Player Ordered Off Is Suspended Indefinitely

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30445, 20 May 1964, Page 19

Player Ordered Off Is Suspended Indefinitely

A Burnside junior player, M. Brown, who was ordered off in a match against Merivale for fighting last Saturday, failed to appear at a meeting of the management committee of the Canterbury Rugby Union last evening.

Mr G. R. Russell, the referee who ordered Brown off, also was not present, but after hearing his written report the committee decided to stand Brown down until he chose to appear before the committee.

The referee’s report said that he had previously cautioned Brown for fighting and when he saw him later struggling with, and striking a Merivale player he ordered him off.

“The game was scrappy and the second half was marred by fighting and I had to warn three Burnside players,” said the report Team Not To Blame Mr R. W. Thomas suggested that in view of the referee’s report the Burnside club should be asked to look

at its team’s conduct for future matches. Mr J. Storey said that the committee was dealing with an individual case, not with a team. The team should not be criticised for one player’s misbehaviour.

The meeting decided that the matter should rest with Brown being stood down indefinitely. Dangerous Sprig

A serious injury to an Albion player in a match against Lincoln College could have been caused by an aluminium sprig being sharpened by a player walking to the Lancaster Park South ground across the asphalt on the embankment, said a letter from the Albion Club. The letter asked if teams playing on the south ground

could walk on the grass on the main field after leaving the main stand. Mr L. Adams said that the injury was so serious that it seemed it could only have been made by a jagged aluminium sprig. A motion by Mr D. B. Doake that teams playing on the south ground be allowed to walk on the grass on the oval if they kept away from the playing field was approved. Complaints that Centennial Park and Halswell Domain were not suitable for club matches because markings were non-existent were received. Mr Adams said that the Suburbs club xvas going to mark the grounds at Halswell. Mr C. Rhodes said that Centennial Park was a new ground and was mainly being used for lower grade matches. Match To Be Played

A request from Lincoln College that its match against Old Boys, which was drawn for May 16, should be played on June 3 was declined. A letter from the club said an application had been made to the competitions committee for its game on May 16 to be against a University or Training College team so a mutual default could be arranged. The club understood its application would be granted and therefore most of the team had left Christchurch. However, later it was found it had to play Old Boys, but by then it was too late to recall players and the game had to be defaulted. Mr C. H. McPhail moved that the draw should stand. He said that with three student clubs it was impossible to arrange a satisfactory draw for all of these teams in the vacation.