Sports Commentary

Otago Daily Times, Issue 27157, 12 August 1949, Page 4

Sports Commentary

By The Sports Editor ...i. REPRESENTATIVE HOCKEY 1 SIDE

Several players have been chosen for training, in view of the selection of Otago representative teams to travel to Invercargill on September 3 and to Timaru on September 24. It is to be hoped that the officials of the Otago Hockey Association responsible will organise the training on a more constructive basis than that given to the team that travelled to Christchurch, comments the Daily Times hockey writer. It is understood that players, too, did not fulfil their obligations, as the attendances at training nights were poor. The value of team coaching fpr representative fixtures was shown in the recent Otago v. Canterbury match, and it is hoped that the Otago Association will follow the example of the Canterbury Association. The first essential in building up a successful team is to choose players who will be able to attend all practices and team talks and to select these players early in the season. The value of daylight practices also should not be lost sight of, and it is suggested that the following programme might act as a guide to training a representative team to play for the Challenge Shield next season and to take part in the Canterbury centennial tournament.

Take the players who have been put in training this season, add any new talent that may be found next season, and commence from the beginning of the season with the following routine: Tuesday night, gymnasium work for fitness; Thursday night, team talk; Saturday mornings, daylight practice against some other team, attendance at these meetings and practices being insisted upon. This would enable a team to take the field assured of fitness and combination. This type of training and coaching is what Otago hockey requires to assist it to live up to its slogan, •“ The Game That Growls.”

Brothers’ Fine Performance ■ Two brothers, It. and K. Heydon, played good football for ZingariKichmond on Saturday, and were responsible for nine of their team’s eleven points. It. Heydon, a fiveeighth, who is becoming known as the Dave Trevathan of presentday Rugby, dropped another of his neat goals and also scored a fine try, while his brother, K. Heydon, vice-captain of the Otago junior representative team, who was filling a vacancy in the forwards, played a fine hard rucking game and was rewarded with a well-de-served try. They should both be prominent’ in senior football next season Good Shield Record

Willis Perriam, the Otago second five-eighth for to-morrow’s Ranfurly Shield match against Southland,, will be making his fifth appearance in shield matches between the two unions Perriam was a member of the Otago team which regained the shield from Southland at Invercargill in 1938, played in the return game when Otago lost at Dunedin, and in the following year was a member of the Otago side which was defeated by 23 points to 4 by one of the strongest provincial teams in shield history. In 1946 he led the Otago team in its quest of the shield at Invercargill, when Southland won by a penalty goal to nil. In that game he nad the misfortune to be injured in the first 20 minutes, and was replaced by D. H. Murdoch. Perriam has now represented Otago on 25 occasions, eight of them in shield matches, including the recent Buller game, in which he replaced J. Fitzgerald in the first 15 minutes,of play. Swimmer’s Come-back

One of the greatest swimmers New Zealand has produced, Peter Hanan, has begun training for the British Empire Games in Auckland next year. He is now 34 years of age and has been attending the Tepid Baths daily, concentrating on stroke-work and swimming considerable distance with arms or legs only. Hanan is still the holder of the New Zealand 100 yards freestyle record of 53 4-ssec. He won the National 220 Yards Championship from 1938 to 1940 and the 100 Yards in 1938 and 1940. His time of 55sec in 1938 was the fastest yet recorded in the championship. Hanan represented New Zealand in the British Empire Games in Sydney in 1938 and was fifth in the 110 Yards final. He served in India during the war as a fighter pilot, and since his discharge has been farming near Paeroa. Tramways Rugby Team

The Dunedin Tramways Rugby football team is to leave for Auckland on August 19 to compete for Dominion supremacy. The team has been in solid training 'for several months and plays against house teams as often as possible. In the six games so far played, it has suffered only two defeats. There are four tramway teams entered in the competition, and the Dunedin team considers that Wellington will offer the strongest opposition. Win For Gore High School

Fielding a fast, mobile pack and an enterprising set of backs, the Gore High School first fifteen beat King's High School first fifteen by 21 points to 3 on the Gore hostel grounds on Wednesday afternoon. Almost every phase of the game, especially in the first half, was crowded with incident, the Gore forwards, with O'Connor prominent as a pack leader, sweeping up the field in magnificent bursts and giving support to the backs at every opportunity. At half time Gore had run up a lead of 15 points to 3. The second' half was not marked by such a succession of scoring movements, but the pace was still on, with the prospect of either side crashing over the line. Seeks Bouts In Australia

The New Zealand welter-weight boxing champion, Clarrie Gordon, is seeking bouts in Australia. He is keen to meet Kev. Delaney, who beat Tommy Burns for the Australian welter-weight title recently. Negotiations are at present being conducted with Stadiums, Ltd. Gordon is 31 years old. He has been fighting professionally for 10 years. He represented New Zealand as a featherweight at the 1936 Olympic Games at Berlin, losing to the eventual runner-up, Karlsen, of Finland. He had nine fights in Australia in 1946. losing only to Tommy Burns and Sel Hamilton. Gordon created a stir in boxing circles when, afier knocking out the Australian. Clem Sands, at Auckland last May, he announced that because of his disagreement with the judges’ and referee’s scoring of the bout, he would not fight in Auckland again. According to his manager, Gordon is still unwilling to fight in Auckland. “ S'd’l Going Strong ”

Isaac Jenkins, Southland Rugby representative from 1887 to 1908 and South Island forward in 1903, will be among the Southland contingent tomorrow. Mr Jenkins, a member of the famous Star Football Club, played in the first Otago-Southland game at Dunedin in 1887. He is one of the four known survivors of the teams in that game. The others are Clem Beck (Otago), Arthur Morgan, Southland’s first captain, living in Auckland, and C. Diamond (Otago), living in Perth Clem Beck, who played for Montecillo and later Dunedin, also represented Otago on the cricket field. Charlie Diamond played for Pirates, and both he and Beck were members of the Otago team which undertook the first tour of the north as a provincial side in 1887. YMCA Club’s Record

With three rounds of matches still to be played, the Men’s Basketball Association Competition is resolving itself in a struggle between YMCA B and University A. Both these teams have 14 championship points and are holding a clear lead of 4 points over their nearest rivals, YMCA A, which has 10 points. The YMCA teams are once again demonstrating their allround strength which can be directly attributed to the esprit de corps which has been developed within the club and to the keenness and enthusiasm of the members who turn out regularly for practices. Other clubs would do well to emulate their example.