SMAD. An Organ of Student Opinion. 1937. Volume 8. Number 8.
Football
Football.
The Senior A team had the misfortune to suffer defeat against Athletic last Saturday week. "Smad" was very disappointed, but not surprised. Pirates showed that the team was not fit. Burke was missing from the pack, consequently the hacks did not get 100 per cent, of the ball. However, Gardiner hooked well and more than broke even with his vis-a-vis. The forwards toiled well, but one or two are not doing their bit in the tight. "Smad" noticed one in particular who was breaking from the side too fast to be a solid worker. Eade was the pick of the pack and played his usual versatile game. It was a pleasure to see the backs get into action so frequently with the spoiling tactics absent from the opposition the back line swung into action very nicely. Buddle gave good service from the base of the scrum and he scored a beautiful try. Larkin did all that was wanted of a first five-eight in the second spell; he intercepted nicely and scored what looked like a good try only for the referee to give a twenty-five, on impossible ruling under the circumstances. On the whole, "Smad" thought the referee's decisions left room for considerable improvement. Reid tried to do too much on his own without much success. Several times he made good openings, but literally fell down through lack of good sprigs on his boots. At centre Wild gave a solid display.
Credit for the best try of the day goes to Stewart. He was about fifteen yards from the goal line and right on the touchline when he received the ball. Three men tried to tackle him and he evaded each one when it seemed that the slightest touch would throw him out of bounds. It is a long while since Athletic witnessed such a good try. Hudson had not the some chances on the other wing. The new fullback, Kissell, gave a sound display marred by the one mistake when he passed back under his own goal; the mistake cost five points.
All supporters were pleased to see a win recorded against Wellington. It was quite a good game to watch, but "Smad" could not help but notice the indiscriminate kicking by the Wellington players. O'Regan replaced Hudson on the wing and he produced his old form, scoring two good tries. Redwood was replaced by Eustace in the front row. The selectors must have found it hard to make this decision as Redwood was one of the hardest toilers in the pack. The team owed him a great deal in the Pirates game. Burke was hooking brilliantly and gave a good display all round. The backs seem to have settled own into a good combination, but the forwards will have to get fitter still and get their heads down and into it from the kick off till the final whistle. Remember, you must win the next four games to go up into the first division and shining will not do it.