Our National Field Game

NZ Truth, Issue 976, 9 August 1924, Page 9

Our National Field Game

Players On The Ball .''..-' •' •■:i'. '" '' ' ■. ; ' •' • ' /- : ■■•■ In Town and Country . ' '

Some w&g on Saturday said^ that thje blinds; m Petdne' "wouW all be drawn oveir the week-end.- for had not the champions of -the- village suffered their .first ■ defeat of, the se&son? Yes, and they were lucky that 'the score was not greater. v'Berhamppre played sterling football, and if the jerseys of the two teams had been interchanged the, spectators could- have 'easily been led ; to believe- that, the, .winners were the champions on. the .ladder. The light blues beat Petone m every department of ; the game, and right from the jump? they Bhowetf that they were going, to be a factor to be reckoned with. Petone received >no quarter, and the deadly tackling of the winners gave t^e I suburbanites , no chance. If the game did nothing else, it revealed 'the fact that the Petone. pack contained too many shiners, particularly those m 'their forwards who possessed speed," and on ' many occasions the Berhampore van swept clean through, the village pack and left them lamenting. ■ •• „'■ -' ; Berhampore did" not go- out to keep the score down, but to do the scoring, and Petone were faced with a very different prbppsitibn -from" what they have been met with -'on most occasions m the past; and they failed « to discover an antidote.' • j : At one stage /6f the game Walters, the Berhampore full-back, 'essayed a "pot" at the goal whichi' would have been successful had it not tduched one of . the. opposing player's harids. ' The Petone men were so afraid that the referee might award, the' four points for it; that they straightway entered into an excited discussion -with him to explain the exact, position. The ball was still lying behind Petone's goalline, ibut the. full-back was up with his mates thrashing out the question of the "pot" and had forgotten to force it. After 1 fully 15 seconds. spell, Taylor, Berhampore's wing,' hit; upon the fact of it not being forced, and Immediately set sail for a try. He had fully forty yards to run to get it, .but so intent were the Petprieites on their discussion that he was unnoticed, and scored one of. the most remarkable tries seen m Wellington. , v Where were the Petone football brains ori this occasion?- - This is a question 'which many might puzzle over." 1 Towards the end of. the game the realisation that they were a beaten team came into the minds of- many of the villagers, with the consequence that the play became too willing, arid -Thomas was cautioned for playing the man. On -at least- three occasions he I dumped a player after getting rid.pt the ball, and on the last occasion made it so' pronounced that the referee thought ,it was time to take a hand. He was' lucky' to be cautidned, arid should have received marching orders. , In', jUstice tp Petone' it must be said that they were severely handicapped by the absence pt the two Nlcholls boys and- Corner, and that if these men had been available they would have given Berhampore a tougher proposition tc deal with. . , v •. .. i On the day's play Hawkins was a washout.' . ... " Rogers improved out of sight on hie previous displays, and, although, receiving a severe gruelling from the opposing forwards, came through the gam© with flying colors. Gardiner, at five -eighth, was selflßh on many- occasions, and through this failing spoilt many of Petone's chances. Apart from 'one or two -slight mistakes, Walters gave a creditable- display, and proVed. to. the spectators that the kick into touch rule does not hamper him m any way m his line-kicking. Taylor carried too many guns for Hawkins and showed- what a good tackier can do to a player with a fend. His try will ever be, remembered by those who saw it as the smartest piece of work seen on the' Park for some time. , ' •'■■■• , ' Mathies'on, on • the other wing, wae r>ot far behind Taylor m the matter of praise. . Ling was.the best player on the ground, and apart from his attacking qualities, "showed that his defence was of the highest order. ' The Berhampore pack put up a fine exhibition, . with perhaps Brown .and Hume the outstanding player*. : Standen proved himself still to be a hooker of no mean calibre^ '■ It was a stern tussle played at the Basin Reserve • on . Saturday between Poneke nnd Athletic. Five minutes before the flnnl whistle. , the . scores were. 9-n 11, , with Poneke doing the work. They had .carried the score from 9.-3 atralnst;"at, half-time, but In! the flnifh there was'a surprise attack that went , th'rgugh the whole * PoneUe team, and that brief, determined sally settled the red nnd' blacks"' chances for the chnmnlonsn!p.\ .-'•-. Little Warwick was 'the lad who j^et the hall rolling -for .the winning try, pnd he made a good opening, too. frlhson. Carey and Woodham carried tho good work on m that order. The Athletic fcrum was n mile better than Po'noke's. both In securing: the j-i'll and m breaking up aftor the other Hrle had pofeesplon. * Thus, when Ponoke did cecure possession, the halfback was literary nihped In the bud by an avnl'incho, while on the other rd» the bnll came out cleanly to Warwick and he was able to make play with a bit to spare, # ' Poneke missed Hall badly as halfbrick. At the start Turner kept the key position, but on him being Injured, Jim Tilyard took up his bid . place. Wright, at full-back, played valiantly for his side, as, Indeed, he always does. He -was the hero of the day, nnd had much to 1 try the best that Is | In him. I-lickey came to light with flashes of brilliancy, but m the second spell it happened thnt he 'was constantly on the blind. It was unfortunate, for though he was given a good chare of the ball, he Beldom had room to work m. In the forwards, Dooly Calclnal was In groat fettle, and went right through he piece' with typical vigor. Jack Shearer was the honest John of the icrummagers. Warwick did a remarkable amount of work on the blind; and, In fact, he palpably overdid It, but perhaps that was owing to.^the bitter memory of failures of the line on other occasions, notably against Petone.. Gibson and Carey made v job of It with the last try, however. It was v wood combined effort. - Bob Park's bulky frame was noticeably active He might rightly be presented with a certificate of merit for the faithful gym. attendances that keep his proportions jerseyable. Bill Ilynn and Swnln were a 1 couple who stood out In tho puck. .

Gym. training is becoming a thing of the p'a'pt it seems. " ikst week the attendances at -some of the prominent city clubs was lamentable. Petone had- a- fair, muster on- -the Thursday evening, but Hutt had a full team of seniors ■m trainings That is what allows this young team to clean up older and harder heads on, rare occasions and also to give everyone a run for their .money, . , . •• r: < .. ••■ ; ; Here's consistency:. In the first round ' Hutt' beat Marist . and Marlst beat Wellington. It sounds the simple outcome of such a procedure that Hutt should have beaten\ Wellington, as, indeed, they did .last; Saturday to the tune of *l 7—o, 'but; it wasn't as. easy as it sounds. Wellington "Were high arid Hutt were'low-ron the championship ladder— but the altitudes of then tails were reversed after, the combat. It was a meritorious win. - Sain Standen, who . a couple of seapons back was recognised as the finest hooker m the. Dominion, turned put for his old club, Berhampore, oh Saturday, arid had the satisfaction of tasting the fruits of success at Petone's expense— the first time during the. fifteen years or so of his football career. Although at an age when most footballers are past their day, Sam did the come-back on. Saturday and proved that he has lost none of his: art m hooking, and It was due to his excellent generalship that the , Berhampore forwards^ played such a stprllrig game. ; ' .. , Another famous -old-timer who donned a jersey - s on Saturday, was Jim Tilyard, who gave a helping hand to his old ;team, porjeke. , Not one of the Tilyard brothers bias shown .the finesse of the. illustrious James. ... Itlobks as though the, Sydney 'Varsity tour of New Zealand is to. be cancelled. A cable from ; the other side last week stated .that owing to the inability of many of the first-grade players to get the necessary-leave it would not be possible to. send across, a team who would be &ble to extend "the fiery New Zealand Universities." If the 'Varsity teams-playing, m New Zealand to-day are flery, what were the fifteens of a few years back?'. They must have been white hot combinations; , The 'Varsity ; ashes axe at present m New Zealand and they will be here at the end of the year unless Sheehan arid Stanley get off and' bring Nothling, Erby, and a- few more of the head peas across with them. , ■■-.•••' Talking of 'Varsities . the, Light Blue team down, in.Dunedin' has bnceagain won the club championship— for the, third year m succession.' Their row has been a bit harder this year than was the case the two previous* seasons, but still they got there. In 1922 and 1923 the Students of ■ Dunedin had" a ciub team that would have licked anything m Netv Zealand. ■ The question of • the standing of the reinstated League players' was to have been the subject of a special meeting of the.New Zealand Union this weekv but Auckland at the last moment decided to leave the matter m; abeyance till the next annual meeting; •■ . At Auckland to-day the local.'Varsity will try conclusions with the Victoria 'Varsity, the writer hopes that the game is a little better : than that staged, at Wellington last week., . . : Walrarapa play Nelson at Masterton to-day. "'\ \ '".■' ' ;.'\: .''■■' v .'- : ' ■■ The Cartferton Club wlty. suffer another loss owing to the pe.nding departure of Billy Knowles for the Dannevlrke district. For several seasons past Billy has been one of the stalwarts of the Red' vanguard, and has also represented Wairarapa on- many occasions. A* year or two back he was a .fine goal kick, and was entrusted with most of the place-kicking' by the Carterton Club and rep., teams. While regretting his '"departure, Billy's friends will be glad to know that \ the change means promotion to him, as. he has been appointed manager of the Umutaoroa factory, near Dannevirke. With only , one more match .to play, Gladstone would appear to have the Walrarapa, championship m tlfelr pocket, but they still have, a hard task m front of them when they meet Featherston. • With a lead of two points at present they cannot be headed when the competition qloses, but a defeat by Featherston would give both. Stars and Featherston a chance, to annex the championship m the play-off. To-day. : Wanganui and faanawatu are to try conclusions at Wanganui If both sides , field their best teams the gain? should be very evenly contested. , ' ' ' . .•* : Next .Saturday, Wanganul and Taranaki are to meet at Hawera irv the return match. On June 3, Wanganul defeated Taranaki easily at the river city, but the butter 1 district is out tP get its own back 'next week. Reg. Collier, the well-known Taihape rep. player, has taken up hfs residence In his" old home town, Wariganui, again He has linked up with Kaierau, of which club he was' a member before he went to the war. Had. it not beun for a badly smashed leg- while on active service, Reg. would (or should) have been one of the first backs chosen for the All Black team. He Is playing as well as any of those Homeward bound, but hla leg might go at any time, and this spoilt his prospects of a trip. ■ j •yhe Wanganui - Maoris— practically the Ratana senior team—gained a welldeserved r-Jn. over Rangitikel at Marton lust, week for the Maori Shield. The Ratana team will now have to meet the Wairoa Maoris, and If they retain the shield .they will later have to play raihape Maoris, who will field a very strong' team. On Saturday next,. Wanganui Maoris are to play Rangitlkei Maoris, at Wanganul. -The proceeds are to go towards the Queen's Park- Memorial l'und. » •■.'-.'. :-■;.. The' inter-college triangular matches, m- which Wellington College, Christ College, and Wanganui Collegiate School participate, commence at Wanganui on Saturday, August 23, when the Wanganul' boys will play Christ College. The Wanganul team was defeated nt Marton on Saturday, by Rangitikel by 16 points to 14. The win for Rangitikel was somewhat unexpected as tho greens did not have a strong team. Wangrnnul players are .used to a dry, sandy ground, and the heavy going at Martoh gaVe them ho ©rid ,of trouble. The backs, when they started passing, were,. In many Instances, unable to keep their feet. Before the end of tho game the forwards 'began to show signs of having had quite sufficient. The Hawkea Bay senior championship, after last Saturday's mutches, is a aure thing for the Hastings Club, whilethe runnlnpr-up position will bo filled by cither I'lratea or Celtic.

The Hastings Club richly deserve their win. Robbed early m the season of the two Brownlie Bros., it looked as if their loss would be too great for them, but, through sheer grit and determination, they have managed to keep on top, having suffered only one reverse during the two rounds. The club owes a lot to Skipper Alex Kirkpatrick for placing them m their present position. . ■ . : ■ Messrs Buchanan and Son, Ltd., Scotland, presented the Hawkes Bay Union with -a, shield tb be competed for among local clr.bs. The Union decided to give it to the club gaining most points m all grades. The, shield is known as the "Black and White," and it is rather appropriate that High School, ■ whose colqrs are black and white, are leading, and look like winning it m its first year. Next Saturday, at Hastings, Hawkes Bay will be called upon to defend the Ranfurly Shield against Nelson,- the following Saturday against Auckland, and a few days later against Manawatu. The Taranaki cup competitions were brought to a finish last Saturday as far as the groups were concerned, Hawera scraping home winners m group two. All. that now remains is for Tukapa and Hawera to meet to, decide the provincial championship. The question of venue was, it time of writing, undecided. The clubs rather favored tossing, but it was more than probable, that the Union would decide on a neutral ground, probably Eltham. The senior competitions having been disposed of . the Rugby activities at .Christchurch last Saturday were centred' m the annual Town v. Country match, which was played at Lancaster Park. Country: was altogether top good \f or Town, and notched a welldeserved -'; victory by 17 .points to 10. During the • first spell the game was fairly evenly contested, but . with the start of the second half, Country simply "took the' bit m their mouth • and bolted." In both back and forward divisions the Country combination was a surprise packet, arid proved •unmistakably that Rugby has advanced by leaps and bounds m the country disr tricts. ■■■•. ..'■ •■ ' ■ ■ ■■■■'•.-. ' '• - Although the Sydney . University team has cancelled its tour to New Zealand, students seeking New Zealand University Rugby honors will not be disappointed, as matches are being arranged for a New Zealand University team m the Dominion. :'. Auckland and Otago will be the likely, reps, to be pitted against the students. • McWilliariis, the. Victoria College forward, is at present lying dangerously ill m hospital suffering from tetanus, which he contracted m the game against Canterbury 'Varsity on Athletic Park last week. Jack Hiroti, another old Kaierau player, , has returned to Wanganui from the Wairarapa, where he made a name for himself m Rugby circles. He also, has again thrown, m his lot with his old club. Both Collier and Hiroti have been chosen to play for Wanganui to-day against Manawatu. , :