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The Spike: or, Victoria College Review, October 1906

[Review of the activities of the men's Hockey club]

"Tout est perdu fors l'honneur."

Sketch of men playing hockey

TThe various Hockey reports for the past season afford rather painful reading. The club secretary and the respective captains have sent in statements abounding in more or less insidious attempts to divert the course of editorial enquiry. One astute effort dilates in a page of impassioned description upon the really extraordinary success of the Hockey Dance, incidentally discussing the relative merits of some half-dozen belles, and then arriving at a glaringly incorrect decision, merely with the hope of creating a diversion; another showers abuse in several truculent paragraphs upon the weather, the grounds and the hopeless incompetence of the government. We are not, however, going to be led astray by any such palpable subterfuges. What we want is some explanation of the following facts:—1. That the First Eleven lost every match, and always by an increasing margin. 2. That the Second Eleven won only one game, and that against a team several men short. 3. That 3 A betrayed our faith and its own good name. 4. That 3B so far ignored its traditions as to defeat the leading team in its grade, and on another occasion to register a draw.

The reports do not help us materially towards a solution of the first three problems. Something is dragged in about "nulla palma sine pulvere," but, so far as one may judge, the dust seems only to have got into the eyes of our hockeyites, thereby impairing their vision. As regards the fourth question, we are given to understand that the Bs resorted to the questionable expedient of engaging for the occasions in question, certain talent that is said to "bung it in" usually on the football field. We do not intend to pursue this very painful subject any further.

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There is one point, however, on which remarkable unanimity is displayed in the reports; it is that the club wants more members, and must have them, if it intends to enter four teams next season.

After a conscientious perusal of the aforesaid reports, we have succeeded in extracting the following general reasons for the collapse of Victoria College hockey this year: want of pace, agility and resourcefulness; lack of practice, combination, experience and self-confidence; want of condition, training and staying power; lack of eagerness, vim, hitting and kicking capabilities; failure to frustrate the attacks of opposing forwards; failure to pierce the defence of opposing backs; superfluity of talk, general sloth and occasional intemperance.

We are reproducing the picture of the First Eleven just as a curiosity.

J. Ryburn, D. Watson and R. Beere were chosen to represent Wellington. Rather remarkable in view of the position occupied by our First Eleven on the list.

Following are some of the hockey performances of Victoria College this season:—