FOOTBALL AT ITS VERY BEST

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 144, 19 June 1931, Page 9

FOOTBALL AT ITS VERY BEST

West Coast Teams Show Their Grit (Written for the “ Star.”) On a visit to the Coast, we went to the match between the team from down the gorge and the team from the valley above. It was great, and the selectors for this year’s All Black team should certainly try to see these lads play before final selection is made. The mass formation and shock tactics so successfully used by that famous Hawke’s Bay side some years ago were as child’s play when compared with the vigorous methods employed by these teams. The field was wet and the soil quickly puddled into yellow and sticky mud, which stuck to the players until it was hard to tell one from the other. A Hold-up. A new yellow ball was used for this important contest and this, combined with the terrific force of a clerical footballer’s kicks, delivered at another man’s head in mistake for the ball, was responsible for the first hold-up. The parson had to retire with several broken toes. There was no bad feeling over the matter. I was quite handy and heard the parson say when he found his mistake, “ Sorry, Bob.” Bob’s reply was, “What the blank for?” Awav he dashed with his mighty shoulders squared, bullet head and bull neck lowered, and charged into the ruck again. Thrill followed thrill until the last minute climax, when the men from the foot of snow-clad Mount Owen, still led by that mighty bushman Bob, charged in a mass right from half-way to score a try. Now the score was 9 all. With heads down and eyes on the ball, they had come. A goal post was right in front of Bob and he crashed into it with such force as to rip the crossbar loose. It landed right on the back of his neck. Talk about a “ rabbit killer! ” Had the Marquis of Queensbury been present he would, I’m sure, have concluded that there was no necessity for barring this punch in boxing. Bob never turned a hair but, looking at the tangled mass of players just over the line. \Vhich included several spectators, exclaimed with considerable concern, “Is anybody hurt?” The Kick at Goal. The kick at goal was delayed while two long, forked saplings were secured so that the line umpires could hold the cross-bar in position. Here was an opportunity for the barrackers. Those who hoped for a goal told their line umpire to lower his end, while the others advised their man to shove his end up. When Bob took the kick the crossbar was anything but level. This had no effect on the result, for the ball hit the bar in the middle and smashed it. A draw! There is to be another match and I’m going.—C.A.J.R. Stilt Unbeaten. Leading team in the senior B championship in Wellington is St Patrick’s College Old Boys. So far they have an unbeaten record and are the only team in either the A or B grade with such a record. St Pat’s also hold the best points record in either grade. They have scored 121 points for to 21 against, and have not yet had their line crossed. St Pat’s are a fast team with a fine set of backs and while they may not be yet ready for the senior A grade, they are bound to make their presence felt when the time comes to go up. On form they look capable of beating at least four or five of the teams in the higher grade. Dazzling Rucu. Rugby supporters in Wellington are looking forward to some dazzling displays when Ruru gets going to-morrow for the Varsity team. So far in club games, the Hawke’s Bay Maori has not revealed his true form, but there has been a reason for that. Ruru has had to play second fiddle to Stan Ramson and go out on the wing instead of playing in his proper place at centre. His Sydney form at centre was reported to be first-class, and he impressed the critics on the other side. There seems no doubt but that Ruru will get a chance at centre in one of the Wellington representative sides this season and some of the form which gained him such a brilliant name in the Bay should be revealed. Lilburne’s Grit. In defeat Lilburne. was as great as in victory. Last Saturday Hutt were never able to get control of their game with Poneke, and as time wore on Lilburne realised that Hutt’s was a losing battle. However, telegraphs the Wellington correspondent of the “ Star,” he never let up for a minute and many of the Poneke players had reason to know that they had been stopping or had been stopped by Lilburne. On one occasion he found a player in front of him and there was no room to go either round on the touchline or infield. Lilburne literally decided to go through the opposition and the winger in the road was a sore man for the rest of the game. The Hutt captain is full of bulldog tenacity and spirit—the spirit which makes great footballers. He is unassuming and is popular with the Rugby following public. It would not be too much to find him captain of the Wellington representative side in the absence of Nicholls, an honour which he also bids fair to win in the New Zealand team. A Selector’s Son. One of the best players and one who played a big part in Poneke’s fine victory over Hutt in the Wellington senior championship on Saturday was Griffiths, a promoted junior of last season, telegraphs the Wellington correspondent of the “ Star.” He was in the thick of everything against Lilburne and his tackling at all times was deadly. On one occasion Griffiths indulged in the flying tackle rarely seen in Wellington. Hansen, the Hutt centre, was tearing downfield with the ball. He manoeuvred into position and sent the ball on to the speedy Norman Ball. Realising the undoubted pace of the Hutt winger and realising that he could hardly beat him for pace, Griffiths brought off a magnificent flying tackle from the rear and lowered the Hutt speedster in a flash. It was a great bit of work in a dangerous position. Griffiths is a son of Alf Griffiths, who was one of the New Zealand selectors for the 1921 All Black team to play against South Africa. It was Alf Griffiths who sorted out Bert Cooke as a player with a future, but at the time Griffiths could not persuade his co-selectors that Cooke was worth a trial in that scries oi games.

The Blue-and-Whites. Much of the success of the Merivale senior fifteen this season is due to vigorous and scientific coaching by a former player, Mr William Lodge. For two years “Bill” Lodge has been hammering away at the promising Merivale material, and now, with enthusiastic backing from every man Jack of the side, he is making such gratifying headway that championship honours are virtually dead certain. Merivale. are more than fifteen players. They are a team. Twice a week the men undergo hard training, one night in Hagley Park under the arc lights and another night in the King Edward Barracks for lineout and scrum practice. Then on Sunday mornings, for the purpose of wiping out any signs of stiffness following Saturday’s game, there is a good brisk walk on the hills. This is something after the fashion in which old-time teams used to train. They believed that if a sport was worth playing at all it was worth playing well, otherwise why not resign and take on marbles. One result of hard training is that a player not only is a more effective cog in the machine but he actually gets more zest out of the game and suffers less from slight, piffling knocks.

Elated Over "Win.

Wellington Soccer fans were highly delighted at the success of the representative team in the English Football Association Trophy against Auckland last Saturda}’-. Wellington had taken three hidings in a row from the northerners, but the selectors from year to 3'ear persevered with a constructive policy of team building with youth. This season’s team was regarded as one of the best Wellington has had for years and the result justified that conclusion. Youth won the day against more or less veteran experience as the Aucklanders’ team had not been altered materially from that which had defended the shield in previous years. Wellington, are now looking forward to a number of challenges which will keep them busy.

IS 13 BEE EBBS SSl®® SIS SI 111 BSE SHIS EE Why Heeney Fights. It has been only a couple of years since K. O. Christner and Tom Heeney * were among the leading heavy-weights 7 in America, w'rites an American boxing j critic. Both were thick-shouldered, 1 aggressive fellows; Christner depended t on a right-hand wallop and Heeney on r his ability to keep throwing a lot of J punches at close g range. In July, j 1928, Honest Tom t

fought Gene Tunney for the heav}'--weight championship of the world, and made a courageous, but not successful, battle. What has happened to them since ? They have been steadily on the down grade, but, with that inextin g u ish able

optimism that keeps prize fighters going after they are past their prime, both continue in the ring. In the past two years Christner has been beaten a dozen times. This is also true of Heeney. The Hard Rock has announced his retirement from the game several times, but the lure of it is too much for him. He always comes back—though not back in the sense of victories. lie lias been knocked out by Victorio Campolo, Tuffv Griffiths, Charley Retzlaif, and Max Baer, and beaten by comparative second-raters like Frankie Cawley and Emmett Rocco. Both these chaps are likable, game, and deserve a better fate. It is only a friendly thing to warn them of the consequences that loom ahead. Neither is, in any sense, clever. Each has always been willing to take a beating while fighting his way through to a win. The cumulative effect- of these thumpings is bound to be disastrous. It has hurt other men—it will hurt them. The result is inevitable. But you simply can’t argue with fellows like that. They don’t fight for money. Each is •tfrell enough heeled to keep the wolf from the ,door. They are driven to it by utter boredom. Without fighting and the attendant training and excitement and publicity—they are completely lost.