RUGBY LEAGUE
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LESS than a week after the Group 10 executive committee met with club representatives and voted to take a tougher stance on ill-discipline, a referee has been forced to call off a game early and in another incident a captain-coach was sent from the ground for allegedly throwing a punch.
It is little wonder Group 10 president Linore Zamparini is a frustrated man.
He and the rest of his executive met last night to review Sunday’s incident which led to the first division match between St Pat’s and Blackheath being called off early.
Oberon premier league skipper and Country Rugby League Western Region development officer, Wade Judd, will front the judiciary as well after being sent-off in Saturday’s loss to St Pat’s for allegedly throwing a punch, while a scuffle in the premier league match between Orange Hawks and Cowra on Sunday has also been placed on report.
These incidents come on the back of the July 8 game between Mudgee and Lithgow which was stopped before half-time as a result of four separate brawls and three sin-binnings.
“We are very frustrated, we are even more frustrated than we were last week because we all came together last Tuesday to talk about these things and five days later Wade Judd is going to have to be at the judiciary and we had this game called off early,” Zamparini said.
“It is very disappointing, especially as it was only last week when we dealt with this [misconduct]. I most certainly think if someone is found to have broken or breached any of the rules they will feel the full force of the judiciary.”
At last Tuesday’s meeting all the Group 10 and Centennial Coal Cup clubs voted to adopt new guidelines covering many aspects of the game.
It included a unanimous vote to uphold a resolution whereby any player found guilty of misconduct will face at least a week on the sidelines.
Zamparini had described the meeting as a “worthwhile exercise”, but he may now be questioning that.
“All the clubs and captains and coaches were at that meeting and I did note Wade Judd was in the room,” Zamparini said.
“It’s disappointing and [if they are found to be guilty] they’ll be dealt with accordingly,” he added.
As of yesterday Zamparini said he was unsure of the exact circumstance which led to the first division fixture between St Pat’s and Blackheath being called off early, but said Group 10 would support any officials who feel they need to take such actions.
“It’s got to be a process at the game of the referee talking to the ground managers – there are two of them at each game. It is a safest thing, if they feel it is unsafe or that things are going to escalate, then they’ve got to make a decision,” the president said of calling games off early.
“That game was called off early yes, I believe that is the case. I don’t know exactly what happened, it did end early but I don’t know whether that game was brought to a stop before half-time or close to full-time.”