FOOTBALL.

Otago Witness, Issue 2923, 23 March 1910, Page 61

FOOTBALL.

NOTES BY FULL BACK. Th© ex-Otago University three-quarter and English international, A. C. Palmer, of this city, who left Dunedin for London five years ago to take up his studies at London Hospital, - has succeeded in taking, his M.R.C.S. and L.R.O.P. degrees. Palmer contemplates coming out to New Zealand on a visit, and should he arrive in th© football season may be induced to play. The midget Welsh international halfback, Willie Morgan, who was through Maori-land in the season of 1908 with the British team, and who won his "cap" this season playing for Wales against Scotland on February 12, is embarking for Brisbane (Q.), where h© has accepted a situation. W -.Morgan, .who is a brother of the famous Teddy of that ilk, is an architect by prci fession." . E. E. Booth, cf Otago representative and All-Black fame, who is on a holiday visit to Dunedin, will return to Sydney in time for the opening of the season in that city. It is rumoured that the New Zealand Rugbj Union is considering a proposal to tour th© South Island with a northern team and the North Island with a southern combination. This, I take it, is to counteract the influence of Northern Union football. An extract from the "annual report of th* Southland Rugby Union :—" The interprovincial matches do not show a very enviable record, but as players and. the public know a game cannot always be judged t>y the score, and -some, splendid games were played by our. team, especially against Wellington and Canterbury. The Otago-team scored points against onr men than -"on any previous Occasions. The folio vying show's th© results of the interprovinciar- matches: Against Otago, at Dunedin,.* lost by 35 points to nil; against^Wellington, at Inver-i cargill, lost by 18 points to 5; against Can-' terbury, at Invercargill, lost by 6 points to 5. The schools' interprovincial match' with Otago was played in Dunedin, and was won by the Otago boys, who were muehi heavier han the Southland boys. Some ofi th© local lads give promise of becoming first-classplayers." The balance sheet shows :| Liabilities—To New Zealand Rugby Union, £1200; to Bank of New South Wales* £1319 10s-9d; sundry creditors, £62 17s; total, £2582 7s 9d. Assetsf-By 13£ acres land, and improvements thereon, situate Elles road, £4500; Galbraith Shield, £2s;| cash in. hand, £4 14s 6d; total.: £4529 i«s 6d. Balance of assets - over liabilities (including: £33 Us 8d profit for year), .£lß4l} 6s 9d. A reported possibility, that an America* .' Rugby, team, selected/frdixi the);; universities,may tour Australasia, is;'making'New Zea-? landers, wonder ;hp;vy: ; far' Rugby has progressed in.the United,-,States. So:-far the game,is not played-much outsidguihe universities of the West, but the hew:_ ment is gaining, grotyhd. Missionaries aro in the East;, and"thev are winhing'.cOnvertrThe" old allegation that Rugby is too meeW and mild for America's fiery youth has ' been utterly discredited. In a recent article! <on Rugby, Iho New York, Times largelj, quoted the views of an A"m©ricaii;' Rhodes sehplaiy 1 "Mr ■'" D. who spoke thus:— <f lenjoy playing. Rugby extremely.I never pretended to any, one, even to th«f coaches, .th'a't T.-enjoye'd' playing, the American game..;" In a- season - nor©: than twice sas;: long';{in, England);-■ with a nivch' larger playirigr body, : the."serious. injuries" at Rugby are not more than 4 oer cent, of those at; the American game. This ; s a conservative of opinion" from which I 'will not recede/'; ..-, ■'.-.-' - ■ -At-a recent., meeting of the Wellington lieferees' Association -the following:. 1 .officebearers were V elected:—Chairman,- .Mr D.. M/Kenzia; vice-chairman, Mr H> •-. Care!; hoh. secretary and treasurer, Mr L.Sievers .(re-elected): . Classification . Coihniittee —, Messrs H. Card,. T. Quinn, and W. Spsncer;, : Revision Committee—the chairman, vice-: chairman, and the secretary; referees on tW Appointment Board—Messrs W. Silencer, W. Roberts., and. G. Howe; delegate to the New Zealand Referees' Conference, Mr F. Laws; vice-president on the New Zealand-Referees' • Association, Mr H. Card; hoh."" a uditor, "Mr" J. F. O.' Sullivan'. Mr C. T. Mitchinson, who was injured while diving on sth December last, died in Wellington a few days ago. Deceased had his spinal column injured, and total paralysis of the body and limbs followed. He was a member of the Poneke football team, and was very popular with his fel-' lows. If the negotiations of the respective governing bodies of the Rugby game in New South Wales do not break down at the eleventh hour—and that is not at ail likelv —the most glorious football season in the history of th© State Sydney Daily Telegraph) is now almost upon us. The New South Wales Union, as the result of the recent conference, has been able to refer to the various branches a programme that should be all-satisfying, seeing that it includes a visit from the recently converted Americans, the ever-welcome New Zealanders, and a representative Maori combination. At present the negotiations are at that stage at which it would be unwis© on th© part of the authorities to say too much, but it may be taken for granted that all three combinations wilUbe on hand at the psychological moment. This state ' of affairs is due in a large measure to the really sportsmanlike spirit of the New Zealand delegates at the recent conference. Messrs Dixon. Fache, and Mason are said to have conducted their business with the. Queensland and New South Wales Unions in such a give-and-take manner as to leave, no room for doubt that they wer© present in the best interests of the game. The New Zealand representative team will be one of the strongest ever sent to these shores by the Dominion, and if all that is said of the young players who are to be given. their chance here this seasonlis-.true. entertaining; expositions of the,gamfe should follow. It is long since common knowledge that the League is bringing., a.. powerful Northern Union team over at. a very ..considerable outlay. The members of th© combination are declared to be the fastest and trickiest men playing under Northern Union rules. Under the heading. "An Antipodean Item," the Athletic "News /Manchester)— •■

which paper, by the way, is the advocate for Northern Union football —says amongst other things:—"Nothing has been made known from rhe International Board, if they have discussed such a thing —and the last we heard of the matter was that they had not done so —as" to the colonial proposals to alter the rules of Rugby football. In Australasia, however, they keep pegging away, and New South Wales had called a conference between representatives of the ■anions of New South Wales, Queensland, and New Zealand. The executive of the Dominion werej not prepared to proceed precipitately in the business, and though when the last mail left it was understood the conference would deal with such business as alterations of rules, the financial aspect of of visits, and the taking of combined action to counteract the growth of the Northern Union Game, it was decided tt delay matters. The New Zealand Rugby Union, as they had said last March, were quite willing to take part in the proposed conference on x,he laws of the. game; suggested tha* three delegates should be sent; asked for particulars of the scope of the conference, and for an interchange of motions which it is proposed to be tabled; and sought that the conference should be held not later than the end of January. Thus if the deliberations took place, forthcoming mails will bring interesting news from Sydney, and we are particularly interested in the plans to counteract the influence of the Northern Unira. The dispatch of a side by the latter body to Australasia next summer iWoui'd weli-nigh paralyse Rugby unionism down under. That is a fact."—{Well, the plans to counteract the Northern Union influence is a visit from a New Zealand team and a possible visit from a. combined American Universities team which has adopted the Rugby code. _ If this is not enough to counteract the influence of a visit from an English Northern t&non team, Northern unionism has a stronger hold than I wot iii, That it "will well-nigh paralyse ■Rugby unionism down under"—well, I don't think it will be a fact.—Full Back.] TAIERI ROVERS. The ninth annual meeting of the Taieri Rorere Club was held on Friday evening, when there were 40 members present. The annual report stated that the First Fifteen played 15 matches, won 5, lost 8, drew 2, points for 99, against 113—flag points 12. The Second Fifteen played 15, won 6, lost 9, points "for 45, against 145 —• flag points 12. The Fifth Fifteen played fILO, won 2, lost 8, points for 29, against 101 —flag points 4. The following office-bearers were elected: President, Mr J Dryden vice presidents—Hon Thos. Mackenzie, Dt Allan, Messrs H. H. Inglis, H. Guest, Wf •H. L. Christie, A. F. Cheyne, C H. •Brooks, G. M'Laren, P. Kerr, J. F. Knott, !A. F. Quelch, D. Bremner, J Smith, •H. Millar, A. P. Gibson, D. Gibson, A. .Gordon-Smith; secretary, Mr G. B. Burns; assistant secretary, Mr W. H. Young; Committee of Management—Messrs J. Cutfcill, J. Kennedy, A C. M'lntvrt, R. M'Donald, H. M'Donald, N. Fraser, J. M'Fadden, B. Watson, J. Brown, T. Smeaton; auditors—Messrs J. Brown and 'J. M'Fadden; delegates to O.R.F.U.— Messrs Brooks, Smith, and Burns; dele : gate to Accident Reserve '"Fund, Mr J. Kennedy. After a good deal of discussion it was Tesolved on the motion of Messrs M'lntyre and G, Scott, that the club appoint three selectors, one to choose the first fifteen, one to choose the second, and one the fifth. •The following were appointed:—Mr \. C. arintyre, First Grade; Mr J. Cutijill, Second Grade; and Mr J. Thomson, Fifth Grade. Mr A. Gordon-Smith wrote enclosing a cheque for £1 Is, and requesting the club to appoint him chaplain.—The secretary ,-was instructed to acknowledge receipt of the letter, and place Mr Smith's name on the list of vice-presidents. The subscription was fixed at 5s for members of the First and Second Giaces, and 2s 6d for the othe;. grades. SOUTHERN CLUB. , The twenty-seventh annual meeting of the Southern Football Club was held last evening in the Friendly Societies' Hall. South Dttnedin. Ml J M Gallaway (president) occupied the chair, and there was a very large attendance of members and intending members In moving the adoption of the renprt and balance sheet, the Chairman congratulated the club on last year's work, but expressed regret that the First Fifteen had not reached the premier position. They were to be congratulated on being runners■up, and he- hoped to see them annex the premiership next season. The junior teams had done exceedingly well, and I if they lived up to promise they would yet make the Firs' Fifteen a credit to the district. Players must learn off the field, and be thoroughly trained before going on the field of play if they wished to excel at the game, and excellent facilities were provided for that purpose. He paid a warm tribute of praise to the coach and trainer, to whose enthusiasm and assiduous attention they owed so much. These gentlemen did it all for the love of the game, and they were under a deep debt of gratitude to them.—(Applause.) He expressed pleasure to find that Mr Steve Casey had won the gold medal for being the best trained man of his year, as it showed that that sterling player Jcnew the value and necessity of •being thoroughly trained for his work. Mr Sidey seconded the motion, and said he was pleased to be able to congratulate the club on last year's record, which was a good one, and did them credit. The First Fifteen had done well in the first part of . the. season, consequently a great deal was expected of them, and it was difficult to understand why they fell off later in the season. He had heard it said they got stale, but if they never had a. worse record they".would still occuov a high position In any case it taught them how to play the game, and to take a defeat in a sportsmanlike manner, and they were all the better for having made the effort. The junior teams had done excellently during the season, and, being able to place six teams in the field at one time, showed that the club was a very solid one. —(Applause.) The motion was carried unanimously. The following officers were elected for the ensuing year: —President, Mr Gallaway (re-elected); vice-presidents—Messrs Sidey, TX Stevenson, C." G.. Smeaton, P. Shacklock, G. Reid, J. H. Hinton, J. Fogarty, J. Ledgerwood, G. Gallaway (all re-elected), and F Firkin; delegates to the Rugby Union—Messrs C. Cavanagh, A. J. Miscall, and E. Briggs (re-elected); delegate to Sports' Protection Association, Mr R. Kindley (re-elected); auditors. M*>"« M*»-

call and Kindley; hon. secretary, Mr H. W. Alexander; assistant secretary, Mr la. Irvine; practice captains, Messrs Eckhold and Sheehan; General Committee —Messrs Shelton, Leith, Eckhold, Tillysbort, Miscall, Wootton, Cavanagh, Mahoney, and Paul.

The delegates were given a free hand to t deal with matters to be brought up for consideration by Messrs Sincock and Harris. Mr Cavanagh drew attention to the fact that the union proposed to curtail the privileges attached to honorary members' tickets, and he asked for an expression of opinion by those present, with a view to giving the delegates a basis to work from. If these privileges were to be withdrawn it would seem from the balance sheet that the club would have to be reimbursed to that extent by a grant guaranteed by the. union. Personally he favoured honorary membership, as these enthusiasts were strong supporters on the field and otherwise. Several speakers endorsed these remarks, and, on the motion of the chairman, the delegates were given a free hand in the matter. ■ ... The General Committee was authorised to appoint a Selection Committee. It was resolved to select a senior team to visit Timaru at Easter, and to inform the Owaka Club that it would be impossible to accept its invitation until June Mr Austin said he was present as a delegate from the Railway Club, which wished to be accepted as a Third Grade club by the' Southern Club, and to remain together as a club for this season, and afterwards be absorbed into the general membership of the Southern Club. They had 24 good playing members, and preferred to play in the Third Grade.—After a short discussion the proposal was unanimously agreed to, FOOTBALLERS' ACCIDENT FUND. The annual meeting of delegates connected with the Footballers' Accident Reserve Fund was held on Thursday in Mr E. S. Wilson's rooms, Empire Buildings, Mr J. King presiding. ~.,-. . The Chairman moved the adoption ot the report (already published) and balance sheet, and said there was very little he could add to what the report contained. One thing they would have to devise was some scheme to make the fund more selfsupporting than it now was. Last year's committee had been very careful in carrying out its duties in connection with the fund, and had seen that there was no loitering on it Cases had come before them that they could not deal with owing to some secretaries not having handed in the moneys they had received, and there wore two cases of hardship in consequence. The number of players insuring last year was some 30 odd less than previously. -Players did not take the interest in the fund they should. Mr Low seconded,, the motion for the adoption of the repori and balance sheet, and referred to the conscientious way the. committee had discharged its duties. They had had a very bad year in regard to expense, and they would, as the chairman had said, have to take some very extreme measures to make the fund more selfsupporting. Perhaps that could be effected by reducing the benefits to be received. The report and balance sheet were adopted. A discussion followed as to adjusting the benefits and the subscriptions, and _ it was moved that in Class 1 the subscription be 5s and the benefit 25s a week, and in Class 2 the subscription be ,3s and the benefit 20s a week; Class 3 .to remain as it was. This was carried, an amendment that in the case of Class 2 the subscription be 3s and the benefit 15s being lost. The question of whether a man off work owing to accident but who was receiving his wages should participate in the benefits of the fund was ventilated, and it was pointed out that if he was debarred from participating he would not join the fund at all. The remaining rules were adopted practically without alteration. The following gentlemen were appointed a' committee: —Messrs A. Low, R. M'Kehzie, J. Kennedy, J. King, J. M'Combie, and H. Firidlay. PORT CHALMERS CLUB. The twenty-sixth annual meeting of the Port Chalmers Football Club, held in the Garrison Hall on Saturday evening, was attended by the president (Mr N. Dodds) and about 40 members. The annual report was as follows :- REPORT AND BALANCE SHEET. In presenting the twenty-sixth annual report the committee regrets to have to record the deaths of two vice-presidents— Mr E. G. Allen and Mr W. F. Bastings. The records of the club's three teams show no improvement on last year's position. The records arc:—First Grade: Played 15 matches, won 7, lost 7, drawn 1; points for, 108; against, 64. Second Grade: Played 15, won 7, lost 7, drawn 1; points for, 138; against, 108. Third Grade: Played 14, won 6; lost 7, drawn 1; points for, 94; against, 107. The want of success is due in a great measure to the appointment of selectors. Permanent selectors should be appointed at the general meeting of the club. The club had but one representative in the Otago team, Mr Jas. Clark. In the Central Otago team Messrs Clark and R. Wibon represented the club, while Mr Dougherty and Mr James Hay were members of the team that visited North Otago. The objection by the Rugby Union to playing matches on the local ground was that the railway fence was too close to the playing field. A great deal of expense and trouble has been gone to in having the fence moved back, so that local people may again have the pleasure of seeing senior matches played at Port. The thanks of the club are due in a great measure to Mr E. H. Clark, M.H.R., for the -removal of the fence, also for'his donation towards the expenses of removal. The thanks of the club are also due to our , vice-presidents for their support and interest; to the executive - Y.M. class rooms for the uise of its building; to the Referees' Association, St. John Ambulance Association, and also to the press. The Chairman, in moving the adoption of the report and balance sheet said he observed that the Senior team had won seven and lost seven matches, and he considered that the Senior Grade team had played exceedingly well, especially at the beginning of the season. The matches lost were only lost by a small margin, and that showed that the team was steadily improving in Senior Grade play. A better fight ought to be put up during the coming ! season than during last season. j Mr Salter called attention to a paragraph in the published report which was differaailv worded from tke paragraph in the

report submitted to the meeting. The published paragraph contained a. reflection on one of the selectors which, he thought, was not justified. The Secretary (Mr Moir) explained that in condensing the report tor the press the wording had unintentionally contained a reflection upon Mr M'Kenzie as a selector which was not intended. The Chairman said he was certain the secretary did not intend any reflection upon the selector; the matter arose through unfortunate wortling. The report, as submitted, was adopted. The balance sheet, which had not been audited, was held over for future consideration. The credit balance shown was 9d. Mr W. J. Wilson intimated that when the balance sheet was properly before the members he intended to refer to the matter of honorary members' tickets and the revenue arising therefrom. GENERAL BUSINESS. The delegates to the Rugby Union were given a free hand to vote on the notices of motion affecting Rules 32 and 33, to be moved by Messrs H. Harris and H. F. Sincock. Some genera! correspondence and the date of opening the season was left in the hands of the General Committee. ELECTION OF OFFICERS. Officers were elected as follow:—President, Mr J. Crawford; vice-presidents— Messrs A. M'lntyre, J Warden, J. Mill, F. W. Platts, R. Bauchop, W. J. Wilson, J. R. Stewart. N. Dodds, F. Bastings, W. B. Morgan, E. H. Cark, M.P., and D. Borrie; secretary, Mr T. Anderson; treasurer, Mr E. Godfred; practice captain, Mr W. Dougherty; auditor, Mr W. M'Kenzie; General Committee—Messrs M. Salter, W. J. Wilson, W. B. Morgan, C. Colthrope, H. Healey, A. Rowlands, and W. Dougherty; delegates to Otago Rugby Union—Messrs J. H. Crawford, W. J. Wilson, and W. Connor;' selectors, Messrs W. B. Morgan and C. Colthrope (to act with captains of 'todms); coach, left to General Committee. HONORARY MEMBERS' TICKETS AND PRIVILEGES. Mr W. J. Wilson intimated that at the forthcoming meeting of the Otago Rugby Union the question of honorary members' tickets would come up for review. The finances of' the union were going down, and one of the causes was the use that honorary members of clubs made of their tickets to attend football matches. From what he had gathered honorary members' privileges in this respect were very properly to be curtailed. An honorary member of a club paid 2s 6d, and for this he got in to witness eight Senior Grade matches. These persons did not become honorary members to benefit a club, but did so because they wished to get in to see matches at a cheap rate. Some clubs had a very extensive list of honorary members of this class, as high in some cases as 400, and where there had been thousands at a match on the Caledonian Ground the gate had returned only £SO. He had heard of honorary tickets being hawked about for sale, and the argument used was that the buyers would igpt in cheaply to witness matches. He thought if football waa worth seeing it was worth paying for. The clubs lived to a large extent on the revenue derived from the sale of honorary members' tickets, and any action taken by the union in the matter would require to have some provision for financing the clubs. An informal discussion followed Mr Wilson's remarks, and it was eventually resolved that the club's delegates to the union ba given a free hand to vote as they deemed best when the question came up. DUAL DEFEAT OF SCOTLAND. LONDON, March 20. At the Rugby 'frame at Liverpool England (a goal and three tries) defeated Scotland (a goal). Ireland (a goal) defeated Scotland (nil) at the Association game.