Matthews and Elliott may well have been found out. Onya Dayno, stick it up em mate.
Interesting piece at the bottom regarding the Lions...if ARL can't stump the 220K
funding gap (petty change), I'll be passing the hat around. Pity the other League
organisations that will take benefit from having a Lions team can't see their way
clear to slipping in a few bob.
From :
http://stuff.co.nz/sundaystartimes/4287084a6444.html
Penrith's claims that powerhouse second-row Frank Pritchard came home from the Kiwis tour overweight have been comprehensively scotched by the team's trainer, who told the Sunday Star-Times that Pritchard actually finished the trip lighter than he started it.
Pritchard clocked in at 108.3kg at the start of the five-test programme and finished at 108kg, and during an on-tour fitness test came third on the rowing machine, fourth on the bike and sixth on the cross-trainer, Dayne Norton said.
And Kiwis doctor Simon Mayhew said Pritchard returned home without injury and he had emailed the Panthers a full medical report on Friday morning. The player had arrived on tour without the usual club medical report or contact details for the Panthers' doctor or physio.
Urging better communication channels, Mayhew said: "It [the complaint] is a bit disappointing, he didn't go back with any injuries and yes, OK, he arrived in Australia on Tuesday, but we got home Wednesday and to supply a copy of all his medical notes on Friday is not too bad."
Mayhew said the Kiwis had been praised by some clubs for their handling of injured players and Norton said he had never had complaints before. "I don't like to hear a club say one of their players has come back in poor condition when we work hard to keep them in their best shape," Norton said.
NZRL general manager Peter Cordtz said Penrith's concerns had been "overblown". He received a conciliatory phone call from Panthers' general manager Mick Leary soon after the story broke in Sydney on Friday morning.
But the strong words of Penrith CEO Glenn Matthews and coach Matthew Elliott were plain, Elliott saying Pritchard looked out of condition in the second test thumping by Great Britain and adding: "I'll be honest: I have a question mark on whether the New Zealand team has fulfilled that duty of care [to Pritchard and his club]."
Cordtz has written to Matthews asking for details of the club's complaint but has been assured by Leary that the Panthers won't take it to the International Federation.
In other news, Monty Betham has laughed off suggestions by former Samoa teammate David Solomona he will be tempted out of retirement to play in the 2008 world cup. Betham said: "I'd love to play again... but why would they go for a 30-year-old who has been out of the game nearly two years by then?"
He will instead approach Samoan coach John Ackland and offer his services in an off-field capacity.
And the future of the Auckland Lions Premier League team will be decided by an Auckland Rugby League board meeting tomorrow night when the board will try to patch a $220,000 funding hole to keep the team alive.
ARL chairman Cameron McGregor said he was "optimistic" funding could be found.
