Page:Football, the Rugby game.djvu/34

24 should therefore keep well out, so as to cover the ground between the centre and the touch-line, and if they fail to stop the ball as well as the man, should at once go at full pace to the help of the full-back who may find himself in a similar difficulty. In any crisis it is always the duty of one of the three-quarters to go to the help of the full-back, and it is also their duty to mark and watch carefully any specially dangerous man amongst the opponent's three-quarters. The three-quarters undoubtedly have the best of the fun in the modern game, and in return it is their business to win the match either directly or indirectly. But they have a fair right to complain if, as is so often the case, their powers are not called into play owing to insufficient "feeding" on the part of the half-backs.

In the generation which succeeded that of L. Stokes, the best English three-quarters were Wade, Stoddart, Bolton, and Robertshaw. Of this quartette Robertshaw was, in his day, the best centre, by reason of his skill in stopping rushes, and his marvellous accuracy in passing to his wings; Bolton was far the best kick, and had great strength and pace; Stoddart was the best in-and-out dodger whilst going at full speed, and he had a marvellous way of securing tries by jumping clean over the full-back to land the ball, a trick which we should not recommend novices to imitate if they value their limbs. But Wade was, in our opinion, the best of the lot until he took to trusting too much to his great strength. He ran very fast and straight, and had a wonderful swerve when going at full pace, by which he foiled the tackler, who only received a nasty one from his iron thigh. It is this power of turning at full speed which, in our opinion, makes players a class above their compeers. In more recent times Valentine of Swinton, Hubbard of Blackheath, and Lockwood of Dewsbury, have been undeniably