QUEENSLAND STILL BITTER OVER N.Z. LEAGUE SIDE’S TOUR.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18016, 29 November 1926, Page 3

QUEENSLAND STILL BITTER OVER N.Z. LEAGUE SIDE’S TOUR.

“ I SAID THEY WOULDN’T WIN MANY MATCHES.” Whan the New Zealand League team was first invited to tour England Queensland officials did not attempt to conceal their disappointment. That the bitterness has not worn oft is shown by the following extract from an article written by one W. F. Stock, in the “Brisbane Telegraph” of November 16:— “When the New Zealand Rugby League team left for England towards the close of our last football season, there were very few people in Queensland who gave them much chance of winning many games on their tour of England. I said over and over again that they would not win more than half a dozen matches. And if all the games had been honestly fought, 1 have no doubt that my prediction would have been correct. “From news received from friends in England I gather that the New Zealanders created anj'thing but a favourable impression in their first couple of games, and the English Rugby League quickly realised the necessity of helping them in order to prevent the tour resulting in a huge loss financially. Mr Jack Wilson and Harold Wagstafte. the famous international three-quarter, spent considerable time with the tourists, explaining the rules, and assisting in different ways before the tour was opened, but evetj this could not make the New Zealanders strong epough to guarantee that they would extend the majority of the club teams. Although they won their first match, the critics were not impressed with their display. It was admitted, however, that they won on their merits. Dewsbury are a very hard team to beat on their own ground, and strangely enough, generally surpass themselves when. opposed to Colonials The tourists were deemed lucky to defeat Leigh, whilst the Halifax team trounced them in a manner that wa. much more thorough and convincing than the finishing margin in points sug gested. At Rochdale, according to re ports I have received, they had goo< 1 fortune in escaping a thrashing. Tli. manner in which the match was controlled caused the critics to rise up in arms, and has been a subject of heated controversy ever since. As a rule, Eng lish referees are very seldom lenient. They penalise strictly for each offence they notice, and even the advantage law is used sparingly. Some idea of the average firmness may be gauged from the fact that in the New Z eala nd - H a I i fax match there were over 70 scrimmage? “As it happen - 1 -- -* an old friend ot ..... would be impossible for him to deliberately set himself out to rob a side of victory. I knew him for many years and always found him a fair and eft' cient referee. The only conclusion tha T can arrive at is that he had *instru< tions’ and had to tarry them ouc. Ev dently, the English Rugby League i sued certain instructions :.o .lie o.Ticiai appointed tc control the tourists fi-. tures, ordering them to be lenient with the visitors, or. in other words, to prevent the home teams from winning in order 1 1 • the tour should not fall

through. The authorities knew quidwell that if the tourists were not help ed in some such manner the English clubs would “run all over them.” “How they must be wishing that they had invited an Australasian side ! The English Rugby League is now paying the penalty of allowing itself to be guided by the opinions of two individuals, and it has only itself to blame. “However, although the New Zealand team is so weak, a friend assures me that several players would not reti. n to this part of the globe if the two years’ residential qualification ban were not in force. They would be received with open arms by many of the big clubs. “It was expected that there would be serious trouble sooner or later. I am not in the least surprised at the ‘mutiny’ of seven of the players. Strangely enough, all the seven were forwards, if I remember rightly, so possibly their action was made as a protest against Mr Mair’s coaching tactics, which have so far failed. When my last mail left Home it was an open secret that all was not well in the colonial camp, and as in innumerable cases of friction amongst the members of a touring party, it has affected the play of the side. Quite early in the tour it was noticeable that for the first half-hour or so the New Zealanders played listlessly, as if they cared not whether they won, lost, or drew, lacking both sparkle and vim. Then of a sudden, usually nearing the interval or in the second half, they would commence to play in whirlwind fashion, handling brilliantly, with the forwards superb in loose play, but still, alas! losing possession.” The article contains much more in the same strain.