SPORTS OF ALL KINDS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24347, 11 July 1940, Page 4

SPORTS OF ALL KINDS

OTAGO WING THREE-QUARTERS IN RETROSPECT Come of the greatest thrills in the game of Rugby football are v?- provided by the wing three-quarters, which is only as it should be, since the wing men are expected, under present-day football, to accept the duty of finishing off attacking movements after their forwards have made the initial openings. Followers of the game in New Zealand have seen some fine wing in action, but none, maybe, whom they would prefer-.to many of our own men playing in that position.

INHERE are • Sll kinds of wing threeA quarters; There are the powerful, " straight-running men who score by sheer ?;'■ strength'..-; and determination: there,are the,men who run round an opponent or beat him by a change-of pace; and then there are the tricky runners who dodge an attempt to stop them.;?^ '.. v.«-'-i,'->,' • :; .■-••':■•■' ~ If one were to "ask who was the greatest Otago wing three-quarter, the replies would, -no" doubt, be most diversified. " Armit. the Kafc korai Club. Otago and New Zealand representative'of over forty years ago, would be about the .first to be recalled as a Wing three-Quarter of note. He. was literally a ball of muscle—a strong, and tricky runner who scored many tries. Armit met his death as the result of an accident 'in a match between ,Otago .and Taranaki at the Caledonian ground. ' . -■ ■ ' Another player ■:of renown, in..those days was George ■. "Stephenson, who played for Dunedjn and Alhambra and for Otago from 1895 to 1900. If ever there was an enthusiast • in. : the-game it was Stephensoni who, ; it may be added. dUring a visit'to England played for the famous, Mahningham team'. Another well-known . wing threequarter of the 'nineties was W. E. Hay, Mackenzie, who was the first to carry the title in. local-football of "Scobie.'* There is/ however.- -Jho* necessity td" ; refer to players in the order of the ahd the question of the finest wing three-quarter we have'seen in Otago, football might as well be : tackled at once. • ;.';, :, . ; That honour must, in the writer's opinion, go to E.G. ("Dick") Webb, who represented Otago in no fewer than 33 matches. It took Webb'some time to develop, but in his later, years he became a really., outstanding all-round threequarter. Webb is associated with the most Spectacular try ; the writer has ever. seen. He was standing under.his own goal posts, on the Mosgiel ground, with his side in the shadow of defeat, when VBrian Dunne picked the ball up from the back of a loose scrum and cried ,to Webb to be "~pn the way."

Webb ran the distance from goal post to goal post to score and win the game for University right on the call of time. J. M. Watt, another University player will be well remembered by the followers of the game to-day. His speed and a change of pace brought him many a try. J; G.v Mackereth. also a University player, will have many supporters as the most versatile wing three-quarter to have played in Dunedin. A fine player was Mackereth, who now and again filled the centre three-quarter position. ' W. G. McClymont was another three-quarter who played on the wing and also at centre. It was as a centre that McClymont reached the highlights. Colin Gilray relied on his strong running and his ability to brush off wouldbe tacklers when he was racing to the line, and he certainly took some stopping. E. Stewart. H. D. Morgan, and

Disorganised No'doubt the absence of M. Spillane,/ its high-scoring second five-eighth, and the loss early in the game of A. Manion, its sound first five-eights, seriously upset the Dunedin back .line in- the game against University A on Saturday. At any rate it was no sort of a-match for the Light Blue rear, guard* v The Duhedih backs spent the whole of a hard match tackling, stopping rushes, or kicking for the line, and they didn't at any stage loos like staging any. effective passing. In consequence, the three-quarters had no chance of showing their paces. When" Manion was hurt. J-, Strathern, a promising ycung track runner who has been doing well this season as a wing three-quarter, took over the first five-eighth berth and, considering his inexperience in that position, made a fair job.of it. He is not a brilliant footballer yet, but he usually does the right thing and should score well at the end of a good line of backs. Jones Cup Match The postponed Association football match between Otago and Canterbury for the Jones Cup trophy will now be played at Christchurch on Saturday. July 20. The Otago team, which announced this week, includes several changes from that originally selected lor the game o:< June 3, the most noticeable of which is the absence of S Buddiman through inability to travel Others were similarly placed, and the sole selector (Mr D. Hanlin) appears in the circumstances to have got together a fairly well-balanced eleven. The veteran of many F.A. Trophy games for Otago, G. Anderson, again finds a place in the side at right fullback, and he should have a restraining influence oh his more forceful partner, Ness, who has less experience of big football. The Canterbury forward line, of which the well-known. Smith brothers will be the predominating figures, is a clever combination, but Otago will pin its hopes on a fastmoving half line in McQuarrie, Buchanan, and McNarey, which should prove an effective check and at the same time be capable of opening up the play to its own clever van, comprising the four Mosgiel players—Nicholson, Rogers, Steven, and Skinner—and Foote, the-High School Old Boys centre. These players are showing fine form at present. Skinner being credited with five goals last Saturday, Foote four, and Rogers three. Mr J. Jeffries ■will accompany the team as manager. Y.W.C.A. Victory Y.W.C.A. retained its. position in second place in the senior basketball competition by its victory last Saturday over Albany I. The game was other stirring exhibition of basketball, with both* sides playing at the top of their, form. Brilliant passing rushes were the order of the day. Y.W.C.A. held the advantage in the defending third, where Isobel Stewart demonstrated her marked ability in changing defence to attack. Her type of game combines excellently with that of Edna Buchler who was back in her usual position in the team. Very attractive play was also the order of the day in the Albany forward third, where the same excellent handling of the ball was a feature of the play.

J. Holmes, all of whom played for Otago. were exceptionally speedy men. and they scored many tries solely by their speed. It could not be said, however, that they possessed all the football attributes required to include them among great plavers of the past and the present; ,•- "Sasanof" George Owles. the Kaikorai and Otago three-quarter, who met his death in Kenya as the result of a motor cycle accident, was one of the most popular players ever seen in Dunedin. If memory serves aright he scored no fewer than five tries against a Wairarapa team at Carisbrook in 1920. Owles, a great enthusiast for the 'game, played for Otago on 20 occasions A. N. Fell was another speedy threequarter.- He distinguished himself in the famous match—the "butchers'"

match, so called—against the .Wellington team in 1897. When /J. G.Macdonald went off injured Fell came on .to make some spectacular runs, in the dying stages of the game, ; W. T.Dunne must be included in the stars, and, of course, so must : • All Black Neville Mitchell, who is iii Dunedtorecoicnisedmore as a centre player. He wouldhave been, in the writer's opinion, "an'.even greater three-quarter if he ; had always been played in his true position. J. Stalker (Dunedin), D. G. Wise (Pirates), R. Baxter (Kaikorai), F. G. Ward (University), D. 1 Oliver? (Kaikorai), S. Petersen (Southern), and A. C Procter (Zingari-Richmond) cannot be passed over. The worth of the lastnamed as a wing three-quarter was not fully recognised until he had played for some years. When it was recognised, he was able to secure New Zealand representative honours, and he visited Australia in 1932. Hector McSkimming's name crops up. arid so does the try he scored against Canterbury ; at Lancaster Park. H. : Smith.' the Otago centre, seized the opportunity to snap up.the ball .after Canterbury passing had broken down, arid he then passed to McSkimmmg, who outpaced his. opponents over a 75-yards run and scored. A. C. Hanan (University and Otago) was a good scoring winger, but he lost valuable time in trying to fend off his opponents instead of endeavouring to' outpace them. There is a dearth of class three-quarters in Otago at the present time, but W. A. Black and L Werner can be classed among the top-notchers who have played for the province. - Remarkable as it may seem, Mr H. Harris, one of the selectors of the 1905 All Black team which toured in Britain, an Otago selector, and manager of the Maori team which went to England and France in 1926, says that the greatest three-quarter he ever saw was not a New Zealander, Australian, South African, English, Scottish, or Irish player. He was a Frenchman named Besson, who played against the 1926 Maori team.

Swimmers Wed : Mr and Mrs P. W. Harkess, whose wedding took place last week, are.both well known in Dunedin swimming circles. Mrs Harkess, who was formerly Miss Maxine Mathieson, was probably one of the best all-round women swimmers Otago has produced. She won provincial titles in every style, and also, as an gained several New Zealand championships. A fine open-water swimmer, she was prominent in the harbour races staged by her club (Dunedin) and in the Otago Centre's annual Batt Cup fixture, and once she led the field home in the race for the Annette Kellerman Cup, the blue riband of openwater swimming in New Zealand. On the executive side she also gave valuable service to the sport, both as a member of the committee of her club and as secretary of the Otago Head Centre of the Royal Life-saving Society. '.• ■ ... Mr Harkess was a powerful swimmer and a water polo exponent of more than average ability. He also Dlayed a sound game of Rugby, and for several seasons was a member of the Pirates Club's senior fifteen. Energetic, But Loose The Dunedin forwards did not do badly against University A last Saturday. Their energy in the loose kept them in a good position in the early part of the game, but they were not packing well, and it seemed that the superior scrummaging of the University forwards, together with the heaviness of the ground, would find them a very tired lot by the time the final whistle sounded. And so it proved. Their game - was too loose to hold against solid packing. C. Collett turned on one of his- liveliest games for a long time. and. the fry he scored was an excellent one. L. Marshall and A. McKewen were two other determined workers, but there was no fault to be found with the enthusiasm of the pack as a whole. The Dark Blue forwards were not helped to keep on attacking by the demands made on them by the pace of the Light Blue backs. " They had a lot of covering up to do. Notable Champions There have been 35 races for the Senior Cross-country Championship of the Caversham Harrier Club, but only 13 different men have won the event. Five of them—J: D. Beatson, C. W Frye, J. W. Tapp, J. J. Morris, and G. L. Austin—have accounted for 25 championships. Beatson, New Zealand cross-country champion in 1912 and 1913, Australasian three-mile champion (1914), and New Zealand mile =ind three-mile champion, had seven wins. Frye, in addition to five club championships, won the 1920 New Zealand Cross-country Championship at Christchurch and many Otago track and cross-country titles. Tapp, a very sound cross-country man, and winner of the 1924 national event at Wellington scored four wins, this total being equalled by Morris, who finishing second, gave J. W. Savidan a great race for the New Zealand championship at Dunedin in 1929. In winning last Saturday's race, Austin, who is better known as a'road runner, brought his wins up to five. ~

NATIONAL CROSS-COUNTRY Much to the disappointment of many athletes, no doubt, the New Zealand Amateur Athletic Council has decided to abandon the national cross-country championship, which this winter was to have been conducted by the Otago Centre at Wingatui. The decision is a wise one. With the whole Empire throwing everything into the winning of the war, it would be-detrimental to athletics to persevere with a national fixture, apart altogether from the question of fairness to those athletes, including the present champion, C. Weller, who are serving in the armed forces. But, while it ir best to abandon national fixtures, everything possible should be done to keep the sport alive, for all sports are of great value in maintaining the spirit and morale of a people. The national cross-country championship was not held during the last war, and the fixture was not revived until 1920. Steps should be taken to see that interest is fully maintained in the sport of: harrier running, and youth should be' given every encouragement. Provincial and "club fixtures should:.be carried on as usual, and it is perhaps a pity ; that the I'nvercargill officials have abandoned this year's Southland championships. y.< '■';'■ ■'■'■ : "■ , Not Upset by Conditions The University A team, leader of the Dunedin Rugby football championship competition to date, showed against Dunedin last Saturday that it is by no means purely a fair-weather team. The handling of its backs, particularly in the last 20 minutes or so, was splendid, and their football was open and bright despite the greasiness of the ground-. It is easy to praise the backs for form such as this; but it has always to be -remembered that the credit for giving a set of backs such opportunities belongs in the first place to; the forwards. The Light Blue scrum is the most even in the competition, and for-that reason it is neither easy nor would it be fair to sort out one or two men for special mention. Obviously the weight is goingvin the right way, and so far this season the half-back has been given a plentiful and rapid service from scrums, lineouts, and rucks. That is the basis of success in any side.

Out of Bounds Among the slight alterations in some of the rules still puzzling a number of basketball players are the "out of bounds " qualifications. The rule states: " (a) A player is out of bounds, when any \ part of her body touches the ground or any object' outside the boundary line.*' Thus if a player steps on (but not over) a line, she has hot infringed, as; she is - still regarded as being in her playing area, all lines being common to adjacent areas. " (b) The., ball is. out ,■ qf<; bounds when; it touches the ground across the bounds ary line or when it>is .touched by. a person or object out of bounds, (c); A ball fitting any part of the goal post and' rebounding into the court is nit of play, except that if the ball rebounds from the top cf the goal post into the ring it shall be considered a goal." In connection with (c) it should be realised that the ring is considered part of. the goal post, so that if the ball hits the ring, it is also out of bounds, and is therefore dead; :. An ordinary throw-in governs.the re-com-mencement of play. Former All Black Reappears • A. C. Procter, a former All Black who, since retiring from first grade football, has coached:; the- ZingarP Richmond team, turned N out on Saturday for his old club./ Playing, on .the right wing, he showed some of his old dash, and ran strongly and .tackled well. He scored a try in the second

half after a. solid burst down the line. Procter, who went to Australia with the. 1932 AIL Blacks, is only one of older players who have rallied round their clubs, now that many of the younger men ate enlisting in the military forces. C. G. Gibbons, Otago selector and coach of the Taieri first grade team, took the field the Saturday before last just before his departure for Territorial camp. Northern's Fine Achievement In making a recovery within 15 minutes of time to draw with Caversham in the Fletcher Cup competition on Saturday after being three goals to the bad and to follow that up by securing the decision in th# extra period of play Northern was responsible for an excellent performance in the Chatham Cup elimination game. The team. displayed some of the eld fighting spirit, which has been lacking in its games of the past few weeks. The Black and Whites were so outclassed in the first spell that few gave them a chance •-•f recovering, but aggressive tactics typical of cup-tie football prevailed, and the necessary three goals followed within five minutes. McFarlane and McLean were prominent in the success of the forward line, but the result was mainly due to the inspiring play, of Sutherland, left full-back, and Gordon, centre-half, whose sound tactics gave confidence to the team as a whole. For its first adventure in a Chatham Cup competition, Caversham has no reason to be discouraged. Bennett gave a fine display at right-half, and McQuarrie. in his new position at in-side-right, proved as good a forward as he is a half-back. Both goalkeepers handled the greasy ball, well, and a particularly fine save was made by Race when he deflected a forceful drive by Gordon from a free kick Campbell in Form Easily the best back on the ground in the game against Kaikorai on Saturday was W. R. Campbell the Pirates five-eighth. Always on the alert to seize an opportunity, he . put in some fine thrusting i-iins, and-twice he cut through the defence in workmanlike manner to score tries. It was unfortunate that with only a few minutes to go he should have received a knock which necessitated his retirement. High School Basketball Otago Girls' High School enjoyed two successes last week in its basketball encounters—against the Gore High School team and University I. The first game revealed decided superiority on the part of the Dunedin team, despite he fact that Gore players, although >utclassed in every department, did not slacken at any stage of the game. In the game against University I 'he teams were more evenly matched, ind play was very closely contested. The School team held the advantage it had gained in the earlier stages. Whitcombes for Basketball.* . ,

ARMY TEAM WANTED There will be a general hope that the Otago Rugby Union is successful in securing a visit to Dunedin by an Army team. An attempt is being made to have the TrenthamBurnham match played here, or, if that is not possible, to get permission for a Bumham side to play Otago. In view of the fact that Army teams have been doing a good' deal of travelling, it would seem that Otago is entitled to a visit. The match in Invercargill last week was from all accounts a big success. Largely responsible for that, of course would be the fact that so many Southlanders were in the visiting side. But, apart from that altogether, probably there have never before been more popular teams than those representing Burnham and Trentham this season. The Otago public wants to see something of them. Doing Well in Wellington Two formei members of the Otago Girls' High School A basketball team. Molly Wenborn and Joan Thomson, who are now residing in Wellington, are playing senior basketball for the Dental Clinic Club, and both have been selected to take part in trials for the Wellington representative team. Joan Thomson was prominent also in swimming circles in Dunedin for a number of' years. . She was the Otago junior free-style champion, and represented the province twice in the New Zealand junior championships. Weak Tactics As an exhibition, of good football tactics, little can be said.of the UnionTaieri game at the Caledonian Ground on Saturday. There was only one really good passing movement, ana that "was by Union in the first half, when Werner finished off an excellent rush. In the second spell, with heavy rain falling, the game developed into a mud scramble,, and it was then that the tactics of the Taieri side particularly were deplorably, weak. The Taieri pack gave S. Whitson plenty of the ball from the scrums, and he repeatedly passed out to E. Lindsay, who tried to pass to W. Johnstone—sometimes successfully, biit usually not so successfully. It was? however, impose sible to handle the. greasy ball, and why the Taieri men did not realise that quickly and keep the ball on the ground is difficult to understand. On one occasion in the second half the Taieri forwards did come into a rush. They swept clean through, the defence,, arid one of their players was just beaten for the touch down. Memories of the game between Otago and Southland, in which J. McKenzie, Otago wing three-quarter, was caught standing offside when a scrum had been formed near his line and Southland scored three points and won the game were recalled when a Taieri back did exactly the same thing in the last minute of the game. He also cost his side three points. ■ • One at least of the Union forwards did a lot of unnecessary and futile running round. ; A Fortunate Clul? The Otago University Rugby Football Club is fortunate this season in having two half-backs of the quality of L. M. Simpson, who has proved his class in representative football, and N. Paewai. Simpson was not able to play against Dunedin iast Saturday, and Paewai took over his job under conditions which were anything but favourable for a half-back. In spite of the greasiness of the ball and the quick breaking of the Dunedin forwards, however, he shot out unusually fast passes and handled exceedingly well. His passing in the first half was rather low and riot always properly directed for his first five-eighth, R. Skelley, but after the interval very little fault could be found with it. His type of game is well suited to University football, and it would be interesting to see him in action on a dry ground with Trevor Berghan outside him. Back in Dunedin One of the mest promising junior athletes Otago has produced in recent years has returned to Dunedin after spending 18 months in Auckland. He is Colin McGregor, former nationaj junior 100 Yards and 220 Yards champion, an ex-Otago senior champion and a valuable member of the Anglican Club. McGregor is not only a brilliant sprinter, but he also plays a more than useful game of Rugby and is a promising swimmer. He was playing in the senior B division in Auckland, and, no doubt, he will be finding his way into the senior fifteen of his old club, Pirates, before the season is over. A rival sprinter. A. R Duff, usually plays on one wing in the Pirates team, and these two young runners should once again provide exciting contests on the track next summer. "One-eyed" A Rugby barracker on a suburban ground on Saturday had just concluded a particularly vociferous outburst, which included whole-hearted condemnation of everything but the side he was supporting, when a man in a neighbouring seat, whose sympathies were obviously more evenly divided, turned to him with the remark, " I suppose you have to pay only half the admission price at the gate? " " No, why? " th <j bar-■Cr^ l ''*^''^^''^ l racker asked. t£r ««»• ' ■ "Well, youf T WACL "j ought to," was 1 l * "«'** the rejoinder, a ■-._ I ; "you can I ' ■''■ see only one * w» » V' fejfcw* • - i team." After f J \ that there £j£Z. was silence J\*" for a ir Jt

Took a Gruelling W. Baillie, Kaikorai's youthful halfback, took a thorough gruelling in the match against Pirates on Saturday, but he stcod up to it well until lust before the final whistle, when he was injured and had \o go off He saw little of the ball, but when he did he received no protection whatever from his forwards, and had to stand up to the fast-breaking Pirates pack, with the result that he rarely had a chance of getting it away before he was downed. His five-eighths, Calder and Spiers, suffered in consequence.

NOBODY WANTS IT! The position of a selector of players to take part in the various bowling matches and competitions does not appear to be an enviable one. At any rate, Mr J Dowling stated at the annual meeting of the St. Kilda Bowling Club on Saturday night that he would not fill the position again—he was the selector last year—for £lO a week. This statement was, of course an exaggeration, but it is rather strange that Mr Dowling's defensive attitude is not unknown to and observed by members cf other clubs. After several members of the St. Kilda Club had been nominated for the position, and had respectfully declined, Mr D, C. Cameron, a former selector for many years, was prevailed upon to take the job. Apart from his ability as a selector. Mr Cameron has a knowledge of human nature, and that is a very necessary qualification. ■ A selector must know when to adopt suaviter in modo tactics—the soft nedal, in fact—and the fortiter in re method—the "frontal attack. It all depends on the temperament of the player who makes the complaint that he has been passed over when teams have been selected. It remains to be added that Mr Dowling made a good jcb of his position last year, as is fully demonstrated by the excellent record of the St. Kilda Club in the various competitions.

A Mud Scramble A ground that became a quagmire and a ball that was sodden and lifeless took all the sting, out of the game between Southern and University B on the University Oval on Saturday. Although playing another of its scratch teams, University B put up a vigorous and stubborn defence against the thrusting tactics of its opponents, but went down before a superior combination. Southern's total of 18 points came from six unconverted tries, the efforts of D Trevathan and E. Bolton to kick goals being consistently unsuccessful. The Southern backs made valiant attempts to throw the ball about even when conditions, were at their worst, and S. Robert, D. Trevathan, and A. Edwards stood out in this respect. The three-quarter line—lrvine, Churchill, and Black—also put in some .solid work. Black being particularly prominent. Junior Association Football The junior competitions under Association football rules have every promise of providing close contests this season. In the second grade Northern, with seven matches played, has a lead of two points from Caversham, which is credited with 9 points for eight matches, while Mosgiel is in a handy position with 8 points for eight matches. Three teams also appear to be in the running for the third grade championship, in which Mornington leads with 10 points, closely followed by Mosgiel, 9 points, and Northern, 8 points. The fourth grade, however, promises to be the keenest of th'e three, as two teams —High School and Caversham—are equal with 15 points each and RoslynWakari is next with 13 points to its credit. Too Many Loose Forwards There were far too many loose forwards in the Kaikorai pack on Saturday and it was this fact.that went a long way toward giving Pirates such a convincing victory over the nijl team. The Pirates vanguard simply overwhelmed the opposition at times, and so sweeping were some of its rushes that Kaikorai did not seem to know what to do about it. The Black backs were linking up well, and, despite the greasy state of the ball, they handled a good deal better than might have been expected. The Kaikorai rearguard, oh the other hand, rarely managed to get far with its bouts of passing, the majority of which were rendered abortive, almost in their inception, by faulty handling. They did not however, get fronf the forwards the protection to which they were entitled, and frequently, after a scrum broke up, tho whole Pirates pack would be down on them while their forwards would be looking on. Schools' Hockey Tournament It is reported that the Auckland Hockey Association has decided to carry on with the New Zealand secondary schools' tournament from August 19 to 24 and also to endeavour to conduct a primary schools tournament, entries for which will close on July 29. To most associations, this news will have come -as a surprise, as it was agreed at the beginning of the season that all such fixhires should be abandoned for the duration of the war. No doubt associations in the South Island will take the attitude that it is too much to ask of parents of schoolboys to finance such a trip in view of the numerous calls on the family purse to-day, and that it would have been wiser to arrange any such fixture for a more central venue, such as Wellington. Tre question may also be asked why Auckland has come to such a decision without seeking the opinions of the other major associations oh the noint. The Tables Turned Beaten in its first round match against Alhambra by 15 points to 9. Zingari-Richmond turned the tables on the "Bamas" on Saturday, winning by 14 points to 6. There was nothing spectacular or even outstanding about the game, but it was interesting enoush. especially in the second half, when Zingari-Richmond overtook Alhambra's three-point lead and went on to win comfortably. The Alhambra forwards outshone the members of the oDoosine rack as individuals. Billsborough. Treewick and Brown being conspicuous all day: but the Colours forwards were superior in scrum work, and this was the chief factor in their side's win. None of the backs on either side was brilliant, but the winners' rearguard worked with more cohesion. The majority of Zingan's tries came from individual efforts rather than from concerted movements, but none of them was lucky in any way.