RUGBY TOPICS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 19532, 13 March 1926, Page 5

RUGBY TOPICS

SUB-UNION’S MEETING. I ENTHUSIASM THE KEYNOTE. PREPARATIONS FOR 1926 SEASON. (By "Makarini.”) Enthusiasm-was the keynote at the meeting of the Wanganui Rugby SublUnion on Tuesday night, and a pleasing Ifeaturc was the number of players present to hear the proceedings. * * * * , The Union is now in a strong financial position, with cash resources backed by valuable freehold property. FewNew Zealand sporting associations are so firmly entrenched, and the one thing that now remains is for Wanganui players to raise the standard of their game, putting in the field a rep. team capable of big things. :!i * * Challenge for the Shield. To field a strong team training, concentration, and discriminating selection will be necessary, and players will need to keep in view the prospect of an early Ranfurly Shield match. Exactly what the possession of the [Shield would do for Wanganui Rugby (can be gauged by what it has done Ifor Hawke’s Bay, where Rugby enthusiasm has reached a phenomenal pitch. The Wanganui public is keen, but its keenness and fervour cannot compare with the almost fanatical zeal of Hawke’s Bay’s thousands of Rugby supporters. • * • • Training Essential. There should be no hesitation about assembling any proposed challenging team in camp for a week before the match. It was this intensive training —possible if the keenness is there — which allowed the present shieldholders successfully to withstand the challenges of such strong teams as Canterbury, Auckland, and Wellington, and the fitness which such training confers made the Wellington-Hawke’s Bay match last year one of the most memorable encounters in the history of the game. In the case of Wanganui the city and country players should be gathered in some rural hamlet, where distractions from training will be few. This course is not merely desirable, it is essential. It is better to semi no team at all than a team half-trained. * * • • Atkinson Park. The good work of one of the outstanding figures in contemporary Rugby history was recognised when the name Atkinson Park was bestowed on the new Tod estate ground. F. C. Atkinson is one of the sondest judges of the game, and one of the most capable adjministrators associated with present [day Rugby, and as a first-class referee he is known from one end of the country to the other. Tn suggesting alternative titles, some of the delegates betrayed a rather narrow viewpoint. To those who know that in outside centres the best-known thing about Wanganui Rugby is F. C. Atkinson—he is renowned more, than any player—no more appropriate or well-earned designation could have been suggested. ❖ * ❖ ♦ Where is Rat ana? The entries for the senior competition in Wanganui for the 1926 season closed nominally on the day of the annual meeting, but up till yesterday only five entries had been forwarded, and Katana’s nomination was missing. Otherwise there is no change from last season, and Kaierau, Old Boys, Technical 0.8., Pirates and Alarists will all tee the line. Ratana’s intentions are a trifle obscure, but it is to be presumed that the absence of an (entry is purely an oversight, or else that the club intends to participate in the Rangitikei competitions. .In the lower-grade ranks there arc no notable defections or alterations. Queen’s Park Old Boys have dropped [the latter half of their title, and will henceforth play as “Queen’s Park.” This, is a sensible change tnat others might av el I emulate. • * ♦ • Odds and Ends. Kaierau arc canvassing the prospects of entering a fifth grade team. If this entry materialises the maroons will have a playing roll of 75 members per Saturday. The prophet Ratana spent several days at Omahu, near Hastings, last week. Did he bring back with him any acolytes who will be useful to the Ratana team? *•❖ * * Old Boys are confident of putting a strong team in the field this season. * * » « Technical Old Boys intend giving , Ambrose, the diminutive but clever school half-back of last season, a trial in senior events this year. ❖‘ « * Versatile Footballers. S. Reeves, the big cricketer who played for Poverty Bay in this week’s Hawke Cup match, is a first-class Rugby forward, and a very powerful man in scrums and line-outs. He hails from Tolaga Bay, away up the East Coast, and formerly played for Christ’s College, while two or three years ago he represented th? East Coast and Hawke’s Bay in a match played by a combined team against New South Wales. In the same team was T. Heeney, the wellknown heavyweight boxer, who in 192021 played for Kaierau (Wanganuij.

Jimmy Mill, the famous All Black half, is another Poverty Bay cricketer. He compiled a useful score for the Gisborne team when they Avon the HaAvke Cup from Wanganui some years ago.

A Recruit for Old Boys. Carlson, a recruit to Old Boys, should be a very useful man. At Wellington College he achieved a distinguished athletic record, being captain of Rugby, and a crack cricketer, tonqis player, and boxer. In the College fifteen he was a five-eighth. Old Boys may play him as a forward, as he is tall and well proportioned, but he would probably be more useful among the inside backs, where the light blues exposed a serious weakness last season. Kaierau are likely to bo short of backs, and there may be some promotions from the junior fifteen. The policy of bringing up promising youngsters is wise, but in this case it may be making a virtue of necessity. ❖ ❖ * *

Club Engagements. The sub-miion made a sound move in agreeing to a Kaierau remit proposing I that in Easter club engagements a de- | finite percentage of the gate takings I should be allowed the clubs. The union has a right to expect a certain amount of protection, but these club matches are rather in the nature of benefit games, and the home clubs have a right to ask for recompense for their outlay in entertaining their visitors. In England these club engagements oc-

eupy the greater part of the season, and it is a pity thorn are not more of them in New Zealand-