NEW ZEALAND FOOTBALLERS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 13959, 19 July 1907, Page 5

NEW ZEALAND FOOTBALLERS

BEATEN" AT THEIR OWN OAME.

COMMENTS OX THE MATCH.

Press Association—By Telegtftph-Copyrigl;

SYDNEY, July 18. Tho Sydney Morning Herald says:"Tho New South Welshmen fought, liko men possessed, but all the time played consummate football, ami they invariably got the maximum of effect. To the forwards belongs tho honour of lowering the historic banner of the silver fern." Describing the Now efforts to relieve tho position, the writer says: "If t.h cy played strenuously before, they did so doubly now that they realised t.lio task ahead of them, bllt the> tllso realised that tho gam© simply had to bo won. With all their glorious traditions at the back oi them, they bent evory ounce of muscle and every iota of brain power; but they counted without their hosts, and the crowd went well-nigh frantic when they realised that tho Blues wore showing themselves a better team, and that tho dreaded second-half runaway of tho mighty All Blacks was not to bo", and thenceforward tho match went on amid continuous cheering. There has perhaps never been seen on the ground such enthusiasm as when the conquerors of t,hp great All Blacks returned to the pavilion." _ Tho Telegraph says: "It was a sweeping victory. The Blues raked tho enemy fore and aft. It was a contest-in which the strong man at last found his hold on his reputation weakening and tlio grip of confidence weakening as against hig°advcrsary and tho end of it all was that the spoils went tho opposite way. Tho game was contested in an admirable spirit. From the outset it slowly but surely went 'the way of the homo team, whose combination was sound, the tackling deadly, the line-finding accurate, tho judgment oxcellcnt. And what- of'tho losers? They showed as much skill as on tho previous Saturday and played as vigorously up to a certain point as ever; but they were outgcncralled, oven as they had previously out-generallod others in the past, and outplayed in all*"departments of tho game. Tho one thing that stood out in the visitors' play was the grit they showed in the face of adverse circumstances. That thov lost was duo to no want of energy or perseverance."

Murnij), the New South Wales captain, attributed the victory to their line-kicking. Mi- Wylio, the New Zealand congratulated the Welshmen on their viotory, which, he said, tlicy honestly doserved.

Hunter, the Now Zealand captain, declared that every New Zeal.inder would admit thai, the tatter team had won. Mr Wylie, interviewed, admitted that tho . v Zealmdors were fairly and squarely toaten at their own game. H 0 had never seen suoh an exJiibition of bade play by ftew Zealand or in Interprovineial teams. Tho rscw Zealand backs wore at sixes and ?evens. Their forwards did not last as long as those of Now South Wales, and their backs did not support them, NOTES ON THE TOUR. (Faou Oca Ov?n Correspondent.) ■T" SYDNEY, July 13. Immediately after .leaving Wellington tho Warrimoo ran into a very heavy westerly blow, which lasted almost to Sydney Heads, and whoh made things very uncomfortable for all on board. The vessel pitched, heavily, and this, added to the cold, bleak weather which prevailed, causcd most of

/the passengers to keep to their bunks. Tlio greater number of the team suffered from seasickness, and very fow of them were to bo recn on dock till late on Tuesday On tho evening 0 f that day a concert was held, which, however, was a fee'olc function and but. pcorly attended. The players rapidly ..mproved as the Australian coast was ncared, and by Wednesday morning all were bm g ht and.well, and the attendances at meala had largely increased. One burly northern forward, who had so far been an absentee, { signed his appearance ,° h - v a tremendous performance, which excited the wonder and admiration of his fellow-passengers, and which earned his steward much sympathy. Sydney was reached at 5 o'clock on Thursday morning, and tho team was scon comfortably installed at tho Oxford Hotel. The men

wcr. eager to get into form, and were soon hard at practice on the cricket ground, where their enthusiasm and enjoyment of tlio bright sunshine kept them hard at it-until tho urgent entreaties of

lie manager got them aWiV y, only j„ st in P rerent tho official reception arranged for noon having to ho postponed ,° MTMnony was consequently a very brief one, .which, however, did not detract from its cordiality.

111 the evening the team were welcomed a the Town Hall by the citizens of bvdney. The chief speaker was Mr Wade (tho Attorney-general), himself a .n oldtime player of repute. The tremendous audience enthusiastically cheered the many complimentary and sympnlhetio references made to tlio visitors, and apparently would have gone on doing so for hours. Messrs Wylio and Hunter responded, the latter bringjng down the house by his homclv attempts to emulate th o more efficient speakers. Ho caused much fun by his naivo remark that the team would endeavour to givo the home team "the biggest l.ekmg It had over had." . In response to an insistent demand from the audience the team gavo their war cry, and were compolled to submit to an oncorc. The fuiic «on was probably the largest which lias c\or been held hero in connection with foot.iall, and it was attended by some of 10 mo . s ' influential gentlemen in political professional, and business circles in the city. The speeches were most generously worded', but through them all ran an undercurrent of warning that tho time had arrived when New South Wales was to show that slio had reached what one speaker described as th o " acme of football excellence, ■' and should thereby prove vietorious in the coming matches. Whether tin's prophecy is to prove correct will, of course, be known before tiicso notes appear in print.

The city is fairly recking willi excitement and interest, and football is the ono tonic of conversation with all sections of the community. The excitement which - nftonded the match hc-twccn Jfow Zealand and Great Britain in Wellington in 1904 was but feeble compared with the. state of

tilings now existing here. An attendance of fully 50,000 is expected at the match, and, given fine weather, even that may to exceeded.

Another useful practice was held on Friday morning tinder favourable weather conditions. Tho players are all imbued with a very earnest desire to get into form,and it is quite certain that it will not be from any want of effort in that direction that any matches are to be lost. .Tho votcrans are as keen as the youngsters, and all hands fairly revel at their work. -The team wero billed to inspect and to he entertained at Sydney's largest brewery in the afternoon, but only seven, mostly young players, .put in an appearance. It was significant and satisfactory to note that

though they displayed much interest in the process of manufacturing beer, they sampled only tho lighter and non-intoxicat-ing cordials.

To-day (Saturday) i 6 beautifully fine, and apparently all roads load to -tho Sydney Cricket Ground.