General Gossip.

NZ Truth, Issue 216, 14 August 1909, Page 3

General Gossip.

Most of Poneke 's attacking and scoring this, season has been d jne after spelioh. History repeated itself on Saturday. ( , The shrewd ones profess to, know tthatt t should Petone and Poneke meet"* under the same ground conditions that has existed at the Athletic Park during the past six weeks, the suburban men will have a soft snap for premiership honors. ■ But' should the going be firm they expect to see a clinking go 'with the odds slightiy m favor of the Keds. ■ Some of our local teams have players with long legs and long, arms who execute long punts that never find the line, they tackle at long intervals, score at much longer stretches, and train on ■ the ' "'when it suits me" principle." In fact, they are long m everything except eating and putting down long sleevers. Wellington has precious few frontrankers who show any skill at raking . the leather. The good ones can easily be counted on the fingers of one's hand. And we are even worse off as regards wing-forwards of a type that combines the qualities of back-harrasser and halfshielder. On Saturday evening a once familiar face and figure m the Rugby arena and out of it made its re-appearance m wen ington streets. Harry Mclntyre— for it was his— had arrived that day by bue North express from Auckland on a mission which is likely to keep him m the old town for the best part . of a week. In a short confab with Mac. I gathered that his exile m the Waikato does not mean his permanent disassociation with the game m an administrative sense. He taltes more than a fatherly interest m the newly-established South Auckland Rugby Union which that old messer Mick Sheehand did his level best to squelch. /Mac. says that the result of playing Rugby m Auckland under the amended rules was to cleanse the game of several of its present day evils, and to mate it faster and more skilful m every respect. The fiat of the N.Z.It.U. that Auckland R.U. had transgressed the laws of "the E.R.U. by playing under amended «rules will, he thinks, lead to wide-reachjing results m the Northern .province. Already a large number 01 players have raised the standard of revolt, notably at Rotorua. "Unless the N.Z.R.U. recognises the wisdom of making some material alteration m the present mode al play," said Mac, "the Nortnern League game stands a very good chance of outing it m the Northern part of this island. ' Mac. candidly admits that he- would be downright sorry to see such a state ot things come about, but, as he points out, the N.Z.R.U. is doing its level best to bring about the downfall of the amateur code/ | . - Pete Ward, of New Zealand and Australian Rugby fame, is now coaching the Melbourne 'Varsity backs m the game as we know it. Some fellows' lack of tact, or even ordinary horse sense, is astounding. At the Maoris' professional game m Sydney a leather-headed cove, evidently' an amateur Rugby Union barracker-, m loud voice began to pooh pooh and sneer at the League game. He didn't see the match through. He went home early with a blackened eye and busted boko. It was a dangerous place to poke borak at the League. The great record put up by the Southern fourth-class team points to one or two things— that the galaxy of talent m fourth-class grade has been accumulated by one team, to the detriment of the others, or else they, are veritable champions and should come up a couple of steps. It has been suggested that the local Rugby Union should show its appreciation of Poneke Ryan's try-getting action m the second meeting or the Poneke and Petone forces by making him a handsome presentation to the value of anything above £50. He has stimulated interest m the senior competitions, thereby bringing more grist to the Rugby mill, and also broutrlit about a final flutter between the Reds and Blues, which, means probably £150 to the Union if weather conditions are anything favorable, Displays of ungovernable temper and unpleasant incidents In the arena have disgusted some of Dunedln's best patrons ot the gamp, as a scribe m the Sabbyterian city puts it.