ALLEGED UNFAIR TREATMENT

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVII, Issue 19829, 19 June 1934, Page 11

ALLEGED UNFAIR TREATMENT

TEMUKA TEAM FLAG COMMITTEE’S REPLY At last night’s meeting of the management committee of the South Canterbury Rugby Union, Mr W. A. dimming, on behalf of the flag committee, replied to reported statements made by Mr T. Dwan, president of the Temuka Club. Mr dimming said that it appeared that Mr Dwan had been riding his pet hobby horse again, that was, having a tilt at the Union. The newspaper report read:— “Mr Dwan stated that he had informed the club’s delegate on the Union that the fourth grade team was receiving unfair treatment. He now noticed that the game with Pareora was set down to be played at Temuka, I and the return game at Pareora. It was only right that both games should be played at Timaru. “Mr A. Gaffaney: It is not fair to Pareora either. “The chairman: It appears to me to be a direct hit at our decision to subsidise fourth grade players’ travelling expenses. I told our delegate so. However, we can do nothing.” Mr Cumming, replying to these statements, said that as chairman of the flag committee, he was not cognisant of the fact that the Temuka Club subsidised the travelling expenses of any of its players, so that fact did not weigh with him at all when allocating the games in which the Temuka teams were drawn, or the grounds on which they played. He was simply guided by the draw made at the beginning of the season. While it was perfectly true the Temuka fourth grade team was drawn to play three successive games away from home, two were in Timaru, not three as stated by Mr Dwan, and one in Geraldine. Actually they only travelled twice, as the third game was postponed on account of the wet state of the grounds at School Park. Position of Geraldine. Mr Cumming said that Messrs Dwan and Gaffaney appeared very concerned over the fact that Pareora fourth grade was drawn to play at Temuka, and considered the game should have been played at Timaru, but it was very noticeable their sympathy did not extend to the Geraldine Club, who were in a worse geographical position than any other club in the competition, and who travelled twice the distance of the Temuka Club. Was it more of a hardship to ask the Pareora teams to travel a distance of 19 miles to Temuka than to ask the Geraldine Club teams to travel a distance of 23 miles to Timaru? If these gentlemen thought that it was, then it would be only right and proper that all matches between the town and Geraldine Clubs should be played at Temuka. If any club deserved any preferential treatment in the matter of travelling, that club was Geraldine.

“With the exception of High School Club,” said Mr Cumming, “no other town or country clubs are able to get their lower grade teams to Temuka to play until 3 p.m., so that it is difficult to arrange a curtain raiser.” The same difficulty applied to the Temuka Club’s lower grade teams to assemble and arrive in Timaru to play before 3 p.m. Furthermore, Temuka Club had only two grounds on which to play, and he had compiled a table showing that on the five Saturdays lower grade football had been played since the competitions opened, at least two games had been played at Temuka every Saturday, and on two occasions, three games were played there. If Mr Dwan or any of his committee could show the Union that more games could have been played, then he for one should be glad to hear how it could be done. Mr Cumming said it would be noted that Mr Dwan had no comment to make on the fact of his club’s senior team being allocated four home games in the first round out of seven, two of which were on successive Saturdays. Nor the fact that the fifth grade team had three home games out of four. Also, that his club’s junior team forfeited two games they were drawn to play in Timaru, the Union accepting the club’s explanation. “Does this sound like unfair treatment,” concluded Mr Cumming.