YOUNG PLAYERS OVERLOOKED

Southland Times, Issue 25738, 31 July 1945, Page 7

YOUNG PLAYERS OVERLOOKED

Southland Rugby

Team

SELECTORS’ CRITICIZED , There was some criticism of the 1 selection of the Southland Rugby team , at the meeting of the man^ ell } ent T 1 mittee of the Southland Rugby’ U ™° J last night. The . main , crlt \ c ' s r t ?Xd ! that the' selectors had . promising young players, and tins was described as a wrong policy m view of , the fact that Ranfurly Shield matches . might be resumed next season. i One of the selectors, Mr H. S. Stiang, , said that although the Southland team was beaten by South Otago;on Satur , day it was not disgraced. The d® f 1 was very good on both sides an ■ prevented either side from , sh s v '™g < brilliant play. One thing ered both sides was the fact that a new , ball was used and bounced very erratically. The South Otago team was a good one and he considered that the . Southland team did quite well. He • knew rhere had been a lot of cr ] tl( ;ism in the city because the Southland team ■ had been defeated by a sub-union team, but people should face up to tne fact that South Otago had a good team . with some outstanding players. «e thought the Southland team, m which . only one change had been made, would give a good account of itself- a S al . ns ? Otago on Saturday. He did not think Otago would have a much better team I than the South Otago team, and Southland might be able to snatch a victo y. PLEA FOR YOUNG PLAYERS Mr I. McCurdy said he failed to see the principle under which the s ® ec had chosen the Southland team • year. He did not think that the selectors were giving the young P Y enough encouragement. A big, strong, young players had oe® overlooked. Young players should be given every encouragement by Deing afforded the experience of playing in representative football. If young P Y ers were selected for the represen a i team it was an incentive to other young players to strive for representative honours. . , “We have plenty of young players, and I don’t think the young Payers are getting a fair spin at present, IVir McCurdy added. ~ — “I agree with Mr McCurdy, said Mr G. H. Geddes. “I do not think the selectors have given sufficient consideration to the young players. Some ot the present representative players may retire at the end of this year and we must remember that Southland may have to defend the Ranfurly Shield next year. That being so, it would have been better to select young player§ this year to give them experience for next year, even if the team selected was not the best team.” Mr F. H. McEwan also expressed the opinion that the young players had not had “a fair go.” A glaring instance was tlie choice of a man who had not played for months and who was selected on one game which was not seen by the selectors. He said Southland would be placed in an awkward position if all the older players retired about the one time. DUTY OF SELECTORS “I do not know if the remarks that have been made represent a vote of no confidence in the selectors,” said Mr Strang. “The question seems to be, are the selectors to choose the best team or are they to overlook the best of the older players in order to give a chance to young players who, in the opinion of the selectors, are not up to standard? There is a tendency in Southland to regard players as old when they are only 26 or 28 years of age. The Springbok team of 1937 had an average age of 30 years and some of the players were 32, but I regard it as the best team that ever visited New Zealand. Are you going to suggest that a player should not be selected for the representative team after he has reached a certain age?” In his opinion some 'of the young players,’ who it was thought should be in the Southland team, had not yet had sufficient experience. Their chance would come in a year or two. It was unusual for players of 18 or 19 years •of age to get into the representative team in their first season in senior football. If the union laid down a hard and fast rule that players over a certain age were not eligible for the representative team, then the selectors would know where they stood, but at present as a selector he went out to select the best team available. In his opinion a lot of the young players were handicapped at present because they did not 'know the fundamentals of the game. That was because they were not getting the coaching in the clubs. Isaac Jenkins had played for Southland for 20 years, and he had been told by a man who knew, that he was worth his place in the team every time he stepped out. The critics overlooked the fact that there were quite a number of young players in the Southland team this season. Another point to remember was that a good, big forward was better than a good little forward in representative football. The little man might be ’all right in club football, but he would be just pushed about in a representative game. Mr McEwan: There was one man in the Southland team on Saturday who got in solely on his reputation. Mr Strang: We wanted a man for a certain position, and after making inquiries we were satisfied that he was just the man we wanted for the position because of his weight and experience.

Mr McCurdy said his remarks were not intended to express no confidence in the selectors. He just wanted to know on what principle the team was selected. Mr E. P. Hawke: A lot of followers of the game think that we should build up a young team in view of the Ranfurly Shield matches. Mr Strang: Some of these young players are not fit for the representative team. They want more experience. Mr Hawke: I think the criticism is more about the forwards than about the backs.

Mr L. A. H. Clode, one of the selectors, said that he understood there would be no matches for the Ranfurly Shield until a year after the end of the war and the war was not yet over. Therefore, they would have next season to prepare for the shield games. Mr J. L. Oughton, who is also one of the Southland selectors, said that the job of the selectors was to select the best team available. Next year’s team could look after itself. Mr Clode: If we had not taken the forwards we did to Balclutha on Saturday we would have been overwhelmed by the South Otago team, which is experienced and has been playing for two years together. , Mr D. F. Leckie said that next year some of the young players who, it was said, had been overlooked this year might be overshadowed by other young players who were at present out of the country.

GOLF NEWCOMER’S SUCCESS LONDON, July 29. Reginald Horne, an “unknown” golfer, won the News of the World £2OOO golf tournament, defeating Percy Allis in the final, 4 and 3. The first prize was worth £6OO. Horne is a newcomer to big golf. He is a nephew of W. Horne, who was world renowned as- a long driver. Henry Cotton, the former British champion, was beaten in the fourth round.