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FOOTBALL.
DELUGE OF RECRUITS.
MANY WILL BE DISAP
POINTED.
Last Season's Experience.
By Forward.
With the near approach of the season,
which opens on 1st May, interest in the
activities of the twelve clubs of the Vic
torian League is increasing. It has been
a busy week on all grounds. Practice
games were played on Saturday, and
training operations were continued on
Tuesday evening and in the bitterly cold
wind of yesterday, when every oppor
tunity was given to tlie hundreds of as
pirants to footbn'il fame to catch tho eyes
of tho selectors before the final reduc
tions in the lists are completed. Till la6t
Snturdny some '800 recruits had offered
their services to the clubs, and .Bitch is
the unbounded enthusiasm of the club
committeemen that no fewer than 350
men have been mentioned as likely to be
included in the training lists in the com
ing season. The position is quite a ridicu
lous one. for scores of the men whose ac
complishments are being so fully adver
tised at present must necessarily be turned
away when the season opens. Last year
more than 800 recruits participated in the
trials prior to the opening of the season,
nnd although hundreds of men were ac
claimed to be footballers of class it is
significant that no more than CO of the
newcomers appeared as regular men of the
twelve eightcens. Men who had been
classified as possessing capabilities equal
to . the average League standard, when
tested in the all-important League games
failed miserably against tlicir more accom
plished opponent. Scores of recruits who
had been acclaimed as champions in tho
making suddenly lost tlieir much-adver
tised ability when .they encountered the
fearless and first-class players to be found
among the regular men of all the League
sides. Bush "champions" were compelled
to make room for others, following a few
trials, and m most cases they returned,
disappointed to their home towns. Look
ing through the lists of tho most success
ful of the new men, it is noticeable that
young men with previous experience among
the metropolitan junior, teams develop into
the most reliable players.
successful Men Last Season.
By the expenditure of a large sum of
money on its second eighteen over the
last few years the Geelong club has set
a worthy example to a number of the
metropolitan members of the League.
With each succeeding year the club has
drawn most of its players from the junior
eighteen ranks, and last season it reaped
its well-deserved reward by gaining the
premiership in the most memorable year
of the club's history. New men who played
regularly in the Geclong eighteen last sea
son were:— Fitamaurice, the former Essen-
don s.ar; Leahy, the clever and experi
enced player- from Western Australia;
Warren, the former Geelong Association
rover, and Williams, the wmgman from
the second eighteen. Heagney, the captain
or the second eighteen, played in the last
j four games, including the semi-final and
grand final, and was one of the star per-
torroers of the eighteen. Of the other men
.vied those from tlie second eighteen
siiowc-d the greatest promise.
Two Chosen from 100 Recruits.
. One news item regarding the activities
of tho Collingwood club last season told
how the selectors had a difficult task to
reduce the training list, as 110 fewer than
100 players had attended. The names of
several "outstanding performers" were
mentioned, and it was Btated that other
men were displaying "exceptional" form.
Tt is therefore remarkable that only two
of the 100 newcomers appeared as re-
gnhir men in the eighteen. L. Stainsby.
of Narandcra, strengthened the .forward
line 111 tho 17 games in which he played,
and kicked about 30 goals. The other
acquisition to the side was J. Harris, the
midget wingmau, half-forward nnd rover,
from the Brighton team. The club did
not oppose the application of C. Milburn
to transfer to Stawell at the meeting of
tho umpire and permit committee on Wed-
neo'- - night, and there is thus a vacancy
on the -wing this year, for Milburn has
filled thnt position since he came to the
elub in 1923 from North Melbourne.
Experience An Essential.
In selecting their players for last, year
Melbourne committeemen obtained the ser
vices of five men who had had previous
experience in senior games. Warne-Smifch,
who returned from Tasmania; Deane,
one of the Tnsmaniuu stars of the carnival
games; Moyes, the St. Kilda forward;
Jorgenson, the former Geelong represen
tative, and Donnelly, from Sturt, one of
the. Adelaide League clubs, were the new
comers who played regularly. Donnelly
participated in the first nine, games of the
season before his permit was reviewed bj
tlie League. Such names as Tymme,
Richardson, Anderson, Duff, McMeeken,
Latham, Sholton, Wyatt and O'Callaghan
appeared on the practice games lists, but
none of the players became known as re
gular men of the side. It was the. same
at the head quarters of all the other
League clubs. From a few score of re
cruits Essendon selected a handful of men,
J. Vosti, the Brunswick forward playing
in 15 games; McSweeney and Simpson in
eleven matches and Qanin in four. The
lascuamea three players were wisely re
cruited from the ranks of the local juniors,
the onljr country representative to join the
side being Hammond, the Broadford fol
lower. Of the 80 men on the Fitzroy list
O'Rourke, of St. Kilda (16 gomes), Costi-
gan, from Newman College (10 games),
and Chatfield, from the second eighteen,
were the only three to figure prominently
in the eighteen. G. Hellwig joined the
side later in the season, and was included
as a permanent member. Men from Wood's
Point, Fairfield,. Bacehus Marsh, Berri-
bnnk, Kerang and many other centres
where the game is plnyed failed to secure
the opportunity to aon the maroon guern
sey.
St. Kllda's Many Changes.
Much of the success of the St. Kilda
team was due to the infusion of new blood
into the side. By drawing on Association
clubs the committee obtained Roberts, oi
Frahran; Bcnce, of Brighton, and for
merly of South Melbourne, and Matthews,
of Brighton. Hepburn came from the
nawksburn Juniors, Armstrong from New.
South Wales, May from Fitzroy, and
Shelton. the star forward, from Koowee-
rup. This season ten of tlie recruits have
been mentioned as likely candidates fot
inclusion in the side, and as the selectors
last year placed more new players afield
than any of the older clubs in the League
the committee is certainly deriving some
advantage from its practice games.
Richmond's newcomers who made good
included McCormnck, of Rochester: Ro
binson (Nathalie), Geddes (Williams-
town), O'Hnlloran (second eighteen) and
Huggard. From the hundred recruits at
South Melbourne the successful candidates
were: — Hogg (Leopold). Freyer (Port Mel
bourne Juniors). Stnnbridge (Port Mel
bourne), Reville (Morwell), Stewart
(South Melbourne District) and Wins
bridge (W.A.). Carlton were compelled
to make several alterations, and included
Brewis (Maryborough), Leitck (Tas;.
mania), Rumney (Brighton), Irwin
(Brunswick), McSwain (Merbein) and
Donoghue (seven games). Footscray,
North Melbourne and Hawthorn, the three
clubs from the Association, also had to
rearrange their .teams in an endeavor to
meet tlie strength of the powerful League
combinations.
Local Junior v. Association Player.
. Studying the figures relating to last
season's newcomers in the ranks of the
nine old clubs of the League, one finds
that 45 new men were included — an aveu-
age of five tnen to each team. Of the
total it is decidedly interesting to learn
that fourteen men were drawn from the
second eightcens and district clubs, twelve
from the Association, eight from the coun
try and seven from other States. Four
men transferred to and from League
club. It is therefore evident that, from
the economical standpoint, the local
junior is tho best material handled by the
various clubs. Last season hundreds of
pounds were expended on players from
the country, and in the great majority
of cases the men were useless to the
clubs concerned. .
To-morrow all the League teams are to
hold ano'ther set of practice games, when
a number of men who have not yet bad
tlieir names in the press lists from the
practice matches are to be given trials.
Thereafter the club selectors arc to re
duce the training lists to approximately
the number of men required for the sea
son, and after that there are to be the
usual yearly disappointments. I11 the
meantime the practice games provide fine
propaganda work for the clubs and the
game in. general, and enable the club
treasurers to record the Falcs of thousands
of membership tickets.
Notes from the Clubs.
Charleston, of Carlton, was last, night
granted a clearance by tlie club to Co-
burg, and Kick was cleared to Drouin.
Shaw, who has been playing well at Col
lingwood, asked for a clearance to that
club, but the application was held over
till next week. A. Lcitch has applied
for permission to transfer to Tasmania.
Mordern, of St. Kilda, is to be granted
a clearance to play with ltonalla.
Footscray committee is to meet to-night
to further reduce the training list.
. To-morrow the Soutli Melbourne district
eighteen is to pluy tlie senior eighteen.
At North Melbourne Mr. M. Devnrey
has been appointed vice-president. New
men who are to appenr in to-morrow's
Sracticc game are Bcare, of Dimboola;
rutlierton, of Ynllourn; Snuudors, of
C.Y.M.S.; and Stockdule, of a country
club.
There has been a steady demand for
membership tickets at Melbourne this sea
son, and the club committee expects last
year's membership figure to be exceeded.
Tickets are to be ou sale at the ground
to-morrow.
At Geelong Hudd and Ferguson are tlie
only players of last season who have not
attended practice to date. Hudd has sent
in an application for a clearance, with
a view to his joining up with Essendon,
and Fergusion has gone to his home State
(Western Australia), and does not intend
to leave there this season. There lias
been an increasing demand for member
ship tickets, of which i'c is anticipated
that 8000 will be disposed of before the
close of this month.
$