LEAGUE RUGBY.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 16424, 12 May 1921, Page 3

LEAGUE RUGBY.

PLEASANT CONDITIONS BUT POOR PLAY. THE AITKEN BENEFIT.

(BY

"SCRUM-OUT."

The competitions wore continued last week with pleasant conditions again in OTicl.em.-e. A large number of patrons viewed the principal game at Sydenham Park where Federal avenged thuiv former defeat by heating Addington by a, margin of ten points, to which tlio Addington wing three qenrters and fullback assisted in a way by weak catching. FED KRAI. (IS) V. ADDINGTON ($). Though the play opened suggestive of sp< etaeiilar play- the game after tlio interval did not sustain the idea, '['lie winners’ backs were improved by the. inclusion ol \- Boon. who crime down from A' alba ri to play, and vc.il It the three quarter lino showing more dash and pace, and eviln the services of t' . Fletcher at lull hack Federal laid their best back division available. .T. Ward, who had recovered from an attack of influenza, and .1. Childs, wore missing from the forwards and their places hare not bee,, tilled bv players as capable as the two named. Federals’ versatile loose play exponent. A- Is- Sliadholt, seemed to be having a day off as ho was not nearly so prominent as usual and with, no outstanding loader the federal forwards packed tight and made all efforts to keep control of the ball. They will have io change their tactics, should Mitchell he selected lor tlio New Zealand team, if thev arc to maintain their position, as the other forward teams will outplay them in the open. Addington were without the services of .1. Sanders and it made all the diffo'eriee to them and the play. Had Sanders been playing the consensus of opinion, was that the team would have won. and that this statement has weight was borne out by the fine exhibition given by “Bobby” Watts behind the scrum. The Magpies half made many fine openings, though not so nippy and clever as -I. Sanders, A . Green carried on. but was not supported at all well bv the three quarter line, particularly -lie wings, while the full-back was verv inconsisi.ent in fielding she ball and both Watts and Green had frequently to save. F. Sanders, usually one of the beet of fieldsmen, was also inconsistent. Apart from that, however, he. played a. line game, bis slopping and defence being a feature. For Federal, Mitchell «';is their host hark. Ho was in fine form and. Ms ”00(1 leadership materially assisted in tv i ruling the game for his sideF 1 etcher (full-bark), .Molley and Th rackwell ■with Kruse and Boon, were prominent' though the side would benefit by adopting more of the back passing movements. The try scored by T. Molloy makes this apparent as it was the hot passing bout- of the game. The forwards wero solid throughout, but. missed sonio good scoring chances through want of dash and ■ finesse. The Addington forwards played hard and tackled solidly. 'Their open field plnv was superior to their opponents. M’Leod, H. Watt, M’Gibbon and Smith showed best form. K. Watts at half was the best of the western district team s backs umlwir.h \Y. Green and F• Sanders, bad a lot of work. Their fullback should Lake the ball on the full and not wait for the bounce. A bad fault that was prominent was the referee insisting on the- ball being repeatedly put in the scrum. Attor one attempt it would be more profitable to penalise the players whose overeagnerness to secure possession causes the breach. Penalties for lifting feet before the ball is put in will soon stop the habit. SYDENHAM t/2l) V LIN WOOD (33). The game between Sydenham and jhnwood was characteristic of previous encounters between these- teams, Sydenham relying on their backs and the eastern -suburbs depending on their forwards. The former prevailed though thev did not display their usual tactics and their opponents bad every chance to win, but want of good scoring men lost them opportunities. The game was not spectacular, be?r>g chiefly exchanges of kicks by the backs and forward sorties. Lin wood showed improvement and with. R. Smith behind tlio scrum t.lie team w.as better served, though, the weakness is in not having good support in the centre. AYith each side having scored thirteen points in th© first half • ho second spell was keenly fought out, but Sydenham added two extra tries that won them the game- The play of the lan wood backs fell away and the lor wards were tiring towards the con-

clusion. For the winners J. Young, F. Matthews. It. Marshall. AY King, S. Trudgeon. A. Beere. AY. Brunsdeu and A. >F Alpine w ere prominent. R. Gregory, L. M.'Lachlan, C. Turner, A. Bates R Smith, A. Bateman. J. Peddie and AY. Healey did good service for Liriwood. JOTTINGS. Tho re w ill be no fixtures this w eek. The OTvecutivo being desirous of lending support to the benefit fund in aid of t/ho family of the late A- Aitkcn all grade matches were postponed. I. was informd that the executive offered to put on a senior grade game in conjunction with oho union programme, but tlie offer was not entertained, the union committee suggesting that the l eague should give another day for the purpose and the union would giro some support. ft came as a, surprise, therefore, to find I bat the Addington and Sydenham senior game has been fixed to be player! at Lancaster Park on Saturday next, but tho union authorities cannot ho commended for their action in putting tlie match on the south ground at 1.30. Tf the game could start, at 1.30 it would have been policy to place it on the best playing ground, vi/... in front of tbo stands, thereby drawing the public to that The New Zealand team to tour Australia will be selected on Saturday and it is report od that the forwards will lie the strongest and fastest that. Juno yet played under the code in the Dominion. SeveTity-ono teams are playing in the various competitions under the Auckland Rugby League this season, and the membership of tho fifteen playing clubs, not including the eight teams playing in the senior cadets competition aggregate verv nearly eleven hundred. According to a, table prepared just before the official opening of the season, the membership of every league club in Auckland, with the single exception of Novtheote Ramblers, who now have a* new neighbour at Takapuna l . allow a substantial increase. The seven seuior clubs are well ahead of last year in their membership figures, quite the most remarkable advance having been made by Marist Brothers Old Bovs, who, from » position with one senior team a, s *d twenty club members last year, have advanced to a membership of ninety, with five junior teams in the field. Both Maritime and Shore have a roll of over ninety names, the former running six junior teams, while five will carry the colours of North Shore Albions. The Auckland Senior CadaU Rugby

League Association is now formed. At the present time about eight teams have entered, and the authorities state that more teams are forming, and there is every likelihood of two grades being formed. Tb-e competition w ill be under tho jurisdiction of the Auckla.nd League. but the matches will be controlled by tho Senior Cadet Association. They will have representation on the League’s Junior Management Committee. Messrs J. .Endcan and 11. Pollock have donated a. shield for annual competition nimjng the cadets. Messrs AY. Cann and S. G- Ball have been appointed managers of the Australasian team for tlie English tour. Tbe team should boa, strong side, particularly the forwards. and as Mr Cann was on© of the cleverest forwards who has represented Now South AYalcs, im will no doubt lmild up a great frontal attack Should lie retain his form, tho Al.arists player. F. Singe, said to be on© of the best forwards that Auckland lias produced, should secure a place in th© team. It would lie no surprise to see three Now Zealand forwards finally selected. ft is rummoure-d that AY. Mitchell, J*. Sanders, 15. AYntt, A. Sbadbolt. and AV. Green have been nominated for the trial game it> Auckland next* Saturday week, though from reports the. New Zealand selectors will close the team on Saturday next. Any of tbe local players who ore chosen will ha to to go north ov. Tuesday evening. AMONGST THE JIMORS (Bv ‘ KTAVT ”) IVitlt fine weatlr r and excellent grounds all four competitions in tlie junior grades Mere continued last Saturday, chief interest being centred in. tli© Ivniapoi-AYoolsuon game on the Keiapoi ground. The visit was unfortunate for AVoolston, as in addition to being beaten, they had. the misfor--1 line to have four players injured. Ka.iapoi rail out winners by 17 points to 0, the northern men being too clever and fast for th© Royal Blues. For Kaiapoi Xaisbut, Pearce (2), Ta.inui, Howarth. Hemingway and Rouse did good work. T>. Wilson sustained a cut above tb© oye and bad to seek surgical aid, Gatehouse received an injury to his neck, B. Stapler ricked his back, and JSmith got a knock on the thigh. AY. Smith, F. Jtnesou and *l. Gatehouse played prominently for the town

Hornby had no difficulty in beating Federal, tbe latter fielding a weak side. The reason for this, it is said, was because some of their players were more interested in tli© senior team’s match, and left the game to the more enthusiastic players Poor sports those! The game was too one-sided to call for comment. 11. Alunro. J). Green, T. Cox. G. Yurdley. AY. Ransly and P. Taylor doserve credit for tlie way they strove to save the Federals from utter rout. The Lennox Brothers. AY. .Radies, F. Harwell, J. Bryce, Evans and Lodge played well for the winners. Avon were ». more powerful side than Lin wood, and the forwards securing control, the Linwood backs did not have many Chance-. The Avon j»layers are getting every chance of acquiring good combination, though tbe improvement is not up to expectations- The backs kick too much for such a strong running side, and until they learn to uso their speed and to pass more they will not land the premiership. One of the backs displayed the value of tho dummy pass with effect, and if could be put into practice more often by all players. R. Thompson, R. Litten, P. Vivnan, It. Lyons. G. Young, O. C. Hawkens, P. Gillespie and \Y. Richards played best for Avon. AV. Elvy. N. Moulin, E. Harper, J. Underwood, F. Bow ley. (J. Moulin, 15. Fisher and H. Rogers were prominent for Linwood. Sydenham, with an improved team, beat Addington, and now that the south suburbs have started winning Miev will improve, especially in tlie bav.£S- in comparison with their former games, the Magpies were below form, though they had a good side available. S. Horn. F. King, Cunmngiiau (2), Jones, Cox and Ferguson, for S-den-ham, and Kerr. Small, Brown, Geffrey, M’Kenzie and Christenson, ‘or Addington, played well. The referees officiating in th© Flag and Shield competitions on Saturday were Messrs D. M’Gregor, C. AFLachlan, A. R. Brunsden and T. Kirton. It is pleasing to note that the firstnamed is again available. In the Third Grade Sydenham proved too clever for Templeton, showing better tactics, and their passing and fielding was good. Tho Templeton team played below form and tlieir fielding was not up to standard. X. Young, W. Thornton, T Davidson, S. French, li. lleslip, S. Clegg and F. O'Brien, for Sydenham, and 11. Drayton, C- Voice, A. Hampton. J. Mackie, L. Voice and J. Stewart, for Templeton, were* triers. Kaiapoi beat AVoolston iu. a hard forward game, the former displaying more speed and cleverness than their opponents. The country team are sho wing a lot of improvement since their opening fixture. Tho A\ oolston side rely on a hard kicking and a rushing set of forwards. Croft. Douglas, Bocks, Jlosie, Kdor

and Hall, for Kaiapoi, and Armstrong, Ferris, Beaumont. Clarkson, CorkiJl and Perkins, for AVoolston, played well. Addington had an easy win against Linwood, the former showing better loom work than tho losers, who have j not yet got. together Both teams are capable of improvement and should j practise passing and fielding. j A hard game resulted between the ; Hornby and Avon teams, tho former i winning by 3 points to 0. The Avon j team showed a lot of improvement, : and they were unfortunate in not scor- j In the Fourth Grade Sydenham heat : AA 7 0015t0n after a solid go. The win- j ners are showing a lot of improvement, I the result of good coaching. P. O’Oonnoi. J. Fraser. G. Joyce. It. Moore and P. Burrell, for Sydenham, and Sparbes. Clarkson, Robinson. Kerr, H. Yeatmnn and A% eblov, for AA’oolston, played well. 'The Federal team continued their successes by beating Kaiapoi- The winners aro developing a fine side, and they should be hard' to beat, for tho final round of the competition. It is stated that* these lads train consistently. Kaiapoi will improve a lot by the next round. For the winners Hislop, Bateman, Ward, Cook, Forrester, Monk man and Hall were conspicuous: Cowley, Chappel, Healings, .M'Mullan, Lvnskey and Johnston j flayed well for Kaiapoi. One of the principal fixtures was the Fifth Grade same between the Sydenham and Linwood teams. Both teams gave a fine display, especially tho Svdenhain lads, who are improving with every game. It is a good sign for the code to find th© lads in the lower grades showing such promise. Though the Sydenham boys ran out winners by 20 points to 3, it was their cleverness and tho passing of tho backs that gave, them this advantage Avon had an easy win against AVoulstciu.