Click for more Latest NEWS

Greg Dowling blasts whingeing Poms

By Patrick Molihan

KANGAROOS coach Ricky Stuart has slammed the Tri-Nations judiciary and promised tit-for-tat citings after prop Willie Mason was suspended for punching Stuart Fielden.

The decision has been labelled a farce by former Test prop Greg Dowling who dismissed the Lions as whingeing Poms for citing Mason while Stuart admitted he had let his enforcer down.

"If I had've taken a tit-for-tat approach on Saturday night with the other guys that were involved in the striking and the brawling we probably would have got Willie off," said a furious Stuart yesterday.

"I said earlier that the coaches shouldn't have any involvement in charging a player but to save your players you're better off having a tit-for-tat attitude.

"I don't like that because its not my go in regards to putting a player in. I don't want a player to be missing any of the important games and missing Test matches.

"It is disappointing for the player and the coach and the team but that's the course we're being pushed down from the result last night."

Dowling agreed with Stuart and claimed if anyone should have been banned it was British captain Jamie Peacock for sparking a melee in their weekend Tri-Nations match after Mason's punch.

Dowling known for his 1985 sideline brawl with Kiwi Kevin Tamati was flabbergasted that Mason had copped a one-match ban and $5000 fine for something '90 per cent of forwards would have done'.

"The next bloke who came racing in, Peacock, should have been the one suspended because that's the one who started the all-in blue," he said.

Dowling cheekily said he 'wasn't surprised' that the Brits instigated action against Mason.

"They (Tri-Nations judiciary) practically said 'let's leave it on the field' at the start of the series, but what do you know, the Pommies have come out whingeing," he said.

"Test football is tough football. Willie Mason was playing for his country, he was leading us from the front you can't get down on him for that."

Stuart warned on October 29 that the Tri-Nations judiciary had set a 'dangerous precedent' by failing to cite any players from the tournament's first three explosive matches.

Most notably, no action was taken against British forward Adrian Morley punching New Zealand fullback Brent Webb on October 28 and now Stuart believes Mason has been made a scapegoat for that lack of action by the judiciary.

"They had set a precedent which was wrong at the start of the series," said Stuart of the Tri-Nations disciplinary set-up. "They knew they'd made errors in regards to the lack of charging after some incidents and they've changed course half way through the series which is unfortunate for Willie and the Australian team."

Most agree Mason would have been charged had the match been played under NRL conditions. Yet the Kangaroos say they only want the same deal other sides have been getting, including Great Britain.

"If Morley got away with it, don't you think Willie is hard done by?" said Dowling.

GC Bulletin

Suite 1F First Floor Trust House 3070 Gold Coast Hwy
Surfers Paradise Queensland Australia 4215
Tel: +61 7 5538 9377 Facsimile: +61 7 5538 9388
Email: rlcm@...
© Copyright Shamrock Books 1998