LEAGUE FOOTBALL

Waikato Times, Volume 98, Issue 16097, 22 September 1924, Page 2

LEAGUE FOOTBALL

NORTHERN UNION COP. s'OUTH AUCKLAND VICTORIOUS. AUCKLAND SOUNDLY BEATEN. The first Northern Union Cup match of the , season was played before a good attendance at Steele Park on Saturday, when the holders, South Auckland, comfortably defeated the Auckland thirteen sent down to wrest the trophy from them. The visiting team was decidedly "second rate," as: owing to the Auckland competitions still being in progress no players could be selected from three of the leading .clubs. Nevertheless it was a useful i combination that gave the local'men a harder task than the scores would appear to indicate. The game; wfthput being brilliant, provided a satisfactory exhibition in which .there were many bright moments. There was at times, however, a tendency to do a;great deal of unnecessary shoving: ; and • pushing, tactics which did not-appeal'to 'the side-line spectators. The Ponsonby and Hamilton juniors met as a curtain-raiser to, the :,big match. After an interesting game; the local boys won by. 10 :pomts to , 7. The visitors were leading by 7 4p 5 ? until within a few minutes •of the close. ■" ; - The Hamilton City Band was m at-, tendance and played a number ;of pleasing items during the afternoon.

- The teams took the field as follows :—~ South Auckland (holders)— G. Raynor; S. Raynor, J. Hemmingway, D. Johnstone; B. Pakl (captain); F., Jackson; Cains; Allan, Stephenson, M. Hutt, P. Miki, J. Dufty, and A. Payne. Auckland ( challengers )—-C. Crowther; T. Pai, Morman, R. Crowther; L. Brown, Wctherell (captain); Polson; Clarke, Lipscombe, J. Pai, McNeill, Mackie and Shirley. Auckland kicked off from the northern end, and a break-away by, the visiting forwards, led by McNeill had South Auckland a,t ari early stage on the defence. A free awarded against the challengers, sent them back, to half way. Good work amongst the South Auckland backs, in which Jackson was prominent, was instrumental in putting -the holders ina'good attacking position',' b'ut an infringement sent the leather back to midfield. Play gradually worked on to the local Jino, but G. Raynor saved ; .well. Paki opened up a movement . which carried operations to the other end. Jackson, securing from the scrum, took the leather to the Auckland line, where, as a result of an infringement on the part "of Clark, 'Dufty drew first blood for South Auckland with a nice kick.' j Sotrth Auckland .. •• 2 is \ Auckland .. .. >.• 0 The next Incident In the play was "au interoeption by Payne, who dribbled through to the Auokland twentylive. An exciting few minutes followed, Hutt eventually breaking through and transferring to Dufty. The latter sent out to Hemmingway, who dived over in the corner. Dufty failed to converts **? ; t South Auckland *V. .. 5 Auckland ... .'•...,-; ..; 0 The South Auckland end of the field was the scene of operations for Ihe next few minutes, several strong Auckland forward rushes severely taxing the local defence! The Aucklanders were awarded a free, Clarke goaling nicely.' ,; : Auckland "" ... 'V~ ''l. ., 2 South Auckland '• • ~ 5 Poison sent, his backs away, but Hemmingway intercepted smartly and, • sent 'the. leather out *to Johnstone, Who raced along-the line fpr an ap- ; parently certain ,tryl Ho was. badly 11 harassed by the clefenctf, and"ln diving for the line lost possession of the ball, a force resulting. The holders maintained their attack, Stephenson eventually scoring in the corner. Dufty's kick fell short. South Auckland .. .. 8 Auckland '2 S. Raynor's Great Try. South Auckland attaoked immediately, but a smart piece of work by S. Crowther saved the situation. At, this stage Morman was injured and had to leave the field. A good passing movement initiated by Cains, and participated in by Jackson, Pakl, Hemmingway and Johnstone, was nearly successful. Bad handling by Hemmingway. threatened to let the Aucklanders away, but Jackson saved cleverly, and sent out to S. Raynor. The latter, with a great tricky run, left the whole opposing team looking at him to score between the posts. The same player failed to convert. South Auckland .. .. 11 Auckland 2 Auckland attacked for a time, a knock-on by Shirley losing them a great opportunity. A free to the local men saw G. Raynor find the line in ihe visitors' territory. A free awarded in turn to Auckland again put the locals on the defence, but Paki cleared well down field, only to have his effort nullified by another penally given against the holder*. In front of the home goal S. Raynor gave Dufty a forward pass, but Clarke's attempt at goal failed badly. Auckland were attacking strongly at this point. Solid forward play, in which Dufty and Hutt were prominent, completely changed the venue of play. Cains gave the ball to Jackson, who cut in brilliantly. Allen received his pass to annex another try for South Auckland. S. Raynor added the extras. South Auckland .. ifi Auckland 2 Auckland were being badly pressed «l.t this stage, and the half time bell went with play in the visitors' twentyfive. The Second Half. Upon the resumption Auckland went to the attack, and South Auckland were compelled to force. A strong kick by Hemmingway, which was followed up by the forwards, sent play back to the other end. The, local attack was short-lived, and the Aucklanders, who were now putting in much better work, wen: soon back again in their opponents' twenty-five. Their backs moved away in a pretty passing movement, Brown being run out in the corner. The holders turned the tide of attack, but Crowther, Iho Auckland full back, saved cleverly. An Auckland offensive movement was checked by a good mark by G. Raynor. but the visitors

wcro not to bo denied, and for the , subsequent term pray was centred in llu- local twenty-live. Eventually Hutt broke through and transferred operations Lo the other end. Miki, Hemmlngway; and Pakl in turn were nearly over, Auckland forcing. An GXchaDge of line Kicks saw Auckland

secure the advantage, and play gradually worked down field. Brown secured possession and raced around the opposition to score. Clarke failed to add the extras. Auckland 5 South Auckland .. .. 16 Auckland set up a pressure immediately, and solid work by their forwards compelled the holders to force. Miki went away on his own, but Lipscombe caught him from behind. Play swung up and down field at a fast pace for a time. Raynor then made a good opening for Dufty, who cut in, to score between the posts. The scorer converted the try himself. .'.'■ South Auckland .. >♦. 21 Auckland 5 After an offensive movement by South Auckland Auckland took a hand at attack, a scrum being formed on Ihe local men's line. Dufty cleared to half way and the tricolours gradually worked back into the opponents' twelty-flve, the closing bell sounding Shortly afterwards, with the holders attacking and the final score—- .■; South Auckland .. .. 21 Auckland ..... .. 5 Mr W. Waring was referee. THE CODE IN HAMILTON. ... > ■.. . . ~' ; .WHAT IS WRONG? ' DOMINION. COUNCIL ANXIOUS. ■All Is. not what it should be with the League code in Hamilton. The further the present season advanced the more apparent did this become, the climax coming with the recent knock-out competition, which, through the default of practically all the teams, ended in a farce.- To ascertain definitely where the trouble lies seyeral members of the New Zealand Council attended a public meeting of League .supporters held in the Theatre Royal. Tea Rooms on Saturday night. "The New Zealand Council has received disconcerting reports of the condition of the code in Hamilton," said the chairman, Mr T. Hill, president of the South Auckland Rugby League. " They have, heard ■ that the code, instead of making headway, has actually gone back." Continuing, Mr Hill stated that, not being a resident of Hamilton, he could not himself say what was wrong, and he urged those present, to speak, their minds —to lay their cards on the table—so that if possible matters could be cleared up." '.', .Mr R. Pollock, a member of the New Zealand Council, spoke enthusiastically of the progress of the code in this country. New Zealand could put in the field a League , team that would hold its own .with any in the world. England had won the ashes against Australia, and then this Dominion had vanquished the Englishmen. He urged the meeting to let him and his confreres know what actually was wrong in Hamilton—whether there was internal trouble or misunderstanding with the controlling body. He knew there was a grievance, imaginary. or. not, that local players were entitled to leave the country to.play in Auckland. This was a vexed question and difficult of Solution'. A player could not be blamed for wishing to better his playing status by joining a club in a stronger centre. ' \; ; The holding of representative to the detriment of club fixtures, was deplored by Mr R. J. Stirling, another member of the New Zealand Council. The surest way of establishing the code was to stimulate interest in the club matches. Dealing with the question of transferring players from Hamilton to Auckland, the speaker thought that this trouble could be obviated.

Mr R. H. Wood, last year's chairman of the Management Committee of the Hamilton Rugby League, who announced his intention of speaking in a straightforward manner, said that there had been too much street criticism of the present chairman and certain other officials. The juniors this year had shown improvement, but there was no doubt that the standard of senior play had gone back sadly. Mr J. Fox (United Club delegate) offered the opinion that the whole trouble lay with the players themselves, who went around the town criticising officials. They had not held a meeting and did not seem to desire to bring their complaints to the proper quarter. The speaker declared emphatically that Hamilton had not received fair treatment from Auckland. Instead of sending down a team that would show the Waikato public League at its best, they were content to despatch inferior teams, as evidenced by the strength of the thirteen sent down that day. (Hear, hear.) Mr V. Dixon, (secretary of the Hamilton League) held that Auckland were supremely selfish. Despite the fact that the code here required financial assistance, Auckland, the home of League in New Zealand, had declined to give Hamilton a Saturday's game in the city. In addition, Auckland were constantly taking Hamilton's best players, and he had been told that day that their star man had received a tempting offer to go to Auckland.

Mr C. Bczar contended that the players' interests' had not been safeguarded by the Management Committee. The club competitions had scarcely begun before repesentative matches were started. This meant that the players not included in the representatives were thrown out of action for several weeks. Mr G. Gilmour, chairman of the Management Committee of the Hamilton League, said that he had never been personally approached with a complaint by a player, and he had been in the dark all along as to w : hat constituted the real trouble.:

Mr W. Taylor, of the Junior Advisory Board, spoke optimistically of the future of the code in Hamilton, for with the Juniors improving in their play and gradually working up into senior ranks, matters, must improve. A number of gievances mostly arising out of misunderstandings wore ventilated at this stage. "There has been too much petty jealousy and too much internal squabbling during the past season," commented Mr J. J. Herrick. "Members I have talked outside and little grievi ances have been exaggerated." Con- ! tinuing, Mr Herrick said that matters | had reached such a stage that in a ' moment of heat he had tendered his 1 resignation, lie realised later, how- | ever, that personal feelings were uni worthy of consideration—that after i all they were all working for the : good of the League—and accordingly ; withdrew his resignation. Mr G. H. Ponder, member and hon. I organiser of the N.Z. Council, then | summarised the position as it had been placed before him. There was I evidently a great deal of senseless ' bickering in Hamilton which was doing the code a considerable amount t of .harm. The fault was Hamilton's [ if they allowed their players to go

to Auckland. None of the centres endeavoured officially to entice promising ployers in from the country. There was no professionalism in League in New Zealand and he trusted that the Rugby Union was as strict in their viewpoint of this matter as was the League Council. He urged the members of the Hamilton League to sink all personal feeling and to all work amicably together for the common good. It was the ambition of the New Zealand Council to send a team to England next year, and this should serve as a stimulus for greater efforts in the future. The game had come to stay in this Dominion and anyone whose petty-fogging ideas were going to retard its progress would b£ve to get out of office. The speaker was inclined to agree that Auckland had not acted rightly in refusing Hamilton a Saturday match, and in sending down an inferior team for the challenge cup. He considered that the conference at Auckland on the matter would do much to right the position. Mr G. Gilmour moved a vote of thanks to the members of the New Zealand Council, remarking that he was sure he was expressing the feeling of the meeting when he said their visit had done an immense amount of good. The motion was carried by acclamation.