Betham Bows Out

[Shaun Hewitt]

Betham bows out
Sportal

Enough is enough says Monty Betham and he is leaving the Warriors a year ahead of schedule.

The club has released the sometimes controversial Betham to take up a two-year Super League contract with Wakefield Trinity.

Injury and suspensions have marred his time with the club for whom he has played 101 games since 1999.

A former captain of the side, he said at last night's club presentations that the external environment, a reference to booing inflicted on him at home games, had taken its toll.

At the presentations Ruben Wiki was named the player of the year by his team-mates. Despite time out for suspension at the start of the season, Wiki led the club on metres gained during the year.

Departing halfback Stacey Jones won the Sky TV viewer's choice as player of the year.

Rookie of the year went to Wellington teenager Simon Mannering.

Players farewell from the club were: Betham, Jones, wing Francis Meli, forward Iafeta Paleaaesina and Tevita Latu.
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Sad to see him leave our shores, would have liked him to become part of our management team.

Rookie of the year was a no brainer!!

 

[SpaceMonkey]

I've little sympathy for Monty when he whinges about getting booed, he brought it on himself with the number of stupid plays he's made, especially this year. I'll miss his defensive workrate but not much else.

 

[Scott]

Betham had a choice to make. Either build a bridge and get over all the crap from this year, or make a fresh start. He;s going to Wakefield. Good luck to him. I wish him all the best and will watch with interest how he goes next year!

 

[SpaceMonkey]

Betham had a choice to make. Either build a bridge and get over all the crap from this year, or make a fresh start. He;s going to Wakefield. Good luck to him. I wish him all the best and will watch with interest how he goes next year!

Fair call.

 

[NZ Warrior]

The club needed his work rate and defensive work. It didn't need his brain explosions, his poor judicial record or his inept runs from dummy half.

Pretty sad to see him go, but if the club felt incapable of dropping him when he was performing poorly, then I'm glad he has decided his future lies elsewhere.

Good Luck Monty Betham, I hope the Pommy fans don't boo you.

 

[Martli]

There was no-one else rookie of the year could go to! Simon was the only new player used! Still deserved it though.

 

[JoeD]

Not sad to see him go. He would have been on fair coin too. How far under the cap are we going to be next year?

 

[ThrashViking]

Cost us too many games with his stupidity im afraid despite his at times excellent defensive work rate.
Good luck in England, hopefully the Wakefield coach can help you out some how.

 

[RHYTHM AND STEALTH]

This is from Peter Wopati


Monty Betham's consistent ill discipline may be linked to team orders.


The Warriors hard man is off to Wakefield Trinity in the UK Superleague, being released from the Warriors with a year left on his contract.


Betham says part of his reason for leaving was the jeering he received from the fans at Ericsson Stadium recently.


Commentator Peter Ropati says the fans do not appreciate Betham's suspensions and infringements, but it may not be the his fault.


Ropati says the people in charge were obviously happy with his antics - otherwise he would have been cut earlier.


Peter Ropati says people do not notice a lot of the good work Betham does because he is not flashy, but he is one who has given the Warriors solid performances.


He says Betham does not necessarily deliver what the fans want but he has not fallen short in the eyes of those who call the shots at the Warriors.


Ropati says Betham's biggest asset is his loyalty to the club and its players.





Gotta agree. No doubt he ws being told dont back down

 

[Shaun Hewitt]

Yes, but that incident which ALMOST cost us the roosters game was just stupid

The inability of Kemp to make his own decision and have Betham in his side every week makes this news better than worse for me. Not sad to see him go, but wish him the best of luck.

 

[Batman]

85% of the people I spoke to said he was just defending himself against Tupou, and the incident didn't deserve a penalty. Whats changed? Then in the Penrith game, he came in after Brent Webb and dragged a bloke to the ground. Is this the 'antics' which are being referred too? The frustrated fans needed a scapegoat for the poor season, and the media beat-ups gave them one. Next year, it's some other blokes turn.

 

[Shaun Hewitt]

Batman did you even see the incident against Tupou?

 

[Iafeta]

Well, one thing I can definitely say about Monty was he was always the people's champion off field, from the chances I get to be around the Warriors off field he was always immensely on hand for any fan who wanted an autograph or photo or to stop and say hi. I remember talking to him after the 2002 Grand Final at Sydney Airport, the love the guy had for the club was unreal and I can see how he became club captain because just from talking to him I found it quite inspirational.

So in that respect, he'll be a very sad loss. You can't just replace those values at a club.

In another respect, we'll miss him. His ruck defence was vital at times. I thought towards the end of the year after all the Panthers game that he was one of our best week in week out, keeping the defence night and tight with stinging tackles one after the other. I remember at crucial times he stood up for the Warriors with similar performances, notably I recall him v Penrith in that semi we lost just peeling off tackle after tackle after tackle. Him and Lauitiiti and Swann galvanised the pack that day, but eventually we still got ran over.

Its a pity sometimes he let his emotions for the club go a bit over the top a times, although I think he was somewhat a pet hate of the referees due to reputation. In some ways I think the Steve Reardon incident and the Adrian Morley UK tour incident conspired against him as referees preconceived what he was about. Take that Tupou incident, I still think that is the biggest crock of sh*t out, seemingly Tupou was a choir boy in the incident, even though he wouldn't let go and came charging back at Betham. Even the Panthers thing, crazy, but then again, how a penalty didn't go to the Warriors in the first place for a late shot is simply bewildering.

He could do some very ill disciplined things in between times, but one should never doubt the blokes committment to the club. I would have still had him in my team after watching his last few weeks- I bagged the bloke relentlessly but had to eat a bit of humble pie as he showed in those games what he'd shown intermittedly before.

Good luck Monty - hope Wakefield look after you. Thank you for your dedication to the Warriors on and off the field. I hope your love of the club is bottled up and given to the young guns.

 

[Iafeta]

Batman did you even see the incident against Tupou?

I agree wholeheartedly with Batman's take of the incident.

The no try decision was one of the biggest crock decisions in the history of rugby league. You compare it to any other similar incident in 2004 and tell me if the ruling was consistent, secondly, show me where you can prove A: Betham begins it and B: Tupou had nothing to do with it. There's four things for mine to take into considration, A: can't say who began it, B: it didn't obstruct play (it was 40 metres up field) C: there were different interpretations on those incidents just the week before D: Anthony Tupou was just as guilty as Monty Betham. Take those four things into account and the beat up Betham got out of it was a joke.

 

[mattyj]

Great competitor, great heart and a man that gave 100% for the club.

Unfortunately for him he was born into an era where, Money, Politics and premadonnas run our game, if he played with the likes of Sorrenson, Tamati and Ahoi where Mana, pride in the Jersey and a big heart ruled the game then in my opinion he would stand aside them as one on the greats that NZ has produced.

Shot Montz, all the best Bro

 

[spook]

Monty will be made very welcome by the people of Wakefield and the Trinity club...

We are a family club, where the tightness of the unit is one of our major strengths... from what I have seen and heard of Monty Betham he will fit into this ethic superbly... and... he will be able to play in the summer, England is a very nice place in the summer.

Any chance we can have Ruben Wiki too?

 

[mahanga]

Goodluck Bro......You'll be remembered for your antics on and also off the field.

 

[Razor Blade]

Monty will be welcomed.

Being freinds with Solomona will have been a big factor i would think.

What Trinity have lacked this year is a tackling machine. Betham will be the first of a few new signings for the club as our new coach is looking to build his own team up.

Sounds just the type on no-nonsense player we need as we need more toughness up front.

Can we have Wiki then?

 

[theboyem]

We at Wakefield are looking forward to seeing Monty in a Trinity shirt, his tenacity is exactly what we've been missing. I think he'll find Wakefield his home from home.

Oh and go on, throw in Rueben Wiki as well. Please?!

 

[shaneh]

who is the wakefield coach???