RUGBY LEAGUE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20917, 6 January 1930, Page 13

RUGBY LEAGUE.

NEW ZEALAND’S APPEAL. SYMPATHETIC COMMENT. (From Our Own Correspondent.') LONDON, November 26. Air C. W. Packford, in his column in Sporting Life, refers to-day at length to the appeal made by the New Zealand Rugby Football League to the clubs in England. The New Zealand League asks that the clubs should not in future offer inducements to Dominion players to re--111 ■i'u behind after a tour in this country. My sympathies are entirely with the New Zealand League,” writes Mr Packford, “ for although I have the utmost respect for the Rugby League, which is an excellently conducted and sporting authority, I believe the acquisition ot overseas players by English clubs is altogether wrong, and a policy that trends in the direction of rank bad sportsmanship, as well as being distinctly unfair to the dominions. "It must be recognised, however, that the Rugby League clubs are not the originators of a regrettable system which, by some means or other, must be ended. Wc saw this happen years ago when Middlesex secured the services of several Australian cricketers; we have seen it since in the case of Lancashire, who * captured Macdonald, who, with Jack Gregory, was the prime cause of the overwhelming defeat of England in the 1921 Test matches; and we have seen it in the case of Constantine from the West Indies. PRINCIPLE ALTOGETHER WRONG. 41 Then, a few seasons ago, after a visit ,of the South African ‘ Soccer ’ players, two of the leading members of the side—if I remember rightly, the goalkeeper and a forward—-were signed on by an English League club as professionals, and so were lost to their own country, which for many years had been striving its utmost to improve the standard of the game in its m «TTT principle is altogether wrong We will suppose that a New Zealand team arrived over here, and swamped everyone they met, as did Lhefr Rugby Union representatives in 1924. In the present circumstances there is nothing to prevent all of the members of that team from being signed on by English clubs—a disaster from which it would take-them years to recover, if ever they did.

“In the case of the New Zealand League, I believe they will not appeal in vain to the English clubs. It will surprise me if they do, for I have met many of the loaders of what we once knew as the Northern Union, and they have impressed me with their sportsmanship.''