No apologies - Bryce Gibbs
* By David Riccio
* From: The Sunday Telegraph
* April 18, 2010 12:01AM
CONTROVERSIAL Wests Tigers prop Bryce Gibbs has no intention of apologising to Canterbury rival Ben Hannant over an alleged religious slur now under NRL investigation.
As chief executives from both Sydney clubs went into damage control yesterday, Gibbs told The Sunday Telegraph that he had done nothing wrong and had no reason to seek a meeting with Hannant, a devout Mormon, to clear the air.
The pair needed to be separated after the full-time siren on Friday night after the Bulldogs' 24-4 win against the Tigers.
It remains unclear exactly what was said, but a source close to Hannant declared: "Someone said to me if the same thing was said about Hazem El Masri's Muslim beliefs, there would probably be riots in western Sydney."
Despite Hannant refusing to make a formal complaint over the incident, The Sunday Telegraph has learned:
* The NRL match review committee is planning to investigate the incident tomorrow;
* Both Hannant and Gibbs traded barbs throughout the 80 minutes;
* At least one Tigers official spoke with Gibbs after the match and told him he had crossed the line;
* Wests Tigers chief executive Stephen Humphreys has ruled out taking any disciplinary action against Gibbs.
Asked for his version yesterday, Gibbs said, "what happens on the field stays on the field".
"I just want to leave it out on the field, that's what men do, you know," Gibbs said. "I just walked off the field, that was it. I couldn't really hear him, so I walked in the sheds.
"When you're losing ... it's upsetting. I want to win every game and if we don't win our team has failed. Tough isn't sledging, that's not tough."
Asked if he had apologised to Hannant, or had any intention of contacting his rival, Gibbs replied; "Not at all, no. What for? I don't even know much about it.
"I've never met the bloke. I'm not sure what he's claiming."
After speaking at length with Hannant and Humphreys yesterday, Bulldogs chief executive Todd Greenberg said their would be no formal complaint from either party.
"We've had some discussions with Ben this morning, as I have also had with both the NRL and my counterpart at the Wests Tigers, Steve Humphreys, and we've agreed not to lodge any formal complaints with the NRL," Greenberg said. "Let's be clear, we support Benny Hannant 100 per cent in everything that he does and he was very upset after the game.
"But I think this one can be left with the clubs, and I've spoken to Steve Humphreys, whose a very good operator, and he agreed we would leave it at that.
"It's certainly not my job to talk to Bryce Gibbs or any of [the Tigers] players ... but I'm sure he'll [Humphreys] do that today."
Under the NRL's vilification code, a complaint must be filed to the NRL by the offended player in order for the matter to be investigated.
However, NRL operating officer Graham Annesley said the case was far from closed.
"Under the vilification rule there has to be a complaint, but there is still a match review process that has to be undertaken," Annesley said. "And they're entitled to look at anything on the field and can make any inquiries they want in reviewing a match.
"Until they've done that we can't pre-determine what they might find."
