THE STAR ATTRACTION.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXI, Issue 19029, 3 June 1924, Page 6

THE STAR ATTRACTION.

KEEN GAME AND BRILLIANT RUGBY EXPECTED. WHO WILL WIN? It is almost too much to expect the weather to take up for the Taranaki Wanganui representative match today. All the enthusiasts, as well as the players, are hopeful of favourable conditions, and their optimism is prol> ably based on the fact that having bad five wet football days on end, the sixth ought to be the time for a letup. It certainly is. The local team was fully dealt with in yesterday’s issue, and a few remarks on the visiting team arc reproduced below from a Taranaki paper. The kick-off for this afternoon is timed for 2.45 p.m., but seekers of stand seats will require to be at the ground rather earlier than that. The Queen Alexandra Band will render several selections prior to the match and at the interval. An extra entrance has been arranged at the exit gate between numbers one and two grounds. The teams will take the field this afternoon as under: WANGANUI. (Royal Blue.) Fullback.— B. Delves (vice-capt). Three-quarters IL Collier. Head, Hartley. Five-eighths.— S. Cameron (Ist.), McAuliffe (2nd.) Half-back.— Blyth. Wing forward.— Bellis (capt.) Forwards: O’Connell, Boyd (front row.) Ross, Abbot (lock). Murie. Bennett, Murphy. Reserves.— Backs: Hall, Cameron (Turakina); forwards: Dyke, Healey. TARANAKI. (Amber and Black.) Full-back.— Priar. Three-quarters.— Meuli. Johnston, Ennis. Five-eighths.— McGregor, Roberts. Half-back.— Crowo. Wing-forward.— Taylor. Forwards: Robinson, Fryday (hookers), Walters, Patterson (lock), Chadwick, Kivell. Matone. Emergencies: O’Rorko (forward), Sheehan (back). Referee: Mr C. Spillane. THE TARANAKI TEAM. No doubt the team will be criticised Very freely, as probably every district considers that its club possesses one or more members that would do better justice to the position than some of the men chosen (says a writer in the Daily News). No doubt, too. there is a good deal of justification for this opinion being honestly held as they have probably seen their club men play several times under much better condition than they saw the selected men play in the trial game, which was perhaps the only occasion on which they have seen some of the men play this season. CHANCE FOR YOUNG MEN. Moreover this year in Taranaki there are comparatively few outstand

ing men in any position, but there art a uuniber of good average mi n, about, on a par, and consequently there may be many men left out quite as good as those included. On the whole the selectors have done their work well. They have not gone too much on pas;, reputation, but have included several young players, who will thus be given the opportunity to make good. 11 they lail they can be replaced. Forward, the team should be well u, to the standard of past Taranaki teams, as the forwards, while not of the physique of the old time pack.s, are very speedy and possess plenty of ■ ginger.” Exception may be taken to the inclusion of Fryday as a booker, as he usually plays further back in the scrum or as rover, but hi: has shown that lie can hook and he should mate well with Robinson, the. Hawera hooker. Both are also fajt and very dangerous in attack. As anticipated R. Paterson is lock and should hold the scrum together well. Chadwick (Hawera) and Walters (Stratford) are the supports. Th.: former is the Hawera winger and he has been playing a dashing game this year, being always on the ball, though perhaps a little apt to get oflside. Walters is a very promising player, who was perhaps the best forward on the ground on Thursday. Kivell (Stratford; and Matene (Clifton) are the back row men and the former is worth his place, though on Thursday’s play O Rorke'(Opunakc), Morrison (Tukapa) and Ik<| .(Okai awa) must have runfc-Valw'.* very close. G. Taylor his inclusion, his footwork being particularly good. WEAKNESS IN BACKS. The backs are n°t so reassuring. There appears to be no outstanding half or wing three-quarters available this year. Crowe is probably the best of the club half-backs, and while his defence is very sound, be does not impress on attack. The five-eighths, U. Roberts (Okaiawa) and McGregor (Hawera), providing they work together, should be a bright combination. Roberts is very solid in defence, handles the ball well, is very nippv and, providing he gets’rid of the ball quickly, should be hard to keep out of position. McGregor, when played wing three-quarter last year, was a disappointment. This year at fiveeighths. he has shown distinct improvement, being very fast and quick to seize an opening, while his defence has improved out of all knowledge, and, should he go on, bids fair to rival his brother who is playing in a similar position for the South Island. D. Johnston at centre threc-quarlcr is the right man for the position in the absence of H. Brown. There is however, a shortage of wing threequarters, and tho selectors have, placed Ennis on one wing. The Tukapa player is seen at his best as an inside hack, but he ran fill the bill as wing three-quarter very well. In playing K. Meuli as wing, the selectors have experimented, ns in his club he plays centre three-quarter. Many would have preferred to have seen Ross in this position, but Meuli is fast, tncklcs well and has the opportunity of making good. With Sinclair out. Prior is perhaps the best man for the position of full back and this year is playing up to his best form. Sheehan, the emergency back, is a decidedly useful back who can be played anywhere from half-back to wing three-quarter. This morning on fho Rec a jnnir-seven-aside tournament will bo hold, and the twenty-six teams entered should provide some interesting giftnes. Play commences at 9.30 a.m.