South Australian Register (Adelaide, SA : 1839 - 1900), Monday 8 October 1888, page 3


LACROSSE NOTES.

[BY FACER]

REVIEW OF THE SEASON.

Tbe season has dosed, and the instruments wa use in the battle field of oat dab rivalry have once more been consigned to out-of-the-way corners for the annual recess. It is about six months since

players begm to. practise, and about fire months tince the first match was played— KnighUbridge t. KoarlUDga on May 12. The season has been sarccasfol in almost every sense of the word. At the* beginning there weie only four dabs in existence, bat now there are seven, exclusive of the one at Rivcittn, assuming that the promise to form a dob' there was carried out. That is a most satisfactory fctate of things, and it denotes an increasing interest n tbe sport, throughout the country particularly. No new c!ubs have been organized in the city, bat several new men bave . been added to the ranks of expt-Bents r f the game, and happily a proportion of these hae been won over from tie vast army of footballers. Many others bave asserted their determination to ltt lacro-se take the place of football m iature, and there is every p:oDability of the ncriibtr of plijeis being very considerably augn-.nted ear! yu tit year Jt was anticipated that bttatbalbjn, Cotomandel Valley, and Oawler would nzin out ttaTrs, bnt no £t»p- were taken to introdece the game it) tbo~e towns Probably it would not bave been introduced in either of tbe Northern towns w boob but fur the temaval of Mr. wainwiight to Port Au2H3ta, and Mr. Turner to J&mestown, and what (olio a ed their advent into those townships is*proof that if the pistime is to be made ropular in other jurai dis'ricts ar-aogementa mun be made for exhibition games or for the vuit ol a fev. plajera to Uiaw the inexperienced covn'ry to)k what it is like. Cnqcastioosbly good results would ecfue, be-anst the fact that lacrosse has b'ten started in bo'.h of tbe towns where Messrs. \Vaiii*rfght abd Turntr &ra rei-idiDt; U sufficient gi'aia&'tee that its esc pent poiois have a sf dactive t ffpet upon tbe provincial uthitt c community. The action of the Bivertoa young jsfen may be quoted as a case in point. They had no idea of lacrosse until . the J&mekowijg and tf orth Adelaides plijea tfure ° ' on Jtine ?0, bat within a few days -news w»s received of theirintentfon to resort to tbe gams as a healthy and interesting branch of recreation. There is evtry reason to lwlisve lh»t others would do tbe same, and early next seuon - the city dabs might visit one or two cf the large towns near the city for the purpose of advertising the sport. Buch a coarse would be profitable in more th.n one way, *Ld the touriUa ~ would enjoy the vbits, whica wi-uld not be costly, tine of tt.e fiatuies of the aetuoa was the visit of tbe Jamtstcwos to tha city curing August. They came down as novices, bent on ltaming something, but at the same time impressed with the belief that the tfikiemy they had already attained would ebsure a certain- amount of success in the ontes s with older teumF. Their forecast was a win, a draw, ana a defeat, .and. strange to say, the three Raines they plajed leiulted &s anlicu^atBi. The first agsinst the Rosrtun^as wa- won by tbe Jamestowns, tht ssctnd against the Knights was drawn, and in tbe tbi d tte Ad«luiies were the victors. With tte exception of the tioarlungu no other couiitiy ttam came to town. Uhcra waa some bilk of the Fort Au&ostas coming half way, b\-t the proposal was not mitar&u. Ntxt jeir it is -on tbe, rardn that a city team will make atouro! tUe t oitb, acd in the same brea ii it may ba siid that ihfe Fort Augustas contemplate mating a trip lo the c ty It is veiy desirable that the visits o; country KJjaa to the metropolis should be tnc juiaged, not for any selfish motive, bat because they would be much more likely to b neat by meeting three or more town teams in a few di?s than they woo d by meeting a-l of tLe ciiy teams in ttieir own towns at ciferent periods of the year. At th- same time the visits rhould be exchanged aa far as possible, and provincial players should tot be expected to do all tbe rouiicp, because- touring, though always pleaEai t, is espeutive. Ihe visit of a teas to oielhcurDe was ako an interesting event of the season, bat tbe constitution of the team vas not all thut ccnld be desired. If it had baen thoroughly representative tbe resuifa of tbe matches watdd hive been much more satisfactory. In only one instance did they, achieve victory— that waa in the match minat Ballarat The cecocd ended in a victory for Victoria, tbe third in a draw with the University, and the fourth in a win for the S .uth Melbourne*. Considering the strength of the opposing teams as against that of oars no other result was expected, but if Wilkinson, Prince, Br.-gge, Malps-, Wainwiigbt. Holmes, and bymonds h»d been in Jaded in the ttam then the chances woold have been ten to one against tbe Victorians, judging from the scores in the matches which wtre played. It is to be htped we will be able to tain the tables on the Victons n» when they *isit u.next season. Certain it i-: tbst tfcty will have to send a powerful team to lower the ' colcura of oar combined strength or tven of the Norths and tbe Adelaides aloi.e, particularly the former. Oar fellows were very well spoken of by ibe Victorians, find srme idea may he gathered fxom the following .exlTactfroma Utter written by ore of the prominent St uth Molbournea to a friend in this colony as ' to the itLprtrdcn formed of the south Australians' ,

play. ' Ti;e wzUer refers to the match with Victoria, end he sajs— 'ThVy played &n excellent game anil. uersijotdi^giacBtl. The number of goals tbrowu (5 to 1) dees iiot at ail repiEsvnt tha actuaV guvae, ? for on tbe merits if was only a two-goal to oue beating. 1 tbick the best team won aud that it waa their experience that did ii. Your men aro the equals if not tbe superiors of ours in physique, and thf-y play better together than ours, but they lack skill in usiDg their sticks, particularly ia throwing and picking up Oddly enough, they seemta to be ab'e to catch better than we did. If your best team had come I am vety much afraid that, if yesterday was any fair teat, we would have been out of it/' That was never meant to appear in public, and therefore it miy be regarded as honest criticism— criticum which should stimulate players to pay grtat.r attention to tho33 branches which toe writer points oat they lack skUl in. No doubt oar representatives learnt many little tricks while in Yicto:ia, and nest season they may introduce tthem with advantage ha; e. Let's hope they will not have forgotten them in the meantime. 1 huve inadvertently omitud to allude in the first place, as I should have done, to the Association which was foimed at the beginning of the season, and with which all of tbe clubs except the newly formed Fort Germein Club are affiliated The advantages of the Association do not call for comment. Everyone will admit thai it must ba beneficiil to tbe game, because under its roles all dabs now play on the came bat is ; that is to say, no dab can tike advantage of another in any way. They are all governed by the one set of roles, and the game ia p-ayed the same on the Old Course as it is on the sandy beach at Fort Augusta. Ia almost every detail tbe cinbs are on an equal footing so far as the Association is concerned. Ibe southern teams are in a position to meet mote often than the Kcrthern, and though this state of things is to be regretted, it is nevertheless unavoidable, but it does net in any degree detract from the value of the Association. It is a singular fact that since tbe organization of this body the number of dabs has increased, which suggests that if the Association bad been formed when it was first thought cf tbe dabs would have beea much more numerous now. However the s^ort is gradually becoming more porolar, and in the coarse of time it will occupy that position in the minds of the public which it deserves to. Including all contests the club* have engaged in twenty-four matches, six of which — the first match between Kiightsbridga and Noarlunga, the mat. h between Port Augusta and Port Germein End tbe four Victorian games— were not played uiider the acspices of the Association. Five were played at - oarlonga, five at Knightubridge, four at ISoith Adelaide, three on the tfacecooroe, one at Biverton, cne at Nectar Brook, and one on the Adelaide OvaL Ihe remaining four were played in the sister colony. In all engagements 135 eoals were thrown against 1C3 last year in 16 matches. They weie distributed as follows ia tbe Assotiition matches :— Norths 42, Adelaide 21. Knightsbridge 16, Noailuxga 12, and Jamestown 6. In non-AfiiOiiation matches the Knights threw 2, NoaihiDga 1, Fort Germein 2. Fort £U£nsta 9, Intercolonial team 9, and Victorian teams 12. The following Assodation matches have been played :- Norths v. Adelaides 3, r. Knights 3, v. Jamestown 1. v. Noarluoga 2; Adelaide v. Huipbts 2, v. Noarlunga 2, v. Jamestown 1; Knights v. Kialunga 2, v.- Jam&stowb-l; Noarlunga v. Ji met town 1, and the following table shows Ihe result:— Won. Lo3t Drawn North Adelaide .8 — 1 Adelaide .... 4 3 1 Knightabridee ..1 6 2 Koarlonga „ .. 1 5 1 Jamestown .. ..1 2 1 The Korths therefore again occupy tbe premier position, and tkey also take first place with regard to tbe highest score made in a match, having thrown 11 against the Knightsbridge. The Port Augusts* come second with 9, which they:threw in the only match they have played. All will join in congratulatirjg the Norths on the position they occupy in the eyes of lacrosse enthusiasts. A fortnight ago I asked Secretaries to forward information about thsir clubs, particularly with regatd to the inumber[of player?, being anxious t» ascertain bow many players we have in the colony, but no news has come to band from the Noarloogs, Jamestown, or Biverton Clubs, and therefore it is impossible to give all the information desired. The Norths have thirty players, and it is due to them to say they are nearly all good men. Belt has been the most successful goal-thrower, bat he La3 been ably backed up by Holmes and Cavenagh. Ball acd Fhiilipson have been towers of strength in the centre, as also have H. Davenport and Smith, back. A. and B. Hill bave both done good work in different parts of tbe field. Connor, too, has been indispensable, particularly in the intercolonial matches, in which he is said to have played remarkably well. Bragge has not played much for some unknown reason. His name has appeared on the posted list, bet he has failed to join his team when the time came. This sort of practice is far too prevalent in other than tbe North Club. If a man is picked and undertakes to play he should fuldl his premise and not withdraw at the last moment, '/be Adelaides had a sad experience of this sort of thing when they vrent to Noarlunga with little more than half of a team a month or two Ego, and- were badly beaten. The Adekide Club number* twentynine players, and nearly all of l&it year's men have played with the team this year. Of the new men, P. Heath has specially distinguished himsolf. Th» Adelaides' position on the scoring list is largely due to the absence of a goal-keeper ia the team, which is a most serious drawback. Ihe Knights have betn most assiduous in practice, and they deserve to bold a better position than they do. They began practice in February, and the average attendance has been fourteen. There are twenty-three playing members of the dab, but the members on the roll number thirty-seven. The Knights unfortunately are threatened with the loss of their pretty litt!e ground, as the owner thinks of putting it under crop, bat tit -is proposed to try and make it worth his while not to do so. I hope the dub's mo re will have a satisfactory issue. Ihe Port Augustas have h«d a successful season, and ihe sport seems to take splendidly there. Eighteen colour matches were played, and Ii5 goals were thrown. There are thirty two playing members, bat there is no clab nearer than Port Germein for them to battle with. However, there is talk of clubs being formed at Laura, Port Pirie, Gladstone, and Quorn, and if all I hear is true the Augustas will probably have teams to meet early next season, especially at Quora and Port Pule. Tbe Port Germein Club, has 23 members, 18 of whom play regularly. They started late in the seafon, and only engaged in one match— against Port Augusta— but the members are enthusiastic, and next season the game promises to be cnthu* sia&tically taken up there. Some warehousemen of the city evidently think lacrosse will be popular next year, aa I know of two Adelaide firms who are importing a large stock of crosses so as to be read; for the beginning of- tha season. Ihis review will conclude tha weekly notes, bat it may bo mentioned that if country folk desire information on the game thsir enquiries, will be answered by the Secretary of the Association, Mr. D. Fowler, or by 'Facer.' Since the above notes have been fa typa I have received a communication from Mr. J. H. Dixnn, of Bmrton. stating that a dab was formed there on June 26, that practice has bean indulged in twice a week ever since, and that tha dub numbers sixteea playing members. . .; .? .