who', barnacle-like have attached themselves *to the sinking Rugby Union ship m Eogland. ; The writer is m possession of certain information from a friend m London regarding several little matters which would give Manager. Hartnett a shock were it recorded 'm co,ld type. Probably the • facts will . be disclosed before Hartnett and his men sail away. What tljen, Mr Cr. F. C. Campbell and your plaintive simnlication for, the purity of the s amateur • *•? me. Booth, the ex-Otago and All Black re- . presentativej who has shifted bis dijrgiafls to Sydney with, the clear-cut object- of getting another. jree passage to Fogland. this time at the expense of the N.S.W. Rug'oy Union, had his dignity lowered a few degrees by being' dropped from the Light Blue , combination , which bumped out the Bananalanders m the first ren. game of the present season. One don't hear much nowadays of those meaning*less amateur earrings which rugger folk m the Ma State' way-back settlements were promised from .this Maoriland missionary agent m the early /art> '.of the season. . Booth 'was " always a champion at getting everything, if possible, for nothing. Not a red cent would he put with it if it could be avoided. The colors, m which the N.S;W. League team will play during their TSnslish tour are maroon and blue. The amateurish crowd,, on the contrary, will sport light blue, the waratah.oyer the letter A denoting Australia. *■'..■; \ Opie Asher was, ..responsible for great fun among- , the spectators at a match m Which his dusky, bpys were par ticipatjhp; over /in Sydney the other . week,' whenj af- N ,ter putting on a sleeveless Jersey, and the referee objecting, he called for a f no^ ther. . This one only had one sleeve, but it was allpwed to go, as the color of the a'rin and the jersey .were nearly the same. ~ ■.'■'■, , The Hawke's Bay team, ..which went N under to - ijie Angto^elsh ,men last .week, was remarkable m tkis respect that" " if was entirety a European combinationr*none of those grand Maori backs of the .James type, who' were m former seasons so ferilliant a feature' of the Hawke's so brilliant a, feature of Hjiwke's Bay football. If the Britishers were not already surr feited "With eirtertainments ) should hay* had a, high old' ttthe/in the Manawatu ■■ district, what with , motor . tides, garden parties; Liedeitafel concerts, balls, anct giizzfing functions that were promise ed them. , . ' v The football barracker is always a. great talker, a voUible gossiper, and, has a penchant for declaring iihat prominent players' has iieep. got at or'the referee has ; been squared if the result does not fit m" With his sporting patriotism or his betting propensities. . Coming out of the Park gate at the conclusion of the Per tone— Athletic game on Saturday, a suburban rancdurrvoiced • individual, whosehoarded treasure had begn lessened •■ to the extent of half-a-crowh by the victory of the Blues, gave out that 'two of Pc- 1 tone's champions had sold their team, a la Judiiis Iscariot. He was certain ol it by their capers on< the field. A J sinexvv young chap who knows a' lot about .bullpcks and sheep iv • 'JGeartown,*' brought matters to a crisis >>v threat-, ening to punch the know-all's blanky" nose: if the charge was repeated. It ..wasn't. ': ' .>,■ '-■ :' •• ■/ - ."■• •. /. '\ ■ Interested spectators at the Park mat!-' ches on Saturday included Jim Me- '• Clear y, whose Rugger " deeds m bygone years, both here and at Dunedin, are 'still fresh m the memory of those follow- . ers of the winter game who were privileged to see them. Jim, who has been settled down m Dunedin for matyy'vears. had been on a visit to Auckland when I stumbled across him on Saturday, and was resuming his voyage south that evening. ' The" ex-Welliontoniah led the fortunes of the' old Uniori' Club what time it desperately fought to check the eyer-r .victorious career of Poneke. and was a member of that combination which made a draw of it* with Stoddart's team ,at the Basin m 1888. On taking' up his residence in' Dunedin, Macr go,t to work with ■^he/Alhamtpras, and that .brilliant Record during his tenure of leadership is now a matter of football histbry. He married a Wellington lady who knew as much about the game as Jim himself. -She was one of the best lady authorities on Rugby that I have ever met. For confirmation of. this statement go to '-Sailor" Hill. . When the Aucklanders- and' the Britishers, come to . close grips, Jim reckons there's going to be no kid-glove exhibition, at least not on the part of the Northerners. . . . ... ! 'Are you v playing back ?" was the question asked of a Petone forward m the Park dressing-room at lemon-time. The suburbanite smiled a sickly smile. ■VSuppdsed fo be," he replied, laconically. When a toeballer fails! to play with consistent brilliancy, 'tis marvellous how quickly he becomes the target for the jibes of his friends and the ieers of his rivals. . . Inquisitive persons have approached the • writer as to ' the prospects of ■ the New Zealand Union footing a' little bill for an outing of some of the Britishers to Wainu-io-mafca. In the same breath they inquire as to the possibility r.t the Union being saddled for the exes, of one of its officials to Rotdrua. . According to a Brisbane paper, Cpn. Byrne, the Petone rep. m the Profession^ al team, proposes to. select land m Queensland probably on the Blackball range, and that his brother will . join him m the venture. It has been asserted by the Q ueeßS " land alleged amateur push that the players who took part ''• against deceased Baskiville's men had received payment through the back. door. The yarn is a complete fabrication,, especially' ia view of the fact thattten of the men are Civil 1 Servants, who are strictly debarred by | regulation from accenting any jhonclary : benefit outside the service. I

Melrpse look a .good thing for the senior, championship. Oriental, howey«r, j must be labelled very dangerous . provided^ Roberts, and /Thomson, are available for service,; \vhile ; P.oneke is near enough to the. leaders ': to upset either one's chances. • ' * Such < a storm, of energy has swept over the N,.Z. 'Union Management Committee since ijhe Northern Union code .was on exhibition at the Park, that it is alleged that Dick Isaacs, Alic. Laurenson, Edgar Wylie, Kelly, and Wallburtpn. jiot forgettiing our old friend George Dixon, have i)een kept awake for hours at, night thinking out proposals for improvements of the Rugger^ game. True some of them are not allowed to offer ideas— they pro,bably couldn't do it if they tried their hardest, but they will, no doubt continue to/ play, the ' part of v chorus very amicably- The spirit of reform that has overtaken these amateur Rip Van Winkles m the Dominion mi#ht influenced the fossilised derelicts who run Rugby m the Old Country, but m the light of past events if is very questionable whether Harthett's 'colleagues will take much notice of suggestions from, a body of so much brain •power as the N.Z.R.Ur The latter often goes up like a rocket and just as many times comes down with the stick. . - The , extraordinary length of the Auckland Rughy'Unipn representative match programme has been the means of converting a large number of Dlayers into onlookers. At present some six teams of senior players are lying idle, and there is danger that some of them may be charmed by ifche overtures madr by professional footbaiy club prompters. R. Magee, the Auckland nlayer, is retiring after fourteen years' active ser- ' vice, a step hastened by the unfortunate accident m 'the recent City— Ponsonby | match. . *