NOTES BY FORWARD.

Otago Witness, Issue 2253, 6 May 1897, Page 36

NOTES BY FORWARD.

• . • Mr G. P. Bayly, of Taranaki, as well as Mr Galloway, was nominated for the position of president of the New Z 'aland Rugby Union, and the Otago president was elected by * majority of two voles. • . • The want of water in the Tinkers district and the ciniequent lack of employment in the sluieiDg claims there have brought about the demise — temporary only, I hope — of the Matakanui Club. The Waitahuna Club has also gone under, owing to the departure of a number of players I'rom the district. * • . • tSvt the annual meatia«r of the New Zealand Rugby Union, Mr F. W. Mitchell, one of the Otago delegates, proposed, and Mr J. Bee, another Obago delegate, seconded, a motion to the t-Ht< cb that the various affiliated unions should bo seked to make suggestions as to the management of the team for Australia and the carrying out of the tour. The motion, which was lost, raised a perfect howi of dissent, the majority of the delegates .considering it would lie » reflection on the managing committee if the whole nv&tfer was not left in their hands. When one remembers how the managing committee bungled the tour of the Queensland tsam in this colony last year, one can have very small expectation of their carrying out this year's proposed tour successfully. It may be pertinent to ask at this early stage, For whom is the position of mauager of the team cut and dried ?

• . • A letter from the Wellington Union, read at the annual meeting of ihe New Zealand Union and referred to that body's appeal committee, raised the question whether an iudividual who had received a salary or bonus for acting as an officer of a club or uuion could play football after ceasing to act as such officer without becoming a professional. The rules are fairly clear on tbe subject;. Among tbe seta of professionalism by an individual is "playing for a club while receiving, or after havivq received ; from such club any consideration whatever for acting as secretary, treasurer, or in any other office. . . ." The rtfes leave little room for doubt that a person who has been paid for his setviees a*s an officer caianot play until he has had his disqualification properly removed — so HUle room for doubt, indeed, that the appsal cimmitfcee may quite orobabiy ttumble into the correct ruling. * • . • There has been some doubt as to who constituted the New Zealand Union since the dtparture of its firat secretary for Australia, but that doubt; was apparently solved at the annul meeting of the delegates who had been formally caUed together. The treasurer (Mr I. Hysrns) let it be clearly understood that he was now the New Zeilnnd Union. He it is v/bo suggested to the Queensland and New South Wales Union an itinerary for the New Zealand team that is to visit Australia ; he it is who has been iv communication with the Union Steam Ship Company ; he it is who stated that "if the invitations [from the Australian Unions] were accepted the team would leave Wellington on the* 26th June . . . leave Sydney on the 2nd August, arriving at Auckland on the 6th and playing there on the 7th," &c. ; he it is who said " the team would con- | gist of 20 m?n." One may fairly ask what the i secretary of the New Zealand Union was doing I when the correspondence was being conducted by the treasurer in this way, aud one is prompted to atk also where the managing committee come in when the treasurer has already decided what the number of the team is to be, what their movements are to be, whom they are going to play and whom not to play, and so on. The whole programme "has apparently been prepared by one man, and all the delegates representing the various unions from Auckland down to Southland had to do was to sit tight in their chairs and smile approval. They had no instructions from their respective unions on the subject, and as previously stated a proposal of the Otago Union's delegates to consult the unions was negatived. To such a proposal there was the patent objection that the '• show " might then hive been robbef of its preßent virtue of being a " one-man show."

* . • It is wo-tb. observing that while the treasurer oE the New Zealand Union has decreed that there shall be a m«tc'n between the North aud South Islands in Wellington on the 26th June the New Zealand team is not to be chosen on the play in that match. No ; "there are," the treasurer says, "two objections to that," and as he has declared hitmelf to that effect, of course that matter is settled. The objections to making the North and South match a trial match for the selection of the New Zealand team are that " it would b8 necessary to bring to Wellington 30 men, aad if the

day was wet the New Zealand Union would have more overdrafts, and there was also the objection to picking men on one day's play." As the treasurer has already decided upon a certain course it is useless to protest against it, but at the same time co harm can be done by pointing out that there is absolutely nothing in the alleged objections. In the first place, it may be remarked that it will require the exercise of all the treasurer's ingenuity to get up a North v. South mateh — a match, by the way, which will awaken no interest, for there is no feeling of rivalry between the two islands — played without 30 men, and, if he concedes that ib will be necessary that two fifbeens take part in that match, then the idea at once suggests itself that the occasion ought to be co utilised as to enable the Now Zealand team to be chosen upon the form shown in the match. • . • " Oh ! bub," it is said, "men should not be picked on one day's play." To that there is a direct reply. If it be a choice between picking men on one day's play and between picking them on no day'n play, then the former course is surely the preferable, and there is that choice to be made in this instance. The treasurer proposes, and the New Zealand Uuion apparently adopts his view, th\t the team should be chosen on no day'a play. Thab this is in effeob what is proposed may be readily understood. A committee will without doubt ba appointed to selecb the team. It would bo an impertinence to suppose that there would be an Otago representative on that committee, but there will probably be on it one member from Auckland, one from Wellington, aud one fcom Christchurch. Now at the time the team is picked there will not have been any interprovincial matches played, and consequently each member of the committee will bu driven to eelecting men whom he has not scea playiDg this Beaton, and no member of the committee, it may be safely said, will have seen half of the team playing. The meaning of that is that the members of tho team will be chosen on their reputation. • . • Surely it would be preferable that the team ghould ba chosen upon the form sbown in a trial match. Even if some prominent players, about whose right to places there could be no doubt, were unable to play in such a match, that is no reason why the test of a trial match should not be applied in regard to other caudidates for places. Certainly it might be impracticable to send the team to Sydney on the evening of the day on which the trial match takes place, but on tho other hand there is no urgent necessity why the North v. South matoh, if played at all, should not be played on such a date as would enable the members of the team, chosen on the stre»gbh of the form shown in^that match, to make their arrangements for getting away to Australia. Then, again, I fail to appreciate the necessity for sending the team to the other side at such an early stage of the season as is proposed, nor do I see why the departure of the team should not be delayed until after some of the interprovinctal matches, the^ play in which would afford some criterion as to the form of candidates for selection.

• . • Mr J. P. Firth is reported to have said at the annual meeting of the New Zealand Union that " the only conclusion any reasonable man could come to after reading the rules was that the English Union was wrong [in the matter of the Ob*go Union's appeal in the case of the C»nterbury-O h ago match] and the appeal committee in New Zealand correct." Possessing, as I do, a great deal of respect for Mr Firth, I am bound to assume that he has been incorrectly reported in this respect. I would hesitate to suppose that he was capable of making such a silly statement s>s that above quoted. lam strengthened in the belief that the reporter has been at fault when I read also that Mr Firth, having quoted from a report of the annual meeting of the Otago Union, " mentioned the names of three members of the New Zealand Union's Appeal Committee — Messrs G. F. Campbell, W. J. Cotterill, and T. Henderson — and said, sarcastically, that he supposed the fxcb that they had played fir&tclass football for 15 5 ears or so di qualified them from being mtmbers of the appeal committee." Mr Firbh is almosb obviously misreported in this latter sentence. When he ii made to refer to the three gentlemen named as having played ficst-clase footbsdl/or 15 years or so, it is pretty clear that wh&tjhe did reier to was the fact o!: thsir hur.ug played firat-class football 15 yrars ago — when the laws of the game were substantially different from what they are now — and it- will be observed ho\v the effect of Mr Fii-th'a remarks is changed by this simple necessary amendment. • . • At the risk of being accused of harking back unnecessarily to tbe subject, I wish to correct a slip on my part in a paragraph last week referring to the composition cf the New Zealand Union's Appeal Committee. The statement as printed was, " Surely there is Boma qualified person in Ob«go and Southland." What I had in my mind to write was, that there waa eucely some pereon in Canterbury and Southland qualified to act oa thß committee, Otago being ont of the question owing to the bias on the part of delegates against this province and all in it.

• . • Tho Wellington Rugby Union is desirous of instituting annual matches between Wellington aud Otego. I am not at all inclined to think such a course desirable.

• . • The play of a member of the Union First Fifteen on Saturday last was in such direct contrast to the form shown by him on the previous Saturday as to occasion a good deal of comment by members of his own clab.

• . ' The diversity of uniform? worn by players in the match between the Alhambra and Caversham Clubs has, I believe, been brought under the notice of the O.R.F.U. The explanation given by the Alhambra Club is that the recruits from the Melrose Club had not been able to procure their new colours. • . • A special meeting of the Caversham Football Club was held' last Friday to consider the advisability of winding up the club in view of the fact that no ground was available to play upon. There was & large attendance of members, and amouget those present were Messrs W. D. Milue (in the chair), A, J*me», and A. Morrison, M H.B. It was explained that tbe club had been using St. Clair Park, but it was understood that permission to play upon that ground was shortly to be withdrawn. Subse-. quently, however, the proprietors of the ground intimated that the club could have the use of the ground for some time longer. The exact period could not be fixed, bub it would probably be of sufficient duration to permit of the club playing off this season's engagements. The matter was discussed at the meeting, and eventually it was decided to continue the club. • . * The weekly meeting of the committee of the Ofcago Rugby Uuion, held on Monday, was attended by Messrs Gailaway (president), Wilson, Campbell, Duncan, Harris, Isaacs', M'Laren, Strong, Torrance, and Hutchison. The sub-committee appointed at the previous meeting to make suggestions with re'erencQ to country matches submitted a report in *?hich they recommended bhat a Dunedin tenm should be sent through Central Ob.-.go in September to play matches a»*insb teams representing the Maniototo, Viueent, and Tuapeka Counties, and thab arraugements should ba made for teams from North Otago and South Ot&eo

visiting Dunedin during the Record Reign week and playing town teams and each other. The report was considered at some length, and a final decision as to its details was postponed for a week. Messrs A. Downes, G. M'Laren, and D. Torrance were appointed the Matoh Committee for the season.

• . ' Taking into consideration the difficulty the Caversham Club have had to contend with, and their not knowing uutil the Friday evening whether they would be playing or not, their display against the Alhambra Club was highly creditable. Thepassiug was one of the features of the match, and the team, though light, should under careful instruction give most of the clubs a good go. The bucks all played well, Simpson on the defensive was perhaps the best, his collaring being something to be remembered, while M 'Kersey played splendidly on the attack. The forwards were placed at a great disadvantage through not knowing tbeir places. Notwithstanding thia they secured the ball pretty often in the scrums, but were beaten in the line ont; while in open rushes the want of combination n told seriously. In the middle of the second spall Henderson met with an accident which necessitated his leaving the field, the Caversham therefore playing a man short the res'; of the game. Olson, Cavanagh, Russell, and Lang were the most conspicuous in the forward division. The Alhambra players against Caversham First gave promise of becoming a good team before tho season closes if they will only practise hard, but the facb that they bad not much the best of the game if sufficient indication that at present they are not up to the form of the Alhambra players of old. • . • Time was nob so many years ago when the matches between the Dunedin and Union clubs were the groat features of the season in Dunedin — matches to which the players and the public looked forward with expectancy and upon which they looked back with regret. That time is now paßt, but the anticipation of witnessing a close and interesting game between these old club 3 drew a considerable number of persons, including not a few of the old-time nlayere, to the Caledonian ground last Saturday. That the Union would win was very generally expected. No one who witnessed the matches a fortnight previously in which tha two teams took part against visiting clubs could reasonably have arrived at any oth? r conclusion, and it was felt to be a wise dispensation of providence that afforded the Dunedin Club the benefit of the wind in the firat spell and that refused the Union Club such assistance in the second, the wind having dropped.

• . ' The fact that the Union prevented their opponents from scoring in the first spell was accepted as an indication that they would in the latter portion of the game justify the confidence that had been reposed in them. Their failure to do so was fairly staggering. It; may in the fist place be ast'ribed to the exhibition by the. Dunedin team of form much above what was expected from them, and it was partly attributable, in my opinion, to neglect of the Union forwards to play tbe garni which, would have most advantaged them, for, instead of making the game their own, they persistently heeled the ball out to their backs, who as persistently failed to make me of the opportunity. Armstrong, the scrum halfback, certainly did his work perfectly well, and it must have been sorely disheartening to him to see the way in which M'Lennan, on receiving the ball from him, clung to it like a lesch while he ran butt into the arms of opposing players. • . * Whatever the Union backs could have done if they had been more favourably situated, they were crippled by the facb that when the ball reached M'Leanan it remained with him or else was thrown forward or passed so badly as to afford them no chance of getbing away with it. Lumb, the fall back, acquitted himself very capably, tackling and running wellthough ib is no part of tha full back's duties to make runs, and it is often dangerous for him to do so — and kicking fairly. Among the forwards Harris, Stewart, Thompson, and Alexander were the mosc prominent, but Munro obviously did good work in the centre of the scrum. Drumm, the Dunedin full back, played a very safe game, fielding and kicking admirably, and there may be bracketed with him Stohr, who kicked and passed well, and by his vigorous and accurate tackling did splendid work for his side. Mackenzie thowed capital form, and Sbephenson did good work, but tho other backs were only passable. Among the forwards Brading struck me as being a very promising payer, and Chambers, Williams, and Sise were aboub the beat of the others. I would wish to enter my protest against the adoption of the gladiatorial practice of wearing sleeveless jerseys.