FOOTBALL

Otago Daily Times, Issue 17631, 22 May 1919, Page 7

FOOTBALL

By Full Back. Although the Otago Rugby Union was aware that the Maori Pioneer team proposed this season to come to Dunedin to play a representative fifteen tho telegram announcing that it would arrive on Thursday and play Otago on Saturday camo as a bit of a surprise. , Tho union, however, iiad no difliouity in making arrangements jor the match, and there should be a very , la f&° attendance at Carisbrook on Saturday. J-iio Maori team is composed of members of Maori Pioneer Battalion. Iho Maori team put up a great record ™ -Mgland, including the defeat of a Welsh team, and of the All Blacks when playing in the Motherland. Apart from the actual interest in Saturday's match, tho line work of the Maori Battalion in tho sterner game of war has shed a lustre round our JNutive brethren, placing them on a. plane with the best of tho Empire's soldiers. lno visitors team includes several players •who in recent times have made a name in Wow Zealand football, notably Captain Hall, who was a well-known Auckland representative player and also toured Australia with the Maori team. In connection with the match against Hawke's Bay last Saturday, which the Maoris won by 8 points u i- P° ints ' ii; ""TO mutually decided to abolish tho wing-forward and substitute an extra (or roving) back. With only three matches placed in the Senior Grade competition, tho Otago selectors did not have a great deal of football form to go on in selecting iho representative team to meet the Maori team. Under tne oirciEnstances they have picked a sound back team, though Holmes may prove to lack tho necessary experience in a big match, and havo chiefly considered the claims of the older players in selecting the forward team. With such a number of hrst-class forwards playing.football in Otago to-day it would not be surprising if several alterations are made in the forward ranks of Otago representative teams which may bo selected to pky towards the end of the season.

The Rugby Union will hold a special meeting this evening to further consider wio trouble which has arisen between the Pirates Club and the union as the result of the club permitting Jeffs to play for it, notwithstanding the fact that the union had insisted that Jeffs must get a transfer from his old club, the Duuedin, and stand down for sis months. It is sincerely to be hoped that both parties will discuss the matter in a broad spirit—free from any legal technicalities and in the interests of the game as a whole.

The Pirates played a far better game against University A team than they did against the B team on the previous Saturday, and tho score—ll points to 9—just about indicates the relative strength of tho two sides. There was, however, not' a great deal to pick and choose between them. The Pirates' forwards started off with a rattle, slowed down towards the end of the first half, and battled oat the second spell with determination to the finish. The fact that the University A have a slashing set of forwards—weighty and fast—adds to the merit of the performance of tho Black vanguard. I liked the play of Tod, a big Blue forward, who used his weight to advantage, and Fairmaid, Campbell, Hutchison, and Church also kept well on the ball. Delaney, Patrick, and Glendining wero three of the hardest working forwards on tho Blacks' side. Taking both back teams, I was impressed with tho piav pf Hawke (Pirates) particularly and Mackereth .(University). Both men have a good knowledge of the game, and are fast and cle-ver. O'Connor, the Blues' wing three-quarter, also made good use of the opportunities that came Ms way, and has now lost the inclination he had to stop when coming to an opposing tackier. Holmes, the big and very fast Pirates' threequarter, is keenness personified. He is, however, inclined to get out of his place. Under judicious coaching , he should turn out a fine footballer. I liked the play of Valentine (University) on the vping, and the two full-backs (Miyky anfi Burton), who are both on the small sifio, kicked and tackled in first-class style. Perry is a clever five-eighths, and Begg a plucky half-back. Todd, the Pirates' wing threfrquarter, is a player of the solid type, and he made no mistake in bringing - down O'Connor when the big University threequarter happened his way. The next meeting of the two teams should draw a very large crowd. " Spectator," -who is evidently a keen supporter of the University Club, sends me the following:—Dear " Full Back," — How does this strike you for an Otago back team to meet the Maoris: Hawke, Holmes, Mackereth, O'Connor, Valentine. Jeffs. Matheson. Hawke strikes me as the only man playing in the competition who would make a high-class full back. Maclry is good, but I am afraid he has not" the physique for handling 16 stone men. Valentine was always a five-eighth till, last year. I am going on past reputation to a great extent, but one must admit that so far Perry is out-playing the bigger reputationed men outside him. His try following on a pass from the loose from Fairmaid at the finish was a good one as seen from the smoker's stand. Hβ beat three men whom O'Connor failed to beat a little while before, and, seen from the stand, he had a bigger share in Mackereth'e try than anyone else. Like Childs, of pre-war "times, ho_ seems to be a good half, becoming a brilliant five-eighth. -University seem >badly to want a Lomas or Wilson at first fiveeighth. Ward is an individualist, but does not seem to have the happy knack of knowing when to cut in or pass out. Perhaps Valentine would improve matters as a five-eighth and provide the necessary balance for the back division. University appear to have two really good first fiveeighths in Childs (Otago emergency two years ago) and Treahy, of High School, among the spectators. The Kaikorai had a powerful team available against Alhambra on Saturday, and keeping tho game tight, they guite dominated the game in the second half, and won by 10 points to 6. The All Black, Alick M'Donaid, Duncan, and. Ovens particularly showed out in the forward rushes The Red and Blacks five-eighth, Gillick, had the misfortune to have his left collarbone fractured in stopping a rush, and may be out of play for the.rest of the season. W. M Arthur, who came hack in the Kia Ota, went on in place of Gillick. M'Ghie who, I imagine, is a Waitaki High School Boy, played a fine game for Kaikorai behind the scrum, and. under the able coaching of M'Donald, should prove quite an acquisition before the season ends. King from the Ravensbourne Olub, played a smart, nippy game for Alhambra at half back. Campbell, a returned soldier, a weighty fast lock, who has just returned from the country, was welcomed back by his comrades of tho Alhambra Club and put in some good work. • ' A junior Alhamtea team will meet a Milton team in Dunedin on the King's Birthday, June 3. A ground has yet to bo decided on.

The Dunedin Club deserves every praise for sticking to its guns, which may be said to be an appropriate phrase seeing tho number of returned soldiers in the team, and it is to be sincerely hoped that the club will not drop out qf the competition. T-hefact that the team is being beaten by large margins of points should not discourage the players. If they can only stick together new players must come on, and a popular club like the Dunedin will secure its full share of them. The efforts of tho Dunedin Club to keep going must earn the sympathy and admiration of every lover of the sport.

E. Big-gar, the well-known Southland representative forward, arrived in Dunedin a few days ago after four years on active service. Ho was wounded slightly on three occasions, but his wounds were never of severity to secur<* for him" a respite in "Blighty.' , For some years Biggar played for the Excelsior Club in Gore, and as a representative of the Eastern District, . played many sterling games. He and Lindsay (late of Winton but now a, member of the Pirates' First Fifteen), as hookers for the Southland representative team, proved a formidable pair on' several occasions. Prior to enlisting Biggar was on the staff of the Balclutha P. 0., and, as he expects to return to his old position in South Otago, he will probably be again seen on the football field at no distant date. If he can reproduce his old form he should be worthy of a place in the Otago trial teams, as in addition to his capabilities as a hooker' ho plays a dashing game in the loose. ' Tho competition, as was the caso last season, is proving interesting por bury is still unbeaten, although on Saturday week this school had a close call against Arthur Street. Tho Jatter school and Macandrew Road tie. for second place Tho promising displays of the Mosgiel boys' who are improving every Saturday are a pleasing feature of the competition George Street entered a team for the first time last season and as a result were rat&er handicapped. This year, however a greater amount of interest is being displayed in tho game, and an improvement is noticoablo. Ik is pleasing to note that several ox-Rugby players give their timo to coaching tho boys, and tho keenness of both the players and supporters of several of the schools augurs well for Rugby in Dunedin. If all the clubs would >jet into touch with tho schools in their respective districts the

result would bo a larger number of entries ' m the Fifth Grade competition in future seasons. A Port Chalmers correspondent forwards me the following :—-Playing for Port Chalmers School against Albany Street : on a recent Saturday, C. McDonald, of. tho Port ' team, kicked seven goals from tries, out of 10 attempts. The Wyndham Football Club, dormant for the past four seasons, has been rearosci- < taied. A. A. Wilson (re-elected the 12th time) is president, Frank Shepherd practice • captain, Chas. King secretary, and .H. . Murphy and Dawson Herbert Eastern dis- ' trict delegates. Tho season was fixed to open yesterday. Dealing with the question of "working out the game to its last possibility" a writer - in Athletic News has this to say: — Let us take a look back at the New land tour in 1905. When David G-allaher's men were in the full flush of their triumphs, exploiting certain types of play which, be-, cause of the indifference and ignorance .of our men, were not attempted in this country, up went a popular clamour for immediate alteration of system. We were too orthodox! We must,, unless tie game were intended to go to the "demnition bowwows," to use the MantiUnian phrase, copy the original ideas of the "All Blacks." But the New Zealanders had not developed and perfected their divers processes in a few weeks; and British teams which, panicstricken, attempted to copy their, formation and types of playing in the hope that success must surely' follow, found themselves beaten probably ■ more easily than they would have been had they adhered to ' a style of which they did know something, even if they had been too indifferent to perfect it. Not until Wales and Welsh clubs were tackled towards the end of the tour did the New Zealanders—then, I readily own, a , rather tired force, and furthermore playing under conditions of weather and pitches which were not at all I suitable to them—encounter men who as deeply as themselves could think. In that never-to-be-forgotten game at Cardiff, when Wales won, the Principality fell to a certain extent error by playing an eighth back in tho roving Pritchard, but they adopted a -frontal scheme which perplexed their opponents and helped them to. check the advantage which the New Zealanders had generally held in the scrummage.