THE ALL BLACKS

Southland Times, Issue 19276, 21 June 1924, Page 5

THE ALL BLACKS

REPORTED COMMENTS BY MANAGER. ALLEGED INTERVIEW DENIED, (Special to the Times). WELLINGTON, June 20. In the course of an interview which appeared in this morning’s Manawatu Daily Tinies, Mr S. S. Dean, manager of the New Zealand All Black team for the British tour, is reported to have made some rather striking comments on the personnel of the team, the choice of the selectors and other matters connected with the tour. He is said to have stated that Knight’s exclusion had caused most comment. “Apart from the principle involved in his being passed over for West, some good judges claim that the Taranaki man got the credit for much of Knight’s good work at Wellington on June 3,” he is reported as having said. “There is a resemblance between the two men.” Further remarks of the manager of the team are quoted as follows:

“There is a feeling that the best lock did not catch the selectors' notice. Williams is regarded as the king-pin in that position. Bailey was undoubtedly better than Robilliard on attack, but many keen observers noted the lack of opportunity Robilliard had in both the Wellington matches and his good defensive work.” “What about Carroll?” asked the interviewer. “Are you trying to ( pull my leg,” Mr Deans is reported as answering. “There is, to my knowledge, no reason for his exclusion, but the fact that he is not in the best 13 New Zealand forwards. Two New Zealand selectors (North Island) do not rate him as a firstclass forward and say he is a shiner.” In regard to coaching, Mr Dean is reported as follows: “A great deal of importance is not attached to the presence of a coach. Duncan was not a success in 1905 and in 1921 Stead and Alec McDonald were called off after the second test, while George Nicholson tried his hand without startling results. Griffiths got the most out of the men that year. The trouble is that players think they know enough and they won’t take any notice of what a coach tells them.” The interview proceeds: “Why doesn’t the New Zealand Union find a way of paying that three shillings a day?” No answer. “Won’t it come hard on some of the men ?” “A few may have difficulty in keeping going, in fact, quite a number will unless some workable arrangement can be made to ration out each man’s pin-money.” “I see what you mean, and am positively certain a banker will be in the interests of all hands. You won’t have to pay the same attention to detail as your predecessor.” “No; but unless they manage the accommodation and entertaining better than was done by New South Wales in 1922, things will be at sixes and sevens.” “I am keen to know what is being done in the matter of publicity at Home.” “I understand that the Government is deputing a member of the Publicity Office to go through the United Kingdom with the team and give an illustrated lecture on New Zealand in the towns where fixtures have been arranged the night before the match. With reference to the question of representation at the Imperial Rugby Conference, Mr Dean is quoted as saying that two delegates would go: “The question will be finally decided at next week’s meeting and indications are for a special representative being sent along.” “Sam Wilson or Jim McLeod?” “Jim does not want to go.” “That means goodbye to Billy Stead going Home as coach?” “Presumably.” MR DEAN’S DENIAL. Immediately on his return to Wellington this afternoon, Mr Dean sent the following telegram to the newspaper representative responsible for the reported published statement: “Very surprised your alleged interview, full of inaccuracies and your own ideas.” Subsequently Mr Dean made the following statement to a Wellington Post reporter: “I was very surprised, indeed, on picking up the Manawatu Daily Times this morning to read what purports to be an interview that a reporter for that journal had with me yesterday afternoon at Palmerston North. The statements are wholly inaccurate and are in practically every instance the views of the reporter as expressed by him to me and in no way represent my views.”