FOOTBALL.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 11997, 4 September 1909, Page 7

FOOTBALL.

*' > INVITATION DECLINED. -Press Asosciation-By Telegraph-Copvright -v LONDON, Sept. 2. ,' The Welsh Rugby Union has decided cahnot just now accept the invitation to semi a- team to New South ' ' REFEREES' ASSOCIATION. Bar Frees Aasociatwa. "~ 9. 1 ""-.<. ~New Zealand Football Referees' _ Asaoeiatioß .was formed .in Wellington te-night. .Tbejiriacipal .object* was-to. seeore a% |>Ui. tioas aan rnKng* respecting 'the laws of the sane,' to proyide. referees for' all Wf trhfs"when, sfequested to do so by the and to aieeare' th»*'pnnisbment of persons insuiting refereesi ' <r ~- BUOBY UNION. ~ ot the SovUi Cuterbary Ba%by. Union held jte-aaaal weekly, aareting yesterday. C:'F- Coffins, WIT. Maben. C. L. - Maatia, ajadTll;-Jt-' Eraser,, secretary. "-V&mcgstuy r mml~ Referees' Associa«Mß>ete.iianr«cted to arraagefor the nleree for the rep. natch"'and hotel .players in. -the-Caa-terWry teanu The North Otago Un- - ill iiiila "aeliiai. Ihii limr of the Sonth Caarterbary A team's arrival oa dsy. The JJ|iwood Football Club wroto BM&fißm&i*M»;mg -of *nej*. , Itii .refereace to, - rep. hockey atataxV (ladies) Caaterbury t. Soutii Caaterbary, it ;thst the} Hedoiy the use- ■ of'thb Caledoaian Grouads oa the of,the gross, talnais. or as aa aßeraatrre; the use of the Athletic Groaads with 10 per eeat of the aett takings. ;-• The lieasai si .mentioaed that on the '.- aare»vday»>waeß,|both-football and hedtey awtchea had been played, sn avaraae gate of'-« 5s waa taken; for ties:a>B<daya.<wheß football akme.Jiad heeathe attraetioa averaged! . £7,l7s4Jd. '"■:',-''."-- ~Wmm* iMiaiall aan Maslin were an-' ' nurteal'ataaacers ofr the A aad ; B Gbldstone was at, the Waimate'T. ■ SoathsCaJrtaTbaryf match'. ;• ' ~ •*■- VTfce Aahhartom-Baßby Uaiea 'to- - for anag had lan- . their, aaioa, and. lie ofitader was A^ f Rugby Un- -< TOPICS.. &■■ , « - "u ft -. "(By C.E.H ) ; .; -. 'rwfa3oMß&lijgP t -aeal-ad %aireisi«.y .to-day. t;Caaterbary aad.Wellington play toaied aata- all beea, -<r*tb*, team for, jrV. &• ' . - & Caalerfc^-^North4:otago ) at'; ss'a-lae Ibag-distonce' kicker, anu with »araetiee ia'l using-the line would be'; a greet.gi>und-gaiaer. ,<j>\ ..«*; -, £\ 1 wane shorts bun*, 'and white jerseys ispotted;" ■Jser-s few miautes^'jilay,-and for jT 'aiaddy ield -the more sombre South Caaiterhtiry uaiform has one' decided iatdwaatagK \ captain of the All Black tavß&Mwr.iaaeV'aiave their return •ale *&tor turned.out •Aiasi'iMaxlboronßi last week 'in order, to rest one of tne players for fias been gjuaerallj eoaaidered to be the best ■aalhfi lesiiliau: field in the district. After-' Wedaeaoay'a experience 1 am aatfrfcuT that the Fairlie ground holds the. balm. Apparently nothing abort ofVaßowstorni can make it greasy. * The-cable has furnished some fmcoaiaMMtN. iteaw this week—a Maori team": srrested in Sydney for debt; T&gKA Soccer: players suspended for V trade union "; the seqesRugby players fiiaa Ihe aaairanr game in Sydney, t ~ abuwday. never got near enough to Kara a shot, and tnexnearest thing .by aMmtkCaaterbury-wss v.hit on the post Three of SpilUnes attompta were'decent, bat for once; ma #ky" J Horgao~coald do-nothing with the emMejii sphere. task in' beating the H-;«eam waa: perhaps'not a .heavy one, Wt the 'country men are apparently hattef/jHi their native heath than on Smarn grounds. The score in wedaaaday'a game did not fairly represent their superiority over the attenuated f-i aad' half a dosen times a score was jaVt missed—once by a plsyer getting instead of his hand on the IWI is difficult to estimate North Otaoe form this sesson. With nearly team they just managed to defeat' Waimate, bnt last week they von easily . from an Otago B team. Oaiaioas in Oamaru regarding ttereMtive strength of last year s and that year's fifteens, but unless improve-ment-has been made, Sonth Canterhawy should be able to win next Thurs-"-In 1907 South Canterbury won lw?14 to 12; in 1908 by 8 to 0. .X good deal of difficulty was es•aneaeed in getting sixteen, B .men-to •tale their ability to gP;to Fairlie on lftofaesday. I cannot help thinking of the " could'iit-get-off Saw *ad been asked to travel with Se A&eam tliey would have managed to obtain leave. If this is true, then tna* Unios is not receiving the support iTVMfJtlmfrW '"'*- -nearly every "apology expressed his srfllingness to go to Waimate next areek, it may hare been the tiresome

train journey and not want of sportsmanship that kept them in town, the other day. Every now and again some one lias the hardihood to protest against the veiled professionalism in Victorian football.' A Mr Harper was accused at a recent League meeting of "blasphemy" for insinuating that players were paid. Whereupon a Melbourne paper ironically remarked that " it is true that committees receive £6OO gates, but; it is clearly demonstrated that the whole of the money is spent on boots. It is true that players show peculiar niig"ratory tendencies, but this is only because the medical adviser of the family I has recommended change of air. The Olympian struggles for the laurel wreath grow pale in' glory beside the dassling purity of amateur football in I Victoria." Of course it is quite untrue 3o say that players are paid; they 'merely draw "expenses,", varying from 80s to £6 a week, according to the individual's ability. , - ~ • Wednesday is an awkward'day on which to get a team to'travel,'and a good deal of ..shuffling of players and positions had 'to Ibe done before a %'- teen of paper certainties' for Fairlie was secured."" The weather" < outlook ft'"train time was about as gloomy as could' be, and only, a desire, to keep faith with the-men from-the. outskirts ct* the Mackenzie*district prompted the despatch of the B team. „ M the Timara players'but'one turned np, but none of the Temuka-' contingent put in an .appearance,;.when 'Point' was reached. - Melville, who' happened to lie - at' Fairlie,?, lent - assistance, ssnd a couple of local- men Volunteered their services. One .of the substitutes was at least a .trier,, tho other was not. As four of the absent half-dosen were backs, "the jteam bad to make the best of. a x bad job. The good-following of the' ~ Mackenzie men penetrated the holes in the B rearguard pretty often. Jfackeasie had sn advantage in tlie the forwards were fairly matched, an inclination on the part of one'or two of the Greens to stand off robbing them of what should *ha've been au advantage in the loose.' With two extra backs, Mackenzie, wore, much better served behind titan their opponents, and iu the second half their victory was ever in doubt. .■ O'Connor, arid , McKay were .perhaps the bi>st of' the winners' forwards, "who played .a hard game. Their fault was hanging to the ball. Rutherford's, big kick* and Manaton's pace were,, very serviceable to Maekenjuej. and p'Dowd"waa was very safe if, inclined to*ba The B forwards did not follow-' .up too well, but the shortage of backs, gave theiu some unnecessary, running and probably accounted for their shortcomings. Darcybad a' hard task behind the scrum, and wttn no backs to "make use of had toronteat himself" with defensive tactics. .and one. or. twice "he opened the .eyes of the home team by his besdiness. On tlie play Mackenxie deserved their win, and it was'to be regretted that, a full fifteen was not. on band to oppose them and make the Esme" inoreV. attractive. There is a lot of good material* in. the sub-union awaiting development, and more fre-' quent contests with town teams would do much towsrds rubbing the corners off their play.. Unfortunately,for them, their weaker opponents on -Wednesdaywere incapable* of teaching theniVinuch.- • .The rep.'••team 'emerged- with"credit fronr -its first encounter or marine ' battle, )pt -whatever the reader prefer* to-call' it.''* The vAthletic grouuU was •at-'its-worst on 'Thursday,«beiug in*pos*£^sce*v.more'treacherous tnan it ap&aretl from toe ropes, and the back MayS.waS" ' in*, consequence not wiiat could-have been , reasonably expected on a dry' grouiid. . 'i'ne piayeis had hot-been guuigClong betore iney were liberally bespattered with tlucs mud, and at; halftime they were carrying, a good deal more, weight tnan appeared against'their names ou the official programme Ashburton senior football is not making headway, and no one had much doubt as to the ability of South Canterbury ,to »win. What the real difference between the fifteens is it would *be difficult to say. Six tries is s pretty big r score ? but it would have been considerably- increased even in the' mud had' points been the sole object in view. "The passing game was | not' the fcsme for Thursday, but the . home team were sent out in the first spell to make the play as open snd •attractive as possible for the benefit of the- onlookers. ' After half-time the tactics 'were changed, and " mix it" was the order, 'and the visitors were outclassed back and front. Ashburton showed no signs « —hination, i «nd it would be difficult to name any department of the game, iu which they *»ij r «: superior, unless it were tackling, and. in this, respect the Greens were , -Wvi-r seriously , >called upon. The ' South . Canterbury forwards were heavier, faster, arid more cohesive than their opponents,-, and secured the bail from most of tne scrums. The home backs were smarter, better kicks, and cleverer.' all - round,; than' Ashburton, and after this lias been said it is.unnecessary to add that.the South Canterbury Zd was seldom invaded. Ashburton Rugby is not the"thing it was in the days when the mid-Canterbury town could make an even game with the rest of' the South Canterbury district, and' provided .about half our rep. team. In Thursday's fifteen, there was not a player.of the Upton, Curtis, McTiguc, Hobbs, Orr or Fitzgerald class, and for some reason or other Ashburton has been declining ever since North Canterbury filched the district from the southern Union. With the mud ankle deep, and the ball sodden and slippery, it was not to be expected that the " fine day game" tried by the winners would be* a conspicuous success, and mistakes —or mishaps —were frequent. No player, however, played a had game. 11 ml criticism would he unfair, if directed at slips for which tlie ground was responsible. \ chanpe hs><] to ho -""de in the back, division. Hardie taking Mayo'S; place, awl the Timaru man acquitted himself verv well. He made .good use of most of his opportunities, and fairly earned his retention in .the teani. Hardie lias never before seemed at home in the mud, and if he can rise to the occasion on a, drv day as he, did on Thursday he will''help the team considerably. T>. Scott was well tip to what little he got to do, and never gave cause for anxietv, though lie was rather close to

his three-quarters at times. Wall fielded accurately and except- for one bad mistake kicked well. His try was the result ot a smart recovery after dropping a pass. Bradley did not slime bo brightly as usual, being more hampered by the slush than some of the others and as a result was brought down to the level of his fellows. The pair of five-eighths worked hard, Spillane fielding beautifully, though inclined >to go too far whe passing was tried. G: Coles helped the forwards considerably in the loose, and the younger Coles at half proved dne of the best at mudlarking. Rodgers at wing was as energetic - as usual,, and his long throws-in with the greasy ball were remarkably accurate.' The pack {was a {rood, one. J. Scott has not been •seen often in Timaru this season, and in the trial game was disappointing. •Hs* showed his true 'form on Thursday, and was in most of the rusl>e>. ..■■Janes''" ,'wns waiting on the edtre pretty 'often, • but as soon as the ball was gnine lie made up for his spells. Campbell and Moffett ;wero out for keens, the 'lock one- of the hardest though' occasionally offside. Moffett was kept nuict'fo** a time by a knock on th» thi nr h. T'-e hookers. Hagerty and Ma«ninc, hesiojes, fretting the' leather in the sTirnis, j»ot'nito the of the fr**v »H throi"*'».- Horgan. who went in in Fitzgerald's nlace, put fn some fine following-.- and wis intimately connected with two of the trie«. hut still leans to, nff-sd«»* > The Ashburton backs were on the defen,sivi» nearly all the time, and \'th'oiY : taeklina seemed be their'strongest mint, tlioupli it down towards th" end. Their kicki'ii w;»s very ordinarv. P««»e s«"d Mn'-ken»io were «h"i«t tl» n nic'-. The w» lichtnr thnn the ho«io_lot. I"'t 'Vp-« hard toilers, and whenever the.'.Jialfw!»v line was crossed they, were respon-, •ihle for it. F»-nm'*• Sonth" Cantcburv poi"t of view the gno'e would, ncrhnns have. been n'"re «'»tisfaef'»r'v Jind thn ground been-drv, but in thnt ease the .'mnuntincr of the score Tnight" have become monotonour.