Rugby: Union to take hard line on behaviour

Colin Jackson
Colin Jackson
The North Otago Rugby Football Union is set to clamp down on player behaviour after three bans, including one for 13 weeks for biting, have been handed out.

Union chief executive Colin Jackson said the union's board would be making a statement after a meeting next Monday night about "a few issues which need to be addressed".

Although Jackson would not confirm it, the three players banned were from the Athletic club.

One player was banned for 13 weeks for biting, another was banned for six weeks for fighting while a third player had a two-week suspension imposed, also for fighting.

All of the bans stemmed from a brawl in the match between Athletic and Kurow, won by Athletic 22-19.

A brawl occurred in the final five minutes of the match after a head-high tackle.

The referee managed to get the situation under control after about a minute and the match was restarted.

Jackson said although he did not want to comment on the cases, it was clear the union was not happy with the conduct of the players.

"It is not a good look. We're very disappointed in what happened," Jackson said.

When asked whether players needed to be given a warning about their behaviour, Jackson said the penalties handed out should be warning enough.

Possible ways to address the problem could be getting a code of player conduct and warnings to players.

Jackson said the union was not prepared to stand back and take a wait-and-see attitude.

He said volunteers such as referees and other officials gave their time freely and it was simply not on that they were being abused.

Athletic president Gerard McCarthy said the club was dealing with the issues which arose out of last Saturday's game against Kurow in-house.

He would not expand on what that meant but said the club was happy with the judicial hearing, accepted the bans, and simply wanted to move on with matters and concentrate on playing in the Citizen Shield.

He declined to comment on whether the club had a discipline problem but repeated issues were being dealt with in-house.

The bans would not be appealed.

Kurow coach Regan Laughton said the club was disappointed in the outcome from the hearing, and the manner it was held.

He was disappointed the club never got a chance to present evidence.

"We didn't like the way the hearing was conducted and the way the sentence was handed down," Laughton said.

The club had a meeting next week to discuss what further action it could take, and whether the penalties could be appealed.

 

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