FOOTBALL.

NZ Truth, Issue 229, 13 November 1909, Page 3

FOOTBALL.

;(By « 'PakeWS

"Q.N." (Wellington).— l am taking a careful note of the controversy on the subject, and hope to have the opportunity of airing my views thereon before the next season's Rugby events happen along. "A.R." (Christchurch).— This paper made no such idiotic suggestion, which emanated, m the first instance, from the "Otago Witness" columns.

The policy of the New Zealand Rugby Union throughout last season has been 'the same old one of drift and bungle, of . .bad organisation, and -worse admlnistra'tion, and its posit-Oh. at ihe close of the 1909 season scarcely needs dilating upon. If things go on much longer as they have been doing m the past, the grab' bling and muddling crowd which now run the Dominion shpw will have an excellent chance to chant their own requiem. Posterity will certainly be concerned only m fittingly celebrating the. obse.quies. ............ Dr. ''Paddy" Moran, as representative. of Ijhe N.S.W, Rugby Union on the-E.R.U.,. „will act only to the end. of "the year, after which Dr. H.k ßullock, will probably -fill the position." -• Says a Brisbane "writer :— "Taking all' m 9-11 the Rugby. Union's (o.ueehsland); reason has been a huge frpst, and on its' performances, apart altogether from a with the intelligently conducted ftand progressive League, it deserves to ■be tendered the great Australian order ■ ;of the bag. The administration and .:policy are hopeless, and it has succeeded K'only m so far that not one big match has been won for the State." If thc .administration of , the game m . Banana,land is on a -par with New, Zealand ' .methods, things must be m a shocking. , state indeed.. . ' _Cardiffj which is so reputedly strong '". 'tnis season, could hardly feel satisfied at its pal m beating Penarth by the narrow margin of a try and penalty goal to a try. In the . Penarth-CardiS match rWinfield met with so serious an injury that he made up his mind definitely to retire. He 'has represented Wales on seventeen occasions. .-'■.■'."'-• Another Welsh international m R. T. Gabe, the well-known three-quarter, has made up his mind aisp to retire. Gabe . received an injury to one of his knees at the end of the reason 1907-8, when he captained the Cardiff Club. Last year he did not. take part m serious football, and it was thought that his knee hail fuily recovered after the rest. However, playing for Cardiff, some weeks ago the ' old injury reasserted itself, and, he feels reluctahtly compelled to give up the game. Gabe has played for Wales on twenty- . five occasions. The fixtures for the Cambridge University Rugby Football Club "will this year be extra attractive. All the leading Eng.viish teams afe 4_o be met, while for the •.first time for many years two Welsh sides— rNewport ahd Swansea— are to be encountered. Dublin University and -Monkstown will as usual journey over from Ireland. The Oxford and Cambridge match has been fixed for December 11, and "by that time a good side should be got together. Swansea has already started away In a hurry, scoring 95 points to 3 m two rni'fclifts "GeneJral" \ Booth, the ex-All Black player, is now .stationed at Dalgethy (N.S.W.), where he is looking after his . uncle's business. Hitherto Booth has been mainly engaged m looking after number one, m so far as Rugby tours are concerned. Apart from the money paid to the clubs, the Metropolitan Rugby Union of N.S.W- has paid off large sums during fihe season just expired that were owing m tlie previous year, as well as all expenses, of 190.9, and there is ngw a credit balance of four figures. There are shoals, ahead for the N.S.W. Metropolitan 'Union to clear, and reforms tp be effected. The Hogarth Public Schools Sports Union has decided to sever its connection with Rugby Football ■. t .and to adopt British Association, owing to brutality being allowed to creep into Rugby. It is scarcely surprising to "hear of bodies connected with education coming to decisions of this nature m view of the Union's puny and insincere efiprts to stamp out fisticuffs and brutal . play, The feeling which has prompted the Kogarah people to take sucli drastic action is extendiug m all school circles a,mohg the 'Varsity men, and m the city ahd suburban clubs for some time. There are many close students of Rugby who will be inclined to agree with Dr. "Paddy" Moran, of v the Wallabies, 'that the full-back is utterly wasted to-, day. In the. old days when individual i effort was the main feature of the play, tbe full-back was kept busily employed tackling. To-day, when Combination is . practiseafly useless before a strong .attack, for the chief point m attack is that live: attackers shall burst through thc four defenders, .leaving at least one piayer to support the man with the ball „when they . get to tlie full-back, and, moreover, the full-back, when his side is attacking, should bear his part m the attack. This is the scheme evolved by an English critic, though I do not subscribe toi its ' efficiency'^in every detail. 'The forward at tlie back of the scrum should be very fast, a fine tackier, and a useful, kicft. As soon as he finds that lfis halves are off with the ball he should drop quickly back, while the full-back, who is m a position to see the attacking movement from its inception, should • dash forward and up into the threequarter line on the opposite side of the ground to that m which* thc ball is travelling, ready for thc reverse pass, and thus adding another to the attacking line. Thus the defending full-back would find three men swooping down on Rim, even supposing that his three-quar-ters had each tackled his man. Should he be able tol kick clear, the forward who had dropped back from the scrum would be able to return the ball either into touch or down the field. E. J. Jackett, who was round New Zealand with the Anglo-Welsh team is m hearty favor with the scheme as outlined above. "All that is necessary" (says Jackett) 'Hs a settled understanding m tbe team as to which forward is to drop back. There are always lots of chances for a full-back to get up with his three-quar-ters and be an extra man to join m the attack, but at present he dure not leave ffis place because no orie seems to f !• back. I promise you it shall be tried m the Leicester team the first chance we get. Being a full-back myself I can quite see the advantage of it. Thc Tact that tfie famous Leicester Club stands to try fhe scheme ensures it having a trial by very skilful exponents of Rugby." The result of the trial will be awaited with interest even m this far-oft" city of Wellington. .