UNDER NORTHERN UNION RULES.

NZ Truth, Issue 172, 3 October 1908, Page 3

UNDER NORTHERN UNION RULES.

(By G.R)

!Now that the devotees of thez-Northern : ■Union game are gaining support from footballers all over the' Dominion, quite, a number of crusted conservative croak- j ers and nonentities are riisiung . into -\ Ipririt warning . young : footballers, not to go over to the more up-to-:.clate game but , to continue in* the same old ruck, getting all the kicks and bruises,; doing all the Work and providing the iKoney, wnile drones and .parasites spend it and have :a good time generally at the working bees' (the players') '.expense. True, once m a while the working bees are treated to a dinner, at which a lot of giush is utteffed by interested persons, who, at: same time that they eulogise the;: ■ players; wink the . other eye, and think ; what a lot ot fools they are =to work themselves to a standstill for the personal benefit of others. "The latest creeping^ croaking- coon is one Mr G. kl. Carson, who writes to the "livening Post" and aSks "What's wrong Avith the ■ good old game of RugUy ?"■ If this coon ' Carson would only think he would discover that there is something • radically Wrong with Rugby arid its controlieTs, •otherwise the British public-M;lse most 'conservatite public m the . worM-^-would ;. not have given Rtigby /the gorby- m fav--. or of another and more attractive game. ' Coon Carson is quite •riftht when he ; that th*e' "Evening^Post'' has re-: v corded 'instances of players dfiending 1 un-. der the Northern •Union rules, but at- ' the Wellington- Anglo- Wefeh matcli there! were two instances where members of the opposing teams squared up at eadr j'6/fcher, but the "Evening Post" did not record these instances, as it would be sacrilege to mention such <ascs m connection with, the crusted conservative -game. Carson is on safer ground when >he advises the public or players to shake up the Rugby Union and fire, tbe members out if they don't make new , rules • ■aDd alterations. In conclusion coon CarsQn falls, into the error—deliberately fostered by Ike daiiLy press— of callling the members of the late Mr Baskiyille's organisation professionals. But .the members of that team were not professionals, no matter from what point of .view they, may.bey .be looked at. It is true that the players each netted, fortunately, a good sum as a result of the venture, but that does not make therii professionals. A professional player is one who contracts to play for a certain* stipulated sum,- and none of the meiiioers. of Baskiville's team had any such agreement. But there were certain players, whom the. N.Z.R.U. regard as ton a fide amateurs, who were prepared to make the trip home provided they were guaranteed a sum of £ ; 500 each, which guarantee was not forthcoming, and the players referred to remained loyal to the/ amateur cause. A • nice sort ot amateur- , ism, to be sure. Writer is m possession,, of the names of the players referred to, -but, for obvious reasons, does not purpose publishing them. It is true thatf the team, as a whole, "was guaranteed a certain lump sum, and the team, having confidence m its drawing ..powers;- accepted the guarantee and todlt the risk. Had the team only received the sum named, every player would have been out of ; pocket by it, and surely Mr Carson ' would not contend that a player who loses, money by a game is a professional. Tie venture was a speculation, pure and simple, and the question of professionalism does not enter into the transaction iri any way. For instance, if the players of the athletic team co-operate together and hold a concert and share the ' proceeds, they would not l;e Uitned professionals. And there is no difference between co-operating to provide amuse- ■ ment m the concert hall or on the football field. Carson asks, "Are the Northern Union promoters going to re-instate, these players?" Seeing that there was no Northern Union m New Zealand v there cannot possibly be any question of reinstatement. But has Mr Carson any objection to the same treatment being meted out to Bumper Wright and Co. as, was given by ffie E.R.U. to members of LiJywhite, Shaw and Shrewsbury's team, better known here as Stoddart's team, each memtoer of which was guaranteed and received £200 for the trip, or as was given by tne N.Z.R.U. to the guinea per week professionals of Ueorge Dixon's team. The sole difference between tne; former ,attd the two latter teams is lhat Wright's boys did not get any guarantee Whilst Stoddart's men wcr« guaranteed £"200 for the tour, and. Dixon's men £1 Is per week. The guinea per week raises a nice little point. What was it for ? "For bootlaces," said Mr Wylie at the annual meeting, but"- another , d'Ujgatc ventured the opinion that it was to ?ilfow of "the players "whetting tneir whistles," and this is probably the morecorrect version. But the recent AngloWelshers were only allowed ;2s. per day a., against 3s per day allowed to DixonV boys m the Old Country. Looked tit from the "bar" point of view Dixon's boys were on velvet, as beer: only costs i^.d per glass m England but here 6d is the price ; consequently Dixon's boys were provided with money wherewith "to purchase 24. drinks per day as against four allowed to the Angio-Welslieis. tint harking back to the organisation of Baskiville' team. When the last N./7. R.U. team was m Sydney, Manager Wylie made a speech, m which he said ttiat not one of tho team was comp; l'c me with Baskiville, but his statement was immediately challenged by several members of the team exclaiming ".Yes theve

are; there are fourteen of us." Did .'Manager Wylie 'bring this before the Management Committee m his report, and, if so, why was it suppressed, and' why did the Management L'ommifctee fail to use the statutory declaration blunderbuss on this occasion ? As a fact there were fourteen members of the N.Z.R.U. team who had promised to go, but several cried off at the last minute, some on account of injuries received and some for other reasons. Whilst it is .not lie-' sirablc to name ths members referreu to, it will suffice to say that five were from ;Otago and six from Wellington, the pthivcrs were from other Unions, but to . particularise would be .to identify. , A /lot has besn said about the team returnzing home with less money than Dixon's- • team, but this is due to .two causes. First, the Xjovemment paid £2000 on . account of Dixon's team, and the N.Z. _ ',R.U. showed its appreciation of the'' '^people's liberality by. charging a mini- ' mum fee of 2s per head to see the Test Secondly, Mr Baskiville did not know that season tickets are issued by all Northern Union clubs, consequently he did not stipulate that the "all. pay" rule should be instituted m the "All Black" games. By this misunderstanding the team, lost a great, percentage of the takings, :as. m some instances three matcnes were played on otfs v:' : o.und —notably Leeds. The daily press critics, who toady to the N.Z.R.U., profess *to sec no great improvement m the Northern Union game, but they conveniently '. omit to point' out that' vthe games so far played m the Dominion have bean between inexperienced teams and ondar the control of inexperienced referees. When" the game has been fairly established ithen the superiority of \the Northern "Union game will be "manifest. A point which waverers, among the junior players should bea.' well m view is< .that at the conclusion of next season, Mr W. Johnston, is now; playing for the . Wigan Club m Lancashire, intends to take 1 aaot'her ' team Home, and players' ■■;. who, desire to obtain the educational advantages deri^ ed- through a yisflt to the Old Country, . should endeavor- to niake themselves ef- 1 ficient at the game.