FOOTBALL.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13874, 10 April 1909, Page 3

FOOTBALL.

TOUCHLINE TOPICS. (By. C.E.H.) Although the keener devotees of Rugby have been busy for some weeks past, and most of the clubs have had one or more preliminary flutters, it has been left to the Easter games to mark the opening of the season in earnest. A more than usually attractive bill-of-fare is provided for this afternoon, two senior matches being set down ior the Athletic grounds. Pirates have an engagement with Taieri. Rovers, an Otago ! club, and Celtic make their debut as a senior team, their opponents being the Athletics (Invercargill). Both local clubs have put in a good deal of training, so the contests should be faster than opening games usually are. The prospects for the present season seem bright, though the glamour of a visit from a ,British team will be wanting, and the stimulus of a foreign tour will be lacking. Timaru and Star are in a rather bad way for players, the former having comparatively few new members, and the latter suffering by the disqualifications meted out to the Northern Unionists. Indeed, it is said that the Blue and Black will be absent from the senior grade 'this season. Pirates were expected to be hard pushed also, owing to Celtic absorbing a number of their team, but new players have been secured," .and the club threatens to taake a bold bid for the premiership. The collapse of Old Boys will help Timaru to fill up their secondary teams. The appearance of Celtic in the senior ranks is hailed by other clubs with mixed feelings, as their elevation has been made possible by the appropriation of men. from various teams, so that not more than half of last year's juniors will be promoted . The affiliation of the .A thletic Club, of Temuka, however, should be productive of nothing but good, the country town being very strong , in footballers, and though it might have been wished that a , new club could have been formed of a non-religious character, it is difficult to see how the necessary division could have been made in any other manner. The colours' of the Athletics, I am told, will be worn by a few players who had gone into temporary retirement, with years of football still in them. I wish the new aspirants to senior honours every success, and trust that any stringency of players occasioned by Celtic's move will soon be overcome. If six"" teams can be raised for the competition more interest should be engendered than for many years past. Several members of the Referees' Association have resigned owing to removal and other causes, and the Association would be pleased to hear of good men willing.'to fill the vacancies.

The heavy rain of last week should have the effect of putting the grounds in splendid order, and there promises to be an absence of the sting usually looked for early in the season.

Nothing was said at the w Rugby Union meeting about training rooms, but I trust that before the season is far advanced some definite steps will be taken in the way of providing facilities for indoor practices. ! Some of the junior players seem to be aggrieved at the small amount of attention bestowed on their matches compared with senior games. I should like to point out that their grievance is easy of removal; if they join the senior ranks they will get their full share of the large amount of space devoted to Rugby. The success of the two New Zealand teams in the Old Country has not been repeated financially by later colonial parties. The original All Blacks made a clear profit of £II,OOO, and the total takings of the professional All Blacks ran into £IO,OOO, out of which each man is said to have drawn £3OO. The amateur Australian team (Wallabies) had to put up with a loss of £ISOO on their trip, and the Kangaroos just managed to pay expenses, leaving nothing to be divided among the players. ""We want the New Zealanders," said a member of the lately returned Wallabies. If figures prove anything, there is not much doubt as to how the Australians will faTe when they get them. The records of the three colonial teams, which have toured Great Britain, are as follows: — Points. P,. W. L. D. F. A. New Zealand .. 32 31 1 0 830 89 South Africa !•... 28 25 2 7 553 79 Australia ....... 34 29 4 1 425 144 The Wallabies met thirteen of the teams played by the All Blacks, and though they lost only one more game, their points record of 193 to 69 is a long way behind the 320 to 18 of the New Zealanders. Two well-known figures on South Canterbury grounds who are likely to be missing this season, are W.. Scott and W. Carlton, the captains of last year's Temuka and Pirates teams. Scott is leaving for North Otago, where he has secured an allotment' *i the Kauroo Hills estate, and Carlton has taken up land in the St. Andrews district. Each of these men has" a long record of interprovincial games to his credit, in addition to having worn the "All White" of the South Island, and the only compensation for their loss is the openings left in the rep. team for young players. Another skipper and Island representative who threatens to retire is J. O'Leary, but as Timaru appears to be short of first grade players, it may not be safe to accept his retirement as final. The insurance of players was again brought up at the Rugby Union meeting, but the absense of data was responsible for the shelving of the scheme. Something of the kind is very desirable; nothing can be done however without funds. Might I suggest that the senior clubs which hold a £5 debenture should" donate these as a nucleus of a fund to be supplemented by similar contributions from other senior clubs, and a smaller one from clubs which do not run seniors. Six senior teams at £5 and four other clubs at half that figure would provide £4O, and a special match arranged for the purpose might bring in another £2O. With this foundation, and a small contribution per player, a trial might be given to the idea. But unless a substantial amount is in hand to start with, failure is certain —even the Wellington Union's fund is in a precarious condition.

The annual meeting of the South Canterbury Union passed off very quietly, the one point which called forth anything approaching difference of opinion being an appeal made by the Star delegates on behalf of the suspended players who went over to the Northern League last year. The matter, however, has passed out of the hands of the local Union, and while it must be admitted that the men can ill be spared, and personally I should like to see them reinstated at an early date, it is idle for them to say that they only gave an exhibition of the new game, and should have been warned that they were liable to disqualification. The men went in with their eyes open and with the loudly expressed determination of wiping out the Rugby Union, and nothing but financial disaster has brought them to their knees. Had their venture been successful, they would have been as loud in their defiance as ever, and their cause .will not be strengthened by their present attitude. . ~ ~ , The proposed alterations ot the rules came up for confirmation at a soecial meeting of the New Zealand Union,

but an incomplete report telegraphed by the Press Association left the fate of the rules in doubt, and many enquiries . have been made by players on the point. The majority in favour of the amendments at the end of last season made it appear certain that alterations would be made, but indications had not been wanting that many Unions had cooled off considerably, and a proposal that the suggested amendments should be referred to the International Board was carried by a two to one majority. The delegates who turned round are now busily explaining that in their frenzy to do something when the Northern game threatened, they were not aware that the changes entailed secession from the English Union. This is a strange confession from men supposed to be well posted in the laws governing the game, for the changes mooted were so North-ern-Unionish in character that there was not the least chance of them being accepted by the conservative body at Home. The decision of the colonial Union means the retention of the existing code for the present season — probably for a good many more. The Welsh Rugby Union decided to invite a New Zealand team to vi.sit Wales next year, but the resolution passed by the International Board disallowing payments to ' touring teams may stand in the way of the trip. This " out-of-pocket " payment was almost responsible for the cancellation of the annual match between England and Scotland, owing to the Scottish Union affecting to have just discovered that such payment had been made to colonial teams in the Old Country, although the point was fully discussed before the All Blacks left these shores. The International Board decided that the Scotsmen had no power to abandon the fixture, and the latter bowed to the ruling, perhaps being constrained to do so when it was pointed out that several of their own players had received "expenses" in the colonies. All this we .learned by cable, and it was thought the last had been heard of me matter. The cable, however, did not inform us that a week later the northerners returned to the attack, with a demand that the resolution abolishing allowances should be made retrospective, thereby making professionals of all members of colonial teams who have been on tour, and incidentally of British players who have visited the colonies. The demand was accompanied by a threat to again cancel the international match. Evidently the Scotsmen backed down once more, as the game was played and nothing has been heard of the wholesale disqualifications sought by the Edinburgh Union. Their peculiar action is not without precedent, as engagements with England in 1884 and 1898 were not fulfilled, and in 1897 Scotland declined to meet Wales because a private presentation had been made to A. J. Gould.

The Taieri Rovers Football team to play Pirates to-day,\ is as follows: — Pullan, J. Kennedy, Cuthill, C. Scott, McAhan, Kennedy, W. Scott, Barnes, Doull, A. Watt, Watt, Findlay, Cooper, Tansey, Stoddart; emergency, Naismith.

At the annual meeting of the Albury Football Club, Mr J.. Campbell presiding over a large attendance of members and intending members, the balancesheet was read and showed a satisfactory balance for the year. The following officers were elected:—Patrons, Messrs J. S. Rutherford and F. H. Smith; President, Mr W. M. J3olt; Vice-Presidents, Messrs F. West, H. Nurse,' F. Buckley, F. Claridge, W. R. McKay, A. Dale, nnd W. Bailey; Captain E. Rutherford (re-elected); Deputy Captain, A. Irving; Secretary,-A. Bartlett; Treasurer, E. Anderson. A. vote of thanks to the chairman closed the meeting.