Head office turf war threatens to dump 60 teenage Raiders on sideline
Glenn Jackson
December 23, 2010
http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/head-office-turf-war-threatens-to-dump-60-teenage-raiders-on-sideline-20101222-195lu.html
THESE are the teenage victims of the so-called turf war between the NSW and Queensland rugby leagues - three young Canberra footballers who could be denied the chance to represent the Raiders next year because of bureaucracy.
In a decision that has left Raiders chief Don Furner fuming, the NSWRL last week barred Canberra juniors from playing in next year's Harold Matthews and SG Ball competitions. They did so because of the Raiders' reluctance to take part in an exclusive joint venture with St George Illawarra to send their players to Shellharbour in the NSW Cup.
The Raiders had insisted on sending a portion of their playing talent to Souths Logan in the Queensland Cup but the NSWRL, which does not want to be seen to be propping up a Queensland competition, rejected that proposal. And because of a recent move to ban any club's players from the junior competitions if there is no representation in the NSW Cup, up to 60 young Raiders have been left stranded.
''It's disappointing,'' said Jack Ahearn, who would have been the SG Ball team's fullback. ''This is what we've been working for. When Don told us [before training last Friday], it was hard to believe. It's really upsetting. I'm just praying they change their minds. I want to play.''
Furner has been scathing in his criticism of the NSW administration, not only because of the original decision but because of several apparent backflips.
After the board voted to reject his proposal on Thursday night, NSWRL general manager Geoff Carr softened his stance on Saturday, telling ABC Radio: ''If they [the Raiders] can come up with a mutually agreed position … I would certainly open the discussion. What happened Thursday night has nothing to do with it because today's a new day.''
So, clearly, was Tuesday, because an email subsequently lobbed into Furner's inbox which again made it clear that his ''proposal doesn't go far enough to warrant a new meeting of the board to revisit the issue''.
Thus, after a glimmer of hope, the Canberra juniors were left stranded again. ''I don't know who's running the show in there,'' Furner said yesterday. ''I've got to say, I do understand why other codes laugh at us.
''These last four days … nobody in there knows what they're doing.''
Ahearn, meanwhile, said some of his teammates were considering switching codes as a result of the ban. But he won't. ''I love the game and I'll still play it,'' he said.
However, Ryan Gowing admitted the decision had clouded his future. ''It's a weird feeling that all the powers above me can make one little decision which could affect me making the NRL one day,'' he said.
