FOOTBALL.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 8911, 24 April 1907, Page 4

FOOTBALL.

NOTES

(By QUIDNUNC.)

The Christchurch and Albion players will, I hope, forgive me when I confess that I went to see their match in the expectation of finding much to blame and less to praise, and I came away agreeably disappointed. My expectation was, of course, more unfavourable to the Christchurch team than to Albion, and I was very glad that the former was able to upset the calculations induced by the previous Saturday's play. Against. Canterbury College "the Christchurch backs were an uncertain combination, and the forwards played an extremely poor game in the loose, but their Saturday's form showed a complete reversal. The forwards outplayed their opponents in almost every department of the game, and the backs made very fair use of their opportunities, and but for the lack of pace shown by one of the wing three-quarters, the Christchurch score would have been increased by at least six points. There was not much be-

tween the teams in the early part of the game, but the second spell was very considerably in favour of Christchurch, and any other result than a win would liav.. been very unlucky for them. The credit that ie due to the team ie due in the first place to Wood and Fryer, for without their lead the forwards would probably never have got together as well as they did. In the firet five minutes some of the Albion backs were a little erratic, and the Christchurch five : eighths quickly gi-asped the possibilities of the game. Setting an example which many forwards might emulate in their loose play, they got right in to the ball the first time they saw it, and . used their feet so well that they carried it through the Albion backs before a hard kick gave anyone ia chance to cut them off. A repetition of the performance a minute or two later thoroughly roused the forwards, and they took on the same game. Bushell. who got into the team only through Walters' inability to play, and Murray, whose reappearance was most welcome, settled down to find openings in the loose, aiid, wiHi Corbett, Barrell and Marriner to back them up, they made a number of fine rushes. They were not invincible, and the Albion forwards were never quite out of the running, but Cliristchufch showed an undoubted superiority in the open work. They havo only to realise that feet are better than hands every time and they will be ono of the best sets of fast, dashy forwards that wo have seen in recent years. Their scrum work was much better than on the previous Saturday, and the backs had no reason to complain ot tho excellent opportunities given them from the scrums. The weakest part of the Christchurch forward play is the line-out work, which was marred by the inability of many of the player® to judge) the fliglTt of the ball and catch it when it reached them. The Albion forwards were probably surprised at the sturdiness of the opposition they encountered, and were not co fit as their opponents to stand the hard game, a remarkably fast game for so early a period in the season. Shannon's absence probably weakened the pack, but it hardly excused the Blacks for their rather" slipshod formation. In line play they were no better than Christchurch. "Webb, Pearce and Niven were most prominent in loose work, the last-named making a couple of very fine dribbks, but the play generally was not so dashy as that of the Christchurch men. The Albion backs were much less in evidence than usual. Gray, lor instance, is a player who finds openings in almost any kind of game, and his chief brilliancy has always been in his ability to se© a mistake of the other side and take advantage of it, but on Saturday he never stood out with his usual prominence. He and Burns did a lot of hard work, the latter standing up in great style to the forward rushes, but there was nothing conspicuous in most of the play. Hardingham'si try was a brilliant piece ot work, and Stevens was fairly sound, but the work of the others was not impressive. Christchurch, on the other hand, had more chances, and made more ot them, though Burns's lack of pace lost them two vcrv good chances of scoring, me second spell play was better than the first the change at the scrum, Wood playing half after Jones's retirement, beiug a distinct improvement. Wood revels in a hard, "willing" game, and the Christchurch selectors might . well consider tho advisableness of keeping him at half. Fryer played one of. his Teat games, never missmg an opening, and his dash did much to encourage the team. He kicked well also, being second in that respect only to Turtill, whose display in the seoond spell was perfect. Harper was a valuable acdition to the team in the second half, and his play suggested that if he can be induced to get into form, he will show much of his old brilliancy. Cotton played a better game than against the College, getting through an immense amount of work with very lew mistakes.

Several of the executive of the Linwood Club had told me previous 10 the season's opening, that the Senior team would be very weak this year, and despite the defeat of Merivale by Old Boys, seeing that Merivale had practically retained last year's players, I imagined an easy win for the older club on Saturday. But such was not the case, and 1 am of opinion that Linwocd were unlucky to be defeated. They lost the game owing to the want of a captain, and on this subject I shall have something to say in a future issue. For fully an hour of the time played the Linwood forwards had possession of the game, and were simply running over their opponents, and yet no one in the team was wise enough _to discern the advantage, and the Linwood forwards worked the play along the touch-line and the backs kicked into touch with alarming regularity, therefore the, game was slow and uninteresting. As the Linwood team was behind in points, surely the match could not be won by "cuddling the touch-line." A brisk, open policy was the only chance, and had a masterful mind been in charge the result might easily have been different. In the Linwood ranks are several prominent forwards, large t willing and unskilful, but capable of a lot of improvement, and, candidly, I like them ; but the backs — if suoh a name oan be given those behind the pack — were simply awfnl. Read kicked well from full-back for Merivale, and P. Menzies put in a lot of good work and was responsible for two tries, the first one being "a finejudged effort on the veteran's part. Cress well is a likely player but he wants teaching. Ford and Miles were very disappointing, and how Pike keeps in the team is best known to the selector. The forwards at present aire anyhow, and there is a total absence of the dash of last year.

Little interest was taken in the Syd-enham-Canterbury College game and it was certainly not an attractive display. Sydenham had a very easy win

their opponents being unable to extend them, and the score gives a very fair criterion of the game. My remarks of the previous week anent the lack of "hustle" in the College team apply with equal strength to their play last Saturday. They again went well in patches, but the said patches were fewer and further between than ever. An enthusiastic section of their followers end t-voured to urge them on to make a sustained effort in the last halt, and warmly cheered their solitary score, but the impression on the players, ir any, was very slight and extremely short-lived. They were certainly meeting a stronger forward team than they were pitted against the week previous, but, in point of physique, there was little to choose between the two teams, and the Sydenham scrummagers should have met with stronger opposition than they did. The College backs were little better than the' forwards, and their defence was palpably weak, while their passing, when they attempted an^, was very wild and inaccurate. The Sydenham forwards showed plenty of dash and energy, and confirmed my impressions of the previous Saturday. They are rapidly improving their combination, and with another week or two to gether, they should give the strongest of their opponents a stubborn fight. Their loose rushes are made in a body, and every man shows a laudable desire to be on the ball, with the result that they take a lot of stopping when once started, while their footwork is distinctly good. Their packing in the scrum is, however, faulty, and this will require improving before they meet the strongest of the teams. Their line-out play is also open to improvement, their taking of the ball being very weak at times. The backs, without having claim to brilliancy, are a tolerably safe lot, and have one or two fast men in their ranks. Their great fault, however, is the tendency to run across the. field instead of going straight. Howison is a notable exception, and his colleagues might follow his lead with credit to themselves and benefit to the team. The West Coast Rugby Union is anxious that a Canterbury team should cross the ranges this year, but unless the Coasters can arrange a series of garn^s it is doubtful if the trip will eventuate. The back division of the Merivale team is very weak in defence now that Wood has left. Before the season is over the club will realise what a sterling player it has lost. I saw Peter Doherty at the Park on Saturday. How is is that this solid, serviceable three-quarter is not playing this year? Judging by the large number of new forwards seen out so far in the senior teams, there should be some useful players amongst them. As the province has never been more in want of forwards, this is veiy pleasing. Talking of tackling, there was a good deal of it* unnecessarily done in the Al-bion-Cliristchurch game. Some of the forwards seemed to think it wise to collar the nearest man on the line-out, regardless of where the ball was, and the general result was a very poor exposition of line play. That is a department which will bear improvement. Another matter in the same connection is that of throwing-in from the line. Very few wing-forwards can throw straight twice out of three times, and the game suffers. The forwards who line out are often to blame, for they do not take up their dressing with anything like military precision, and the wing starts out facing a crooked line.

Soon 'after Christchurch had scored on Saturday Wood got well away from a loose scrum, but passed wildly and lost the chance. The mistake was not altogether his fault, as Fryer did not seem to realise the position, and started too late after him.

The personnel of the Christ-church back team next Saturday may be something of a surprise. I hear that Harper may be induced to play again, and it is hoped that M'Gregor will be available. A Christchurch back who was very popular a few seasons ago may also be persuaded to turn out. Guy Collyns. who injured his knee while training for the inter-college tournament at Easter, was unfortunate enough to get it badly knocked again on Saturday, while playing for Canterbury College against Sydenham, and had to be assisted off the ground, with tho result that he will probably not be able to assist his team for a week or two. Watson, who went on in his place, played with his customary dash, and it is a pity that he cannot be prevailed upon to don the maroon jersey regularly. A very questionable try was awarded to Sydenham on Saturday, and it would be charitable to take it for granted that the referee did not see the play which led up to the s^ore. To the spectators on one side of the ground an act of deliberate obstruction on the part of a Sydenham player was distinctly visible, and surprise was very audibly expressed that the player should have been awarded, a try instead of being justly penalised for a wilful breach of rules. A College player, going for the ball in hie own twenty -five, was deliberately collared and thrown by an opponent, who got possession of the ball and, crossing the College line, was awarded a try. Free-kicks were far too plentiful in the Christchurch-Albion game. The offside play and lying on the ball that were thus penalised were painfully apparent in a claes of football where mistakes might be expected to be more accidental than deliberate.

I have referred elsewhere to the fact that the __j.oion scrum was poorly packed on Saturday. There are other teams to which the remark is equally applicable. _ Forwards seem to forget that the object of packing a scrum is to concontrato the strength of the "shove " on one point, and to leave a passage in the middle for the ball. In an organised scrum, when the players have time to get into their proper places, they should not make the haphazard sort of scramble for positions that leads to a ragged pack and an early crumbling up. The Christchurch backs were very uncertain about taking the ball on Saturday, mistakes occurring frequently through the desire of two players to be conspicuous at once. Ollivier" is an offender in this respect, for he is too fond of running backward* to take a ball somewhere over his head, when he might more safely leave it to another. Though the Christchurch forwards played a great game against Albion, they were not altogether devoid of faults. Forwards genera 11 v soem to be rather afraid of the ball wlien they find it suddenly lying alone in an open space. They should recollect that it is waiting for a "boot." and it is the early boot that catches the ball. A mistake which marred the Christchurch play twice was the effort of some of the forwards to pick up the ball. In anything like an organised rush, the ball is really much safer at their feet than in their hands, and a man could always dribble five yards while ho is stopping to get hold of the ball.

I have been told that " Don " Fraser, the Linwood back, has relinquished the game. Fraser was the nio6t reliable back in the " Greens' " team for some seasons now, and he has done fine work for his club. With such a promising lot of forwards that Linwood possesses this year ; a special effort should be made to induce Fraser to take his old place behind the scrum. Fred Newton, the Linwood and " All Black " forward, left last week for Westport. When in form, Newton could play a splendid game, but he was not ambitious enough to train and so reduce his bulk, and therefore we seldom saw him at his best. The finest game he played for tbe province was against the English team in the snow at Lancaster Park.

The Ellesmere sub-Union proposes to initiate an accident insurance scheme, and has secured all particulars from the Canterbury Union. The effort of the committee of the Canterbury Rugby Union to bring all country football under local vaanage-

ment by the aid of sub- unions has proved so successful that arrangements are now being completed to band the clubs on the Peninsula together in the Akaroa County sub-Union. The proposal recently made, by which Ashburton and Ellesmere subUnion teams shall meet in Christchurch at the end of the first round of senior fixtures, and a combined county team play a team selected from .- the city clubs, appears to meet with favour by the country Unions, as replies ha-ve been received agreeing to the proposal. W. Fuller, the Merivale back, is a player of great possibilities. Although quite young to Senior play, he shows more skill than many who are years his senior. Tricky, dodgy, clever, and an accurate line kicker, Fuller should make a name for himself in a year or two. He did a lot of fine defensive work when his side was in serious trouble, and all through the game was looking: for chances. . T Martin, who some time back Played for Merivale, and last year assisted the Kaiapoi seniors, has again joined Merivale. He played a fine game against Linwood in the first spell, but I did not see anything of lum in the second. . , . , Borough, the Linwood forward, came out with quite a dash again this season. It will be remembered that lasft vaar he was promoted to the Seniors and played a startling game, but gradually faded out ac the season progressed It is to be honed, for his own as well as his side's sake, that he will continue to maintain his present dash. How the fortunes of a club change. Away back in 1895 and the five following years the Linwood team was carrying all before it, chiefly by the aid of combined back play. One has only to recall W. Price, A. Phillips, E. Gleme, A. Hobbs, T. Gordon, H. S. Stringer, J. and F. O'Brien and S Orchard tc remember some of the delightful exhibitions of combined back play. Now that Don Eraser is out of the team there is hardly a back in the team up to Senior form, and of combination there is none.

In one of the Senior games on Saturday 1 noticed an incident of the kind that need*? early suppression. A player vho had just got rid of the ball was tackled and thrown. He jumped up prickly, and grasped the nearest man, jvideiitly with the intention of retaliating, but fortunately he struck a "snag," and got dumped again, giving his temper time to cool. One case ol illegal tackling was penalised in the Albion-Cliristchurch match, and I hope that other referees will be as stern ac Mr F. T. Evans in suppressing anything that may lead to unfair play. I should like to quote this rule for the benefit of all footballers; ro is a;i important one, but frequently unobserved: — ,! A try is gained by the player who first puts his hand on the ball on the ground in his opponents' in goal." A touch-down, or force-down as it is called in this colony, is when a player touches down as above in hi* own in goal. A ruling given on both the above points is:— "There must by simultaneous contacts of hand, ball £**.- ground. I have seen already in tV ':wo games played this year at leac ten breaches of this rule of which nc notice has been taken. On Saturday, from a kick over the Linwood «oal line. Egah just put his hand on the ball as it was in the air, and considered he had touched down, but Manton. the Men.

vale forward, went on and got the ba 1 ! and had a try awarded to him. Egan's blunder should be a warning to others. The Southland Rugby Union decided to re-classify clubs so as to raise the standard of senior football in Invercargill. . To that end it reduced the Britannia and Athletic Clubs (lowest in the previous season's contests) to junior rank. The clubs concerned resented this, and as a result of their agitation, the Union decided at a special meeting to rescind the former decision.