THE FOOTBALL FIELD

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7700, 8 May 1903, Page 4

THE FOOTBALL FIELD

NOTES. (By QUIDNUNC.) The Sydenham Senior team has no systematic attack, consequently, although having none the worst of the play against Limvood, it was easily beatea, at the finish. Linwood -won through having a little combination, and a system sufficiently -developed to produce a try when an opening was found. No section of the system failed. It was a ragged game all through, improvement in the lineout work and occasional passing by the Linwood backs being the only features worth mentioning. The scrimmages- were uneven and badly packed, and the forwards en. both sides seemed to be impressed with a strong inclination to handle the bail, instead of using their feet. Revell, the Linwood goal-keeper, showed a lot of improvement, likewise Manning, who, as mentioned last week, appears to be "feeling his way" with the team. He is, I think, capable of even a better display. Green's dash enabled him to score ; but before he can hope to be "classy" lie will have to overcome his hesitancy. M'Gregor again failed in the.centre, but in the second spell, at wing three-quarter, easily scored a try, built up for him by the centre* Ormandy did a lot of useful and a lot of needless work ; and, when not bustled, Fraser kicked and passed well. He is evidently averse to stopping work. Until Smith can improve his style, he will considerably hamper his fellow-backs' play. Both in, and particularly out of, the scrimmages, the Linwood forwards were beaten ; and there must be a large number of them who are either shirking the work or are out of form. G. Evans is playing well, and New- . ton, in pieces, was prominent. Donnehey, a. fine, heavy stamp of a forward from the West Coast, should be heard of latetr. Robertson, the Sydeniiam full-back,' did nothing right all the game; be could neither kick, tackle, nor fend the line. The brothers Love and Doherty in the three-quarter line tackled well, but showed no combination whatever, andi do hot know how to pass, and the same applies to Austen, who, moreover, failed to field the ball at all well. Kett was the best of the backs, and did a lot of work. The line-kicking of all the suburban backs was about the worst I have seen. They surely should strive to learn how to assisb the forwards by accurate kicking. The forwards are smart and dashy in the open and fairly solid when together, and it was not their fault that the team was beaten. The brothers M'Phail kept thing's lively for the opposing backs, and Mahoney and O'Brien worked hard in the solid work. Remembering the form of the Merivale and Christchurch teams on the opening day of the season, it was only natural to antici- , pate an easy victory for Christchurch in the match against Merivale on. Saturday. But the fallacy of relying on collateral form was onoe more demonstrated. For some seasons Merivale, no matter how badly the team shaped in its other engagements, has had a happy knack of showing its best form! against Christchurch, and, judging by Saturday's' performance, this season" is to be no different in this respect from others. It was hard to credit the fact that th© team which gave such a good display against Christohuroh was the one> that had been routed a weeik earlier 'by Sydenham. It is true that one or two changes 'had! been made in the Merivale ranks in the meantime, but these were not sufficient to^account for the improvement. The game resolved itself into a battle between the Merivale forwards and the Christchurch backs, in which the former had all the best of tfhe play. Starting off well the 'Merivale pack gave a good display, and succeeded, for the greater part of the game, in keep-; ing possession of the ball. In the tight, work they gave their , opponents no chance, and . they swept 1 down the field in loose rushes in fine style. They j spoilt their opportunities when they picked [ up the ball to give their backs a show, the latter being quite unable to rise to even de-

cent form. The Christchurch. pack was quite outclassed, and, except for a short interval in the second spell, could "never secure possession of the ball. Under the circumstances, the speedy Christchurch backs were idle most of the day. When they did get a chance, they failed to make the most of it. The ball was fumbled badly, several good openings being lost in; this way. The kicking by the backs of both, sides was below Senior standard. There was apparently no desire to t find the line, or, if there was, it failed lamentably. Taken all round, the display by Christchurch was not an attractive one, and Merivale had none the best of the luck in having to put up with a draw. Among the Merivale backs, W. Wood did a lot of useful work, his kicking being very serviceable, and Ford stopped rushes well. Voyce, at centre three-quarter, was very sound. He was in the thick of the battle j all the time. None of the other backs did much of note, save to_ make mistakes. Among the forwards, Corsbie was conspicuous for some brilliant work. * His line-out, play was of a high class, and he was in front of nea-rly all the loose rushes. It is evident he retains the- form that made him one of the bcsi> men in the province a few seasons back. Coolce played a hard game, and T. Martin and Berry were also conspicuous. ■ Among the Christchurch backs, M. Wood was an easy" first. He got through a lot of fine work, particularly in the second spell, when 'he made several openings, of which the wings failed to. take advantage. Fisher kicked well, but did not shine in. other ways. Martin; was very useful, running and. kicking in good- style. Neither of the wings got much work, but they did not shin© when chances came their way. Thompson looks like being a- dangerous scoring man, but Ollivier has still a lot to learn 1 , his 'attempts at collaring being «very feeble. Among the forwards, Shannon, and M'llwraifch were tho most con-

spicuous, the work in this department being of a poor quality. It was expected that the Lytteltoiu Seniors, after -their experience with Albion on the previous Saturday, would use their forwards, not merely as " bullocking " units, but as feeders to the rearguard and serviceable loose rushers, against Old Boys at ■ North Park.- The Port team did have such a policy in mind, but adopted peculiar tactics for putting it into effect. Two men were taken from the pack and thrown haphazard into the rear division. The opposing forces were then arranged thus: — Old Boys, seven in the scrimmage, one wingforward, and seven' backs ; Lyttelton, five in the scrimmage, two wing forwards, and eight backs. With such a. diminished ~ pack, the Port players were easily outclassed in the forward work, and the Boys got the ball as the pleased mi the scrimmage, line-out, or ruck. Lyttelton's extra backs were certainly useful— when not penalised for offside play — in smothering their opponents' passing, but had the ball being decently handled; Old Boys should have run up a good score in the half. Lyttelton's scheme, with the heavier forwards, should have been to' play a full pack, shove h.ard) and screw. Old Boys used their backs for the direct attacking all through the first half and for some minutes in the second, but as only one try resulted a change of plan was tried. Lyttelton had temporarily rallied and equalissd' the scows, and then the forwards came to the rescue, scrimmages were taken for throws-in,and the " bully " was screwed with immediate success, "the manoeuvre often sweeping the field and seldom gaining less than twenty good yard's, with little exertion. The backs, too, worked with more precision, and the igame was comfortably won. The tackling on both, sides was 'below standard, on the average, and the kicking was in the same claps, except the long and well-placed punting of Bain, the High-School full-back. Lawrence, centre, and Deans, fiveeighths, wero about the best of tho Old j Boys' backs. Maude, left wing, is a plucky : player, but lacks "points," notably in kicking. H. Byrne, five-eighths, and Pratt, half, lacked precision in their handling. Forward), Cooper, App-leby and M'Clellan were the freshest of a fair pack. Want of intelligence is the glaring characteristic of the Lyttelton team at present. There is goodi material in the team, but it needs a lot of hammering into shape. Berry among the backs certainly sets a good example, and so does Koskella, in the forward department. The team should learn to adapt itself to circumstances, and not play.the ons wooden game, no matter how the tide may be turning. The Albion-College match was chiefly remarkable for tall scor.ing, the result of good fast play on either side. The first spell was •sufficiently even, to flatter the hopes of the College supporters, the members of the younger team giving- their opponents- all they, could do on several occasions ; but in the second spell they fell away and^allowed their opponents to pils up a pretty big score in a very few minutes. Had the Albion place-kickers been in anything like form their score must , have been consider-! ably larger, for some of the shots that -were missed were by no aneans hard. The game was won by the superior combination of Albion's forwards, who were generally responsible for the rushes which ended in scores. They knew a great deal more than their opponents, and they usedi their weight to the very best advantage. In the scrimmage they were uniformly successful, and on the whole they had the better of any loose play. Their weak point was line-out work, and they wisely preferred scrimmages whenever they had the option. All the winners' forwards -worked 1 really > I well, and there was little to choose between any two of them. The Albion backs were less satisfactory, frequently failing in their attack, though their defence was all that could be wished. Turtill was very safe, 1 and his kicks generally fotmd the line, though in the early part of the game they ' were remarkable chiefly for their height. : The fast wing, Wise, had very few chances, but his one try was the result of a smart bit of intercepting close to his own line.

11, ■' Turner, ,on the othor wing, did what he ' was asked to do without any mistakes. The disappointing men were the half and five-eighths, Weston and Gray. The former did a lot of useful work, saving his forwards on many occasions, b\it on attack he was sadly lacking, going far too much on his own. Especially was this the case when the ball cam© out near the College line, and Weston time after time snapped up the ball and tried to get the forwards to push him and the ball over the line. Gray's passing was very erratic when he did pass, and it was to be regretted that he did not give the men behind him. more, chances. | The College backs' had more defensive than attacking work to do, and, except during a short period in tlie second spell, they did very well. Burns -made one mistake when he failed to make even a decent attempt at tackling Wise. Acheson and Bishop, on the wings, both made some pretty runs, and their kicking was good. Rice had plenty to do in the centre, and was generally just where he was wanted. His play was neat and careful, and he looked after his - backs very well. Two five-eighths were played, Flower and Morland, and, though they were inclined to get in each other's way, that was their chief fault, and one that they will probably remedy very coon. Sellar, at half, got in a lot of very useful kicks, but on the few occasions when his forwards got the ball he was too slow in getting it away. The pack had to do without the' services of Cull and Benjamin, and this loss probably accounted to some extent for the raggedness* of their play. The forwards are, however, beginning to get a little notion of helping each other, and should continue to improve. The two decisions of the English Rugby Union, which have been received by the New Zealand Union recently and distributed throughout the colony, are worthy of some notice. I presume the first one, regarding the right of the referee only to report a player; is the outcome of an appeal from the Otago Union in the DuneanM'Ewan case. As the secretary of ' the Canterbury Rugby Union, as far back as September, 1899, received a similar reply from England, and the letter was forwarded to Dunedin for perusal during the trouble there, it looks as if some doubt had been thrown on tie accuracy of the letter, although it was .signed by the secretary of tho. English Rugby Union, Mr Rowland Hill. In the face of that authority, the Otago Rugby Union went on with the case. The decision in the oth-er case, that a player cannot take the ball after throwing it in from touch, until it has. been touched by another player, is, in face of the rules, absolutely wrong. The rules provide three ways of bringing the ball into play from touch, bouncing it, scrimmaging it and throwing it out at right angles. It- would be interesting to know how this latest decision has' been arrived at. Let me assume a case. Two players, getting away from the rest of the side, reach the touch-line, and the ball has to be thrown out. There are no opponents near, and one player throws the ball to his fellow-player, who misses- it. He- may slip and fall; or injure himself, and- thus have no chance of retrieving himself before an opponent arrives and plays the ball. And under t)he present ruling his comrade— the thrower-in — is forced to stand idle and possibly see an opponent deprive his side of the right

to profit from an advantage which mayhave been gained by good following up. The decision in this case appears to me one of the most ridiculous that could be imagined. Recent legislation all seems to be in the direction of slowing the game instead of increasing the interest by faster play. The Wellington Rugby Union !has for sometime had under consideration a" scheme for providing an allowance to football players injured during matches played under the auspices of the Union. On April 28 the matter was discussed and put on a definite footing. The arrangement arrived at provides for subscriptions of a guinea each from teams entered for senior, junior, third-class and fourth-class, competitions, and 10s 6d for fifth-class teams, teams taking part in the Wednesday competition to also pay a guinea. An allowance of one pound per week up to teh w«eks is to- bd paid to any injured player. Free medical attendance will be provided in case of minor injuries. The Union will pay £20 yearly into* a fund to make provision for Senior and Junior representative teams. Gray, the ex- Albion three-quarter, is getting high, praiso for his play in Wellington. Drake, a cousin of the Canterbury representative, is playing in Wellington, and is developing into a fine forward. | ' There was a tendency towards rough play ;at times in the Cbristchurch-Merivale I match. A Merivale .forward was ccaspicuous in thic respect. Far too much' talk is 'indulged in by players in some 1 , of the Senior teams. Surely the captains can do all the talking that is required. ' At times it seems as if the thirty men* were gathered on the field to engage in a debate instead of to play football. A section of the spectators at Lancaster Park, c-n Saturday, displayed the worst possible taste in passing uncomplimentary remarks to the referee in the MerivaleChristchurch match. It is a pity the Rugby Union does nob take some steps to | deal with these hoodlums. Calculated to fray the nerves of spectators were some of tne passing rushes of the Old Boys in the match with Lyttelton. The men often backed up in ridiculous posij tions, and threw the ball in misguided directions, 'iflere was altogether an unnecessary hot-headed fiurriednsss in their work. Judging by the exhibition given, by the Christchurch and Merivale backs on Saturday, touch line kicking is an unknown art in those clubs. At one stage of the game there was an interchange of "kicks, and it was not till the 'eighth attempt that the touch line was found. It Saturday's display can be taken as a criterion, Merivaje" will have to be reckoned with before tie season is over. The club's old captain, Alf, White, has the* men in hand, and already they give evidence of the value of his coaching. The backs are a poor lot, but the forwards will probably prove enough to win some good matches this season. Two of the most interested spectators of the match between Christchurch and Merivale were W. A. Drake &nd E. T. Harper, who followed the fortunes of their respective clubs very closely. "It's pretty j slow looking on from the bank," said Drake at half-time. I will be very much surprised if the dashing Merivale forward is riot on tho field again in a v/eek or two. The goal Deans, of High School Old Boys, potted against Lyttelton, on Saturday, was about as neat a bit of footwork as one could wish to see, but it was a distinctly mistaken impulse. The burly five-eighths was right in front of his opponents' goal, with good way on, a couple of mates backing him up, and only one man to beat. A try betwe-en the posts should have been the logical outcome. Mr C. Hervey made his „ debut as a Senior referee on Saturday in the Old Boys-Lyttelton match, and he managed the whistle well. He kept a sharp eye on off- ■ sids play, and, by dint of frequent penalisings, gradually taught the Lyttelton wingers to keep on their own side of the scrum. He had one fault ; he was too slow with the whistle when the ball lay dead in a heap of writhing men. As a result, two or three players had their bfycks and ribs severely pounded. The New South Wales Rugby Union has arranged the following matches against tho New Zealand team:— July 8, New South Wales ; July 22, Combined County Clubs ; July 25, New South Wales ; July 29, City . Clubs; August 12, Combined Northern District ; August 15, Australia. In addition a match against Western districts will be played at Bathurst on a date to be arranged. The New. Zealand team will also play in Queensland from August 1 to 8. An " Old Footballer " writes to the "Palmerston Times": — So Arthur Parr has gone to his long rest, killed in an heroic attempt to save life at a Chicago fire, the papers tell us. To the present generation of local footballers, Arthur > Panwas unknown, but those whoss acquaintance with the Rugby game in this district dates back twelve or fifteen years will recognise the name of a dashing three-quarter. Parr was ai member of the. splendid Feilding combination of the late eighties team. A quiet, unassuming fellow, a thorough sport, a staunch friend, there will be many in this district to mourn his untimely end.