THE LEAGUE CODE

NZ Truth, Issue 1032, 5 September 1925, Page 13

THE LEAGUE CODE

A Revelation m Play ALL BLACKS HEAVILY DEFEAT AUCKLAND. There has been a revelation m the League game m New -Zealand, or at least m Auckland, and this'- was borne out m the game played by the All Black touring team when it met the Auckland select last Saturday on Carlaw Park before a 17,000 crowd. The weather was ideal for fast, open football, and much was expected of the Dominion reps, after their tour, and m this the spectators were not disappointed. The' tourists for the past three weeks back have had the benefit of the coaching of Mr. H. Mair, who came over from Queensland, and .. if ever any game has benefited by the services of a past master it is League football m Auckland: And when it has benefited m the north it is only a matter of time when the good results of the exj pert tuition will spread. It has always been acknowledged by those m a position to judge that the outstanding fault m the game played m this country has been the entire . absence of anything novel or unorthodox. The game had got into a groove, I as it were, and nobody saw- this plainrcr than did Mr. Mair. Consequently ! he set about remedying the defect, I and this he has accomplished to an [ - extent that must have exceeded the k*most sanguine, expectations. \ Tlie game on Saturday, however, I speaks for-itself, and when; it is stated \ that the touring team romped home to 1 the "tune of 4i to 17. it will be seen I that the days of miracles are not yet 1 past. ' . 9 The contest was a striking object ■ lessor^ of the •comparative efficacy 9 of the old and the new methods of 1 'P l -** : ■ .■'/' ■.••■' ; •■' :-. ■ White, tiie All Blacks had .not the ■ slightest difficulty m divining- what

was to happen next m the scheme of things m the Auckland attack and method, the locial men were at a complete loss to know what their opponents' next move would .be, so unorthodox was their- game, and that was the secret of the rather tall scoring of the winners. Whereas the local men relied upon making muc-i of their progress with kicking, it. was comparatively seldom that this was resorted to. by the blacks, who made ground very rapidly by their passing boifts. . In this they had no end of variety, and departed altogether from . the routine of. the half-back sending out and the ball being handled till the wing threequarter got possession. X the latter wanted the ball he had to come into the centre of the ground for it. Even the shuffling of the All Black players m the course of this process tended to upset the local men, and they had not got used to the new order of things by the end of the game." The new. style of play added untold interest to the exposition, and the endless variety of moves adopted by tlie winners always left their opponents guessing and the spectators on the tip-toe of expectancy. It was a great display of the game and put it m a new light m. the eyes of fans. . If there was a fault with the play of the winners it was a carelessness or over-anxiety- m passing, and the ball was often thrown loosely to an unmarked man. The game .was spectacular from start to finish and contested m a real sporting spirit. Probably the most outstanding, player on the side of the All Blacks was Wilson Hall at half. Throughout the game ho was m the thick of things, and most of the progressive moves emanated from his deliveries. ■ • ■ Wetherill, .at., five-eighths, was another outstanding player and .initiated many deadly raids, especially m the second half when the real effectiveness of the. coaching, of Mr. Mair became apparent. " " ■ Gregory, at full-back, was fast and sure „iii- defence and set his backs off on the offensive with many clever moves.) All the forwards played, exceptionally well,

I The main weakness m the Auckland team was the indifferent handling by most of the placers. There was a lack of cohesive effort, too, which was the more visible rji contrast with the finished play of the. blacks. The Auckland si^le, however, was not exactly a coteries of weaklings, and at the outset they ..gave more than they received m the way of attack. It took the blacks al*out twenty minutes to find their iJegs, and during this time the local men should have scored, but bad luck, was their undoing. \ Herewini proved a serviceable full--back,*'and Gardiner was ,a difficult customer to circumvent. EUs usual skill, however, was more orUess at a loss owing to the unknown tactics of the opposition. Cole and Riley, at fiveeighths, did some very of ever 'things, but had a gruelling experience m the second half. .. . '; Peckham was as ready '^as any to adapt himself to the new order, of things, and. ere the game had run its course he seemed to be mor;e at home than many of his mates. Davidson, at centre three-quarter, stopped many likely raids by the opposition, and set his backs away frequently 'm- dashing style. l O'Brien, with dribbling rushes, was prominent amongst the forwards, and on one -occasion .he had a ruii of .nearly 50 yards, being- only stop'jxed by Gregory, the All Black full-back. Singe and St. George also were prominent at times and were triers all. Altogether it was an unprecedented game, and there was no gainsaying the enthusiasm and the delight of the. big crowd. Mackenzie's School of Engineering PALMERSTON NORTH. CORRESPONDENCE COUItSE OF . " TUITION. * . yor All Classes { of Government Certificates. Principal: P. MACKENZIE, iI.L, Mech. "E., First Class Board of Trade Certificate* also, holder of First Clas's Certificates ■m Mechanics,. Steam, Machine Design and Electricity; 15 years Examiner: of; Engineers to the New Zealand^ Government, i Write for barticurars.

The home side were the first to score, and it was the outcome of a pretty movement down the left wing. Murray, after getting the ball near the centre, sliped through the defence and swung out to Hanan, who took up the thread arid sped down to the full-back before passing to Ottrey, who raced across.

Play immediately swung to the other end, and from a scrum following on a melee at the end of a lineout, the visitors' back threw the ball about after the fashion favored by the local 'Varsity, and Lawton was given a try. He was at least two yards offside when he took the final pass. ' Sonntag was 'playing a fine game m the home side's pack, and it was from clever feeding by him from the lineout that Murray put his side's second score on the slate. There was method m all that Lawton was doing, and on one occasion, while deep m defence and m a surge oC opponents, he passed back at least ten j'ards to the full-back, who cleared Avith a nice line-kick. The best of the visitors' three tries m the. first spell was the one scored by Bowers just before the bell. From a drop out Woods fielded the greasy ball beautifully, and before many seemed to realise it, passing between him, Thorn, and Bowers ended m the last-named going over with a great burst of speed. At half-time the score was 10 to 9 against the light blues, and up to that stage it was anyone's game. ' ' ,- Both sides dug into it from the start m the second spell,, and the play was full of movement. The home side almost fell to the old ruse of the thrower-in from touch belting the ball hard at the chest of the first man on the line and catching it on the rebound. It would have been a try- had the thrower-in not put his foot out when going across. For the succeeding few minutes the play fairly scintillated with bright movements. ' It was during this period that the referee had to step m and stop a Donnybrook. "Put him off" yelled the crowd, but the referee was not m a position to see who started it, although he could easily be nominated from the press stand. The Welsh backs were now going great guns, and looked like scoring at any time. Once. Bowers was making for the line when Kilby ran with him for a stride or two and coolly took the ball out of his hands. It was a clever .piece of work, and Bowers looked /bewildered.