Please wait. Contacting image service... loading

Article text

L J
EAGUE FOOTBALL
-By F. K. Manzie
F
is, going to be a great season.
One feels it in the air.
Take the football .public itself;
never ha« it displayed more enthu
siasm. Then (if you have the time
at your disposal) muse - upon the
quality of the football the teams
have given us to date; dashing and
skilful. Thirdly (if you will bear
with us just once again) consider the
number of surprises we have enjoyed
in but two days' play; Hawthorn's
defeat of St. Kilda. Geelong's bril
liant opening game, Fitzroy's im
provement. Hawthorn's near defeat
of the mighty Collingwood, Carlton's
annihilation of Richmond, Foot
scray's victory over Essendon and
Melbourne's outclassing of the highly
praised Geelong eighteen. Yes, the
game is booming; so now bring out
your trade depressions.
But what of Hawthorn? The
"baby" team is certainly making all
and sundry sit up and take notice,
for not satisfied with downing the
Seasiders on the opening day they
must give the Magpies the fright of
their lives on Saturday last, and only
fail to secure the big honors by eight
points. As the match was played at
Victoria Park (where successes to
visiting teams are a rare occurrence)
the Mayblooms' performance was
nothing^short of remarkable, and if
they can sustain this form they most
decidedly must be feared as much as
any team in the competition. When
the three-quarter-time scores were
posted at the various grounds, and it
was seen that Hawthorn were lead
ing Collingwood by two points, the
prolonged cheering that arose prov
ed just how everyone hopes to see
the Mayblooms attain a higher place
on the premiership list. Hawthorn
in the Four would be extremely
popular, and out Glenferrie way they
are saying that such an achievement
is not beyond them for 1930.
After Geelong's huge win over
North Melbourne, and the fine form
shown by their new forwards, it was
generally anticipated that the Pivoto
nians would carry too many guns for
the Red Legs, even though the match
was played at the M.C.G. But the
match had not been long in progress
when it was seen that the Fuchsias
were far too clever for their less
speedy opponents, and displaying
marked superiority in almost every
department of the game enjoyed the
easiest of wins. With sound de
fenders, smart and accurate forwards,
strong rucks, and a fine centre line
(the Sale boy, Pemberton, proving
himself a wingman of class on his
first appearance), Melbourne has per
haps the best-balanced side it has yet
put in the field—even in comparison
with the 1926 combination—and it
should make a big bid for the pen
JJ.wu i. ?eeI°ns. also, has a team
with distinct possibilities, and were
unfortunate in striking Melbourne in
such brilliant" form as Saturday last.
i"oro is no reason why they should
wen now be well "In the hunt" at
the end of the season.
What's the Matter With Richmond?
nrki'V nH> Rotl L(?£-s. Carlton sur
thi Si ancl m,nd,,y hy inflicting on
nil, f a terrible hiding, but It
fenr! ,• li <c,n ,nt0 acc°unt in de
\vovr , Richmond that the losers
[t..,. ' ,l* *|'arn being nt full strength.
dofVn,'(l'' 1."IBoa's to 7 is a crushing
TP-V i.a,J points to many of the
The i t. !i.'IS VclY nitieh out of form,
win 1 i ,Uos ni'° a strong side that
niv i. ! . I ?u ',0 well there when
hut '•/ u1 arc heing talked about,
sou . ' t°nf' have to make
If r 'u;.ohanRe» somewhere or other
inoi o avo nmbitions of playing
son!', la" °ncc on tho M.C.C1. this
II. "
Post'
tlli> • ...'.J. V.111IIIMI111IIM UII
talh .,.i UiS4, ur('a'V- it was gene
u cme ' ! !,hat the Same Olds "had
Ri't i' ti a.n(1 t'n,H 11 ctuno ns a
ami '■ a i° 10 wearers of the red
Asno. u'lu>n ^ontseray (the ex
vlot,^"" twin who had never pre
heat',' i their admittance to the
'Wo vi/uV11 a,>l° to c°n<ltter the
lu,|,,u ' -,m\ ho,Uo to victory by Hi
Font- , H ''cNult proves that
he ni . i i.'In°thor side that must
i'.| with respect.
Urol!i,.!ap'i their second win hy
!|t Ni ' i i North Melbourne out
Geelon',. I,,'11,1 aflo>' the way In which
'• hhd massacred tho North
'!'« Just been "pipped on tho
"V the stout Carltonians on
erners the previous week the victory
by 20 points was nothing to write
home about. However, the Maroons
are certainly an improved combina
tion, and they may be well up with
the leaders at the end of the year.
North gave a better exhibition than
against the Pivotonians, but that was
only to be expected. No team could
play quite as badly as that two weeks
in succession.
Having recovered from the hor
rible shock of being beaten by Haw
thorn, St. Kilda pulled up their socks
and jumped into South Melbourne in
much more business-like style, and,
though the Southerners managed to
make the game fairly interesting for
the greater part of the afternoon,
gained their first win for 1930 by a
fair margin. The opening reverse
will not do the Saints any harm, and
they should soon be playing as well
as they did last season, while South
Melbourne are a nippy side that will
improve as the year goes on.
Next Saturday's Programme
HTHE programme for next Saturday
is not the most attractive that
could be desired, and a casual glance
at the list would suggest that the
Fitzroy-Melbourne engagement at
Fitzroy will attract the largest crowd
by reason of both sides being unde
feated. The Maroons have revealed
a decided improvement upon the form
shown last year, and there are hopes
out Fitzroy way that a place in the
Four might be secured, while the
Red Legs have suggested in their two
victories—particularly in their bril
liant win over Geelong—that they
have afield the best side that has re
presented them since their premier
ship year. Thus Saturday's match
should provide a fine contest, but
though the Maroons are a strong,
forceful side, I will be greatly sur
prised if they can check the clever
Red Legs.
A large crowd, eager to see the
team that could conquer St. Kilda and
almost bring about the downfall of
the Magpies, should pack the Glen
ferrie Oval. This meeting of Satur
day is certainly the "acid test" for
Hawthorn. The May
blooms may give Carl
ton a great go for it.
but I do not think
that they will gain
the four points. .
Geelong and St.
Kilda at the Pivot
should be an inter
esting tussle, with
Geelong just about
winning, while South
may make the Mag
pies go for the points
down at South Mel
bourne as is custom
ary. North Melbourne
may extend Footscray
at North, and Rich
mond and Essendon
should provide a close
game at Richmond,
with the Tigers com
ing out on top.
A quartette of captains, as seen by Ward Help
A quartette of captains, as seen by Ward
$