Untitled

Otago Witness, Issue 2373, 24 August 1899, Page 43

Br Arthur Btjdd.

[All Rights Resbbved.]

YE.— TRAINING AND REFEREEING. TRAINING. Inasmuch as, Rugby football is a very different form of athleticism, from any other thf-t I know of, the training requisite is of a different kind. You do not want a man too finely drawn, but you want to retain in his composition a good deal of the animal. In a Rugby game a man is being constantly harassed, buffeted, and thrown, and it is necessary that he should have a reserve force of animal power or he never would bo equal to the task. The ordinary rules of hygiene and dietetics prevail, but need not be enforced with tho samo rigidity as in the case of a man rowing or running a race — indeed, I fancy that you would never get Rugby men to submit to a strict regime. Three great objeots should be kept in view — (1) to keep tho digestive organs healthy, (2) the breathing tubes clear, and (3) the muscles hard and supple. As to t lie form of exercise I hold a very strong opinion against long runs. They make a man slow and stale, and take all the dash and fire out of 1m play. I used to find it a most excellent plan to put on o sweater and go for a three-mile brisk walk, putting in n 50yd.= bprint every quarter or half mile. The skipping rope is an excellent form of condensed exercise, and hardens tho calf and thigh muscles. Indian clubs and dumb-bells are also excellent. Excess of alcohol or nicotine should be strictly avoided. Of course any system of training such as that sketched above will be of all the greater value if the player concerned has from a lad been an actual participator in ,he game. And here some woids of the Rev. F. Marshall, on THE STSTEXI FOR SCHOOLHOYS, may well bo quoted. He writes : '" lam quite convinced that the three three-quarter's system is the proper one for sohoolboyn, and had 1 my way I .should debar any school fiom adopting four three-quarters. My reasons for suoh a course are many. First of all I think that the forward game, pure and simple — i.e... the old-fashioned scrummage dribbling game, is much the better game for boys to pixy. In this I am supported by no less an authority on tha physical training of youth ihan Dr Almond, the h»adma*ter of Lorotto Sohool. I am pleased to find thnl my ideas coincide with his. Wore it otherwise 1 should doubt my own judgment, '■o high an estimate do T hold of Dr Almond's experience and knowledge as regards boys

and their games. The average schoolboy is ] of necessity a "forward. The difficulty in \ schools, especially small schools, is to find < boys capable of playing eveia si moderately ] decent back game. But every boy can play forward, and make some sort of show at it 1 even if he be ' very mediocre indeed. The s boy may be a strong, heavy, sluggibh lad. To i such an one the fast forward game of the J present day becomes a toil. He i& run off his I legs by his lighter and more nimble confreres, s and gets disgusted with tho gamo, and if he plays under compulsion (as he is often bound 1 to do) he joins in the game with an absence < of all interest and keenness. Now the old 1 system give 3 him something to do ; he can i take an intelligent and active interest in any i game, and so begins -to like the fun. More- . over, the games, whatever they may be, of . 1 any school should be- such as to develop the i frame of the lad taking part in them. For . \ this purpose I know of no game that is so J beneficial as the forward game under Rugby < Union rules. As regards danger to lads from ] what careful papas and anxious mammas style a, rough game, I utterly pooh-pooh the idea. I I speak from an experience fo over 27 years i of headmastership. and I simply state faces j when I record that the accidents that have occurred on my school fields are of nothing i compared with those happening at cricket, ] or among the boys in their ordinary larking s ono with another. The Rugby Union game, i played^ in the spirit of the game and strictly j according to the law,.ia a far less dangerous ! pastime than the Association game. Having • lived nearly 20 years in Yorkshire, I can fairly j claim t ohaye some experience in rough i matches ; serious accidents, save where a play- j e<- has wilfully damaged an opponent, have > been 'very rare, and I think it will be granted J that no matter what the sport may be, a ' man who wilfully and of set purpose busies , himself with injuring an jpponenl should not be. allowed to take part in any such game for the future. T.JIK BEST SCHOOL OF TRAINING. It may be granted that for development of the boy's frame a forward game, and therefore not a back game, is the best school a;ame. but I go one better, and state that a player liained in youth in the three three-quarter game will make a finer player than the one who has never seen anything but the four three-quavtej! system. Let me try and explain what I mean. There is the individual player, with his. own particular skill, and tbere- J3 combination. The last quality 1 take to be one which can be gained by any set cf four men playing together and understand- ' ing each other's game, but individual skill beI longs to the particular player. An ideal I ihree-<|iiartev should be able to catch the ball surely and cleanly, drop aud punt kick accurately.' run and dodge, and pass correctly. Nowadays anything like individual brilliancy is discounted and cried down. Now I would make a young player brilliant individually first ere I made an attempt to initiate him I into the complex system of passing that chari acterises the present back game. Arthur Gould is often pointed out as the greatest three-quarter oE his day or any other day. Apart from his extraordinary agility and knack of getting the ball, I am strongly of the opinion that much of his unique bucC2ss is due to the fact that he was teethed under the three .three-quartere game. Gould knows how to make, openings for his fellows, j He learnt early how-to play "for his own hand, and consequently covtld get away when a lefd experienced player had nothing better to do than pass. And so I say : Teach your young three-quarters to do a bit on their own ac- ■ rount. The power of dodging and swerving I Is an exceptional gift, and if t.heie be apy j young player so endowed give him the 'chance of cultivating his powers, and don't cramp him at the start of his career." HOW TO JIKFEHEE. ! The whole tendency of modern legislation has been to invest the referee with additional discretionary powers, and to-'Hy wo find him a plenipotentiary burdened with the weight of hpavy responsibilities, performing a most complex, difficult, and unsatisfactory task. It I is no doubt due to the magnitude of it that a really good referee is a ra.ra avis, and that I could count on my finders the really efficient English officials. Fust of all, it goes without saying that an intiroate knowledge not only of the laws of the game, but of the . mass of case law which has been collected, j is absolutely essential ; but very much in the i samo way that you cannot learn medicine ; out of a book, but must base your know- J ledge on personal observation and practical < experience^ so you will never become an efli- { cient referee unless you are constantly ap- ; plying on the field of play what you hnve j gleaned from the book of tho law*. i There have, of sourse, been good referees ivho ) p avo never laken an acti\e part in th<» garno themselves ; but I have found that 'is a rule old nlayers turn out to be the more ' capable official*. This you would naturally | expect, for a man who hsu> played tho a;iime | would know intuitively what was likely to be tho turn of events, and therefore, j follow the gsmio moro easily. I\-o?iiinincj. then, tliat a referee has rv thorouvjli knowledge of the laws and is a practised hand in interpreting them, the first groat essential is that he should give hia decisions with promptitude and without hesitation. Them is nothing so irritating to plnycrs and spectators as a referee who does not give his decision at once. Hesitwoy in«pirc-3 the notion of incompetence, and a reforee must, therofoi-e. whether lie is cpvtain a' s '.» %| >: point or not, pronounce his verdict at once. Secondly, having; givi-u it, ho nrnst never retract oi ruver.-e it. Tfcre. again, the vacillatino." rpferee :it once loses ihe confidence of t lie players. It follows as ;i corollary that he musl never argue cither (]) on the fie-ld, or (2) oft" it, when the game if finished. I cannot too strongly impress tho importance of this axiom, for I of ton find even the best referees discussing their decisions in postprandial conversation. Once, when I was refcrneinß in an important county game, one of tho player 3 took exception to a decision of mine and asked me to stale my reasons. My reply was, " I am here to give decisions and not to juotify them, and if you attempt to intfrfero with me in tho discharge of my duty I shall order you off tho field of play." Tho effect wa« electric, and I would strongly advise other referees to reply in a similar manner. From start to finish he must keep up with ihe jrame. By this I mean that he must, as far as he possibly can, be parallel with each piece of play. When a man, for instance, is making a run, he must run parallel with him in order to see whether anything like a pass forward or some other irregularity occuim, which he would not be able to detect if he were loft behind. It follows from this that he oiiffht to be in iirst-rats condition — in fact, quite as " fit " as tho players thernsolv<m. With regard to his position on the field of play, there is no doubt in my mind tliat be ought to .stand in the open — i.Q., .the side of a scrummage wheie there is margin between it and the touch line, for it i- in tbib diieotion in all probability that the play will be de- ( veloped. In the "line out" he can safely

leave all irregularities on the touch line io the touch, and he himself should sland in the open, almost midway between the two" touch lines. If he has the smallest suspicion that flic ball is being unfairly introduced into the scrummage, lie should at once enforce the recent rule, which gives him the power to Insist on the half baok putthig the ball in the Borumnmg* on tho eido ou which he is standing. He must nob bo slow to check anything like brutal play. Rough brutality is capable of easy diagnosis. For the flrat. offence I us«l to award a free kick and pronounce a warning, and. for a repetition, order the plarer off tha field. In case of a kick at goal.ie ought unquestionably to stand beneath the post?. Suuie referees stand in a Hue with the kickei. but this is a mistake, inasmuch as if the two touch Judges who are taking a post a-piece differ in opinion, he finds himself in a position whe>e ha cannot possibly pronounce a judgment. At the kick off he should stand oither at the twenty-five or half way flag, so that he may be able to see that none of the kicking out 6ide get offside when the kick is taken. When there is a scramble for a try behind the goal line, and he is unable to see who has touched the ball down, he should order a scrummage to be taken 6yds> out. He should frequently consult his watch to see that it is going.' Mine once stopped, and there was 20 minutes' overtime of play.