FOOTBALL. - PRACTICE GAMES. By OLD BOY. - The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957) - 21 Apr 1913 (original) (raw)

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Mon 21 Apr 1913 - The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957)
Page 5 - FOOTBALL.

A few weeks ago footballers forced on their pre-

paration for the season, for winter had rushed

up from the south with undue haste. The grounds

were sodden, and men were glad of robust exercise,

for the temperature was more like that of June

than of March. Since then there has been a spell

of delightful autumn weather, and cricketers have

had unprecedentedly fine conditions for their semi-

final and final games. One man's meat is another

man's poison, however, and while cricketers are

rejoicing footballers are bewailing their fate in the

hard and slippery grounds and in having to play

their games under almost summer conditions.

There has been nothing lacking in enthusiasm in

the practice matches, however, as far as players

are concerned, but the spectators have been few.

People have not been able to realise that football

is really here. The season opens next Saturday, and

unless the weather breaks it will be necessary to

The various clubs were busily engaged at prac-

tice on Saturday, and the matches gave the various

committees a good indication as to the capabilities

Melbourne played Hawthorn District, in whose

colours was Joe Slater, of Geelong, whose clearance

has been refused. The Hawthorn team was very

smart, their start putting the redlegs on their

mettle, and the game provided splendid practice.

Gradually, however, the seniors wore down their

plucky little rivals, and won by 14 goals 26 be-

hinds to 5 goals 11 behinds. Melbourne had bad

luck in that Evans, who has filled out and was

playing well, broke his thumb, and will be un-

able to play for some weeks. Tompkins, McKenzie,

Fitzpatrick, Hendrie, Allan, Pearce, of the old

players, were playing well, and of the new men

greatest promise was shown by Hocking, a smart

half-forward, who plays the same sort of game

as Dick Wardill did. If he is as good Melbourne

have secured a treasure. Angwin, a wing man

from Western Australia, who learned his football

in that good school, Port Melbourne Railway

United; McDougall, the Beverley half-back; Watt

(who has yet to obtain his clearance) and Arm-

strong, from Geelong; and Jordan, from Caulfield,

were also busy, and showed themselves acquisi-

tions. Millhouse, the South Australian rover, who

was present but did not play, is a likely-looking

chap. He will make his first appearance in a prac-

tice match this afternoon on the Melbourne ground.

For Hawthorn Renouf, Molineux, Collins, Tucker,

Armstrong, Gordon, Boddington, and Wilson were

St. Kilda played amongst themselves on Satur-

day, and they had McNamara out coaching, trying

to instil some system into the attack. The last

has not been heard of the refusal of the Association

to endorse McNamara's clearance from Essendon,

and it is more than likely that a mandamus will

be asked for to compel the Association to ''show

cause'' why his clearance should not be granted.

Football is a sordid business nowadays.

Collingwood, following their usual custom, have

not engaged with outside clubs, but have played

Magpies v. Bluebirds to get their men into form.

They were at Northcote-park on Saturday, and will

play there again to-day, as Victoria-park is being

used for the final of the cricket pennant competi-

tion. Collingwood have sustained a great loss in

the departure of their old captain, Mr. W. Strick-

land, for Sydney. His advice and influence were

South Melbourne have had bad luck in that they

have not been able to practise on an enclosed

ground. They have made good use of Albert-park,

however, and on Saturday there were 2,000 people

watching the old players against the new. To-day

the Melbourne Cricket Club has granted the South-

erners the use of the M.C.C. ground for a practice

match, which will commence at half-past 10.

Essendon found that a combined team from the

Victorian Junior Association did not give them as

good practice as one of the metropolitan amateur

association teams. At half-time Essendon led by

8 goals to 0. In the second half the juniors had 23

men in the field, and Essendon won by 14 goals to

4. Some of the Essendon's old men seemed right

at the top of their form, Baring (having his first

run, got five goals), Ogden, and Chalmers being

particularly fit. Amongst the new men, Lowell and

Tait, on the wings, were exceptionally good.

Donaldson (forward), Edwards (centre), Bond (a

forward and rover (from Ballarat Imperial), Ryan (a

ruck man from Dookie), and Gillard (a rover and

forward from Wandiligong) showed the best form.

On the junior side, O'Brien, Fletcher, Wilmot, Wig-

gins, and Travers did best. To-day a practice game

will be played at East Melbourne between red and

black, captained by the captain (A. Belcher) and

all black, captained by the vice-captain (L. Arm-

Carlton and Carlton District had a good game

on the Carlton oval, and there were so many players

that half-a-down Carlton recruits played with the

juniors, and several changes were made at half-time.

Gibbons (roving and forward), Andy O'Donnell (fol-

lowing), Williamson (ruck), Colvin and Webb

(back), Rowe (roving and forward), Carter (half-

forward) were the best on the juniors' side; the

first five will probably be in the Carlton team.

Among those playing for Carlton, Cameron (a half-

forward from Beverley), Brandon (from Tasmania),

Shiels (a Melbourne City forward), and Rogers (a

back man from Wonthaggi) were the best of the

recruits, and Valentine, Houghton, A. McDonald

(especially), F. McDonald, Dick, and Triplet

showed that they are already in form. Carlton won

by 10 goals 12 behinds to 7 goals 12 behinds.

Fitzroy played their junior team on Saturday, and

won by 10 goals 9 behinds to 8 goals 8 behinds.

The Fitzroy juniors included King (a big follower),

Wilson (wing), Millen (center), and Fowler (half-

forward, who will be playing with the seniors this

season), and others who did well were the much-

travelled Dick McKay, Wawn, and Sergeant. Among

the seniors, Strownix, Cooper, Johnson, Norris,

Bamford (who will probably replace McLennan in

the center), Parratt, P. Heron, and Freake (who

kicked four goals). Amongst the recruits were

Toohey, from Western district, who delighted

everyone with his beautiful kicking and his general

form, either half-forward or following. The best

imported men I have ever seen,'' was Bob King's

criticism. Other recruits to show up were Munro,

from Brunswick Juniors, who roved like an artist;

Parkinson, from Elsternwick (half-back); Harrison,

from Richmond District (half-forward); and Ander-

son, a Western district rover. To-day a practice

match, maroon v. blues, will be played on the Fitz-

Richmond played a practice match against Rich-

mond District. The District were strengthened by

the inclusion of five of the Richmond team. The

final scores were:—Richmond, 10 goals 13 behinds;

District, 3 goals 23 behinds. All of last season

Richmond players are showing good form, and are

respected to do well this season. Of the new

players tried, Payne (forward), Leonard and

McKeone (following), Brooker (H.B), and Wil-

son (back) are showing promising form. The

sensation caused early in the week by the resigna-

tion of Councillor G. R. Peckham Beachcroft, the

club's secretary, had the effect of rallying old

members, who have been conspicuous by their ab-

sence for the last twelve months round the club.

Mr. Peckham Beachcroft was in the reserve on

Saturday, and there were some strong arguments.

It is said that Mr. Beachcroft will explain his posi-

tion to the members at a special meeting this week.

To day Richmond play Beverley, on the Richmond

Footscray scored 13 goals 8 behinds to Leopold's

3 goals 7 behinds at Footscray. Banbury, Brieze,

McCluskey, and Cotton, of the older men, were pro-

minent. Amongst the recruits, Holmes, of Fitz-

roy, following and forward; Middleton, who was

tried last year, and will this season take Borth-

wick's place on the wing; Ogilvie (a Carlton Dis-

trict rover), Black (a Williamstown forward, who

got 8 goals), Nelson (captain and coach of the

Sydney team premiers of New South Wales last

year), Wilson (from Melbourne City), Schade (a

Richmond half-back), and Lawson (follower and

forward from Williamstown) showed promising

Brunswick have not many place to fill, but they

have plenty of material to choose from. On Satur-

day they beat a combined team from the Mel-

bourne Districts Association by 23 goals 24 behinds

to 2 goals 2 behinds. All the old men are in good

form, and getting ready under the captaincy of J.

McKenzie, who has Henry Chase as his lieutenant.

Stevenson is free to play again, and is pleasing the

critics. Harker, from Bunyip, is living in Mel-

bourne, and is showing good form. He has

brought another Bunyip man with him in Wilson, a

follower or rover or place man. Others doing well

on Saturday were Parsons (Richmond District), on

the wing, Rennie (a Richmond rover), Wells (a

Fitzroy ruck man), Holman (a rover from Eagle-

hawk), and Freeman (an Essendon forward).

Swift, formerly of Northcote, who has lived in

Brunswick for 20 years, is trying to get a clearance

on a residential qualification.

Williamstown are in a football boom. Already

600 members have been enrolled, and a fresh supply

of tickets is being ordered. They had so many

to try out on Saturday, that in their game with

Collingwood District the team was changed at

half-time. Of the old players N. Busbridge, Fer-

guson, Alley, Reitman, and Amy were in good

form, and of the new men Potts (wing), Opitz

(forward), and Mitchell (back), three immigrants

from the West Torrens club, Adelaide; Hoey

(over), and Prince (half-forward), local juniors;

Harrison (a ruck man from the Albert-park Swim-

ming Club), and Coward (a tall half-back from

Werribee) showed out well. Williamstown won

by 8 goals 7 behinds to 1 goal 4 behinds.

Essendon, led by T. Sevior, beat Footscray

Juniors by 14 goals 12 behinds to 3 goals 6 be-

hinds. The privilege of meeting the Association

premiers will cost the Footscray team a guinea, for

the Junior Association had decreed that any of its

club playing a senior team on the day their com-

bined team took the field against Essendon League

would be fined a guinea. Perhaps the practice

was worth £1/1/. Clarke, on whom the mantle

of McNamara will fall as goal-kicker for Essendon,

wore it well, and got 9 goals. Gibson, Hoare,

and McIntyre began where they left off last Sep-

tember—at the top of their form. Of the new

men tried by Essendon, Fisher (a forward and

follower from Cobram), Twomey (a Fitzroy ruck

man), Phillips and Fitzgerald (local junior for-

wards), Walker (a forward from the Yarraville

Presbyterians), and Goddard (formerly of South

Melbourne and St. Kilda), showed good form.

When Goddard was granted his clearance by the

League from St. Kilda to Essendon Mr. L. M.

Thompson, the South Melbourne delegate, said,

Are you going to take McNamara's place, Bill?"

and there was a general laugh as Goddard replied,

''Yes; we did a swap.'' Goddard laughed too, for

he realised that his services as a footballer are not

as much sought after as McNamara's. All the

Footscray men played well, Jones (formerly of

Essendon) and Cochrane doing best.

Prahran had a bad year last year, but hope for

great improvement now. Last season Geelong

Juniors best them in a practice game, but on Satur-

day Prahran won by 21 goals 18 behinds to 4

goals 6 behinds. H. Bant (formerly of Essendon),

''Mallee'' Johnston (of Carlton, North Melbourne,

and Melbourne City fame), Woods, Dowsing, Carl-

sen, Weidner, Woodhead, and Oliver (of the old

brigade) were playing well. Woods is in a

peculiar position. He spent last winter in Broken

Hill, but, having offended the Victorian League

by transferring from South Melbourne to Prahran

without the League's consent, was refused a clear-

ance to Broken Hill. The Barrier Ranges Associa-

tion allowed him to play in defiance of the League.

His application for a permit to go back to Prahran

has been held over pending a reply from the New

South Wales League. They seem to have picked

up a good forward at Prahran in Fanning, from

Shepparton. He is a quiet, unobtrusive player,

but marks well, and is a very straight shot for

goal. On Saturday he had six shots. He hit the

post three times and got three goals, so that he

was on the target every time. Sims, from the

Grosvenor team, showed promise as a forward.

Davis, from a North Melbourne junior team, played

with judgment on the forward lines, and Cain,

from Broken Hill, showed good form in the ruck.

North Melbourne beat port Melbourne Railway

United by 15 goals 14 behinds to 5 behinds. John-

son, from South Yarra, was the best of their re-

cruits. He got six goals, some of them from

hurried shots and difficult angles. Woodton and

Sheehan (ruck), two North Melbourne juniors;

Naulder (from Horsham), Sinclair (a Sale wing

man) were the best. All the old men are in good

form, and McGregor, who in applying for a clear-

ance from Carlton, is playing well. Cave (roving)

was excellent. For Port Melbourne, Cave and

Payne (following), the latter I believe is going

to South Melbourne; McKenzie, Watt, Laidlow,

Drury, and Cunningham were most prominent.

Brighton played their last practice match on

Saturday against Elsternwick. Prior to the match

N. Clarke and J. Dowding were elected captain

and vice-captain respectively. The seasiders tried

several new men, most of whom shaped well. In

the first half, although the location were loading

on the scores, there was very little difference in

the play, but after the interval Brighton had the

best of it, not withstanding that the visitors had

23 on the field. The final scores were:—Brighton

13 goals 6 behinds (84 points), to 10 goals 6 be-

hinds (66 points). The best players for Brighton

were Dawson, Meade, Marriott, Graham, Laxton,

Butler, and Negro, whilst for Elsternwick the best

were Lillie, Morrison, Kenley, McGregor, and

Melbourne City, who are expected to have a

greatly-improved team, best Caulfield by 10 goals

5 behinds to 5 goals 6 behinds.

BALLARAT.—The Geelong team had an after-

noon's practice at goal-kicking on Saturday at the

expense of the Ballarat team, who evidently had

not got into condition. The locals made their

best showing in the first quarter, when they scored

2 goals 2 behinds against 4 goals 5 behinds. After

that, however, Geelong went ahead, and put up

17 goals 23 behinds (125 points), against 3 goals

5 behinds (23 points). Martini got 7 goals and T.

INTERSTATE RAILWAYS MATCH.

ADELAIDE.—The final match in the Interstate

Railway Football carnival was played on Saturday,

South Australia defeated Victoria by 9 goals 12

behinds to 4 goals 10 behinds. The game was

LAUNCESTON.—The premiership football

matches in Launceston commenced on Saturday

when the contesting teams were Launceston and

City, the former winning by 13 points, after an in-

teresting game. The attendance was a record for