It was Jason Taylor's second breach as sacked Souths coach vows to clear his name
Brent Read | September 18, 2009
Article from: The Australian
JASON Taylor vowed yesterday to clear his name but the job just became more difficult after it emerged the South Sydney coach - sacked over his involvement in a fight with one of his players - was given a verbal warning and fined last year for a previous breach of the club's code of conduct.
In announcing the Rabbitohs' decision to dismiss Taylor, chief executive Shane Richardson confirmed a previous incident was a factor in the club's decision.
It is believed the incident Richardson was referring to occurred following last year's game against the Warriors in Auckland.
Taylor is believed to have breached curfew and turned up at a recovery session the next morning still feeling the effects of the night before. He was fined and given a verbal reprimand by Richardson.
"We have had previous situations - a previous situation in particular," Richardson said.
"The reality is that we have assessed this on this occasion. I really don't want to go (into) the previous one at this stage."
Taylor was unavailable for comment last night while his manager, Wayne Beavis, said he was unaware of any previous incident involving his client.
"I have never received a breach notice in relation to any incident," Beavis said.
Told it was a verbal warning, Beavis sarcastically replied: "It must have been serious. I have never seen a copy of any breach notice."
Taylor, who was given the opportunity to stand down and take a financial settlement, was said to be shattered by the club's decision to terminate his contract after three years at the helm.
The 38-year-old, who guided the club to the finals in 2007, has vowed to take legal action to clear his name and steadfastly denied he had done anything wrong despite CCTV footage suggesting he had engaged in a playful fight with forward David Fa'alogo that escalated into a punch-up.
"I was never told I should not attend and no time restrictions were ever put on my attendance," Taylor said in a statement released through his legal team.
"I drank responsibly at Forrester's (Hotel). I was not intoxicated. Along with players (including David Fa'alogo), I engaged in pretend, light-weight, kung-fu play.
"David was a willing participant in the play encounter that directly preceded the incident. My actions at Forrester's and since have not brought the club into disrepute and I did not breach my contract of employment or any code of conduct.
"I deeply regret the impact that this has brought to my family, the players, the members and the club. I believe that I have been treated unfairly by the club. I will be taking the matter further and doing all I can to defend my honour and clear my good name."
The threat of legal action appears to hold no fears for the Rabbitohs. Chairman Nick Pappas, a lawyer, said: "It's something we thought might happen as a result of this process.
"Any difficult process sometimes leads to dispute and sometimes court action. That's something that isn't a surprise to anyone, but the board and club generally is confident of its position and believes it has acted not only in the best interests of the club and its stakeholders, but of members and fans, and the code generally.
"We gave him every opportunity to explain his actions on the day in question. He did that. All of that was conducted in a good spirit."
Richardson said the club had been left with little choice to part ways with Taylor given events this season.
The game has been dragged through the mud following a series of incidents involving players. This time it involved a coach.
"I'll tell you why he was sacked. It was simple, because we viewed the tape, viewed the evidence, reviewed everything about it and came to the conclusion that his conduct was not in the best interests of South Sydney and was not the sort of conduct for a head coach of South Sydney," Richardson said.
"This is a very serious situation and we have looked at all the information. At the end of the day the decision has been made that the conduct was not becoming of the head coach of South Sydney."
Fa'alogo, who was scheduled to appear before the board today, also had his contract torn up over the incident. The New Zealand international is due to join English side Huddersfield next season but lost nearly two months of his contract, believed to be worth about $40,000, with yesterday's decision.
Taylor, however, was the biggest casualty of some sky-larking that went wrong.
"This is a difficult day for me with Jason Taylor," Richardson said. "The reality is that everybody knows the club situation and what we require from the players' code of conduct and staff in general.
"Do I hold the coach to a higher state than the players? Yeah I do. Do I hold myself to a higher state than the players? Yeah I do.
"We're the leaders in the club. We have got to set the standards. We will all make mistakes from time to time. The reality is we don't feel the standards were met on this occasion."
