LEAGUE TRANSFER DISPUTE Club Asserts Expenses Were Paid To Player

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 31975, 30 April 1969, Page 15

LEAGUE TRANSFER DISPUTE Club Asserts Expenses Were Paid To Player

l t' r L he pres,den , t of the Kaiapoi Rugby League Club (Mr E. K. reather) yesterday denied the remarks of the Southern Zone centre, B. Williams (at present on transfer to ChristchurchEastern Suburbs), who claimed that he had no expenses for travelling to Kaiapoi for training.

At Monday evening’s meeting of the Canterbury board of control, a letter was received from Williams questioning his four-week transfer suspension compared to the free transfer given to R. H. Turton.

In his letter, Williams said that he had “given the Kaiapoi club my services for the last five years, travelling 30 miles a week to training and paying my own expenses. I

have also found them a few Rugby players to help the team cut in the last few yeans.” Mr Feather’s statement said that “the Kaiapoi club wishes to emphatically refute the allegations made by Barry Williams that this club did in no way recognise his regular attendances at practices or his efforts on be'oaif of the club. “As the club’s books show, Williams was on many oc-

casions a recipient of club gratuities which recognised the mileage involved and his representative performances." Williams said yesterday that he was “happy with the board's decision. 1 realise that I went about questioning the four-match transfer suspension imposed on me in the wrong manner.”

The board of control ruled a letter from Williams out of order because it wis not received through his club and because an earlier application for the player to transfer from Kaiapoi to ChristchurchEastern Suburbs had been dealt with.

Williams said that he had not demanded an immediate transfer but had simply questioned the board’s decision to stand him down when it bad granted a free transfer to Turton, who moved from Christchurch-Eastern Suburbs to become Kaiapoi’s playercoach. Service Unconsidercd

In his letter Williams asked why Turton had been given an immediate transfer. Turton had trained with Christ-church-Eastern Suburbs on the Tuesday before the second round of matches and the players were under the impression that he would be playing in that round. Instead, Turton had coached Kaiapoi on the Thursday evening and had acted in that' capacity on the Saturday, April 19. He was given a free transfer at the board’s meeting of April 21 on the grounds that Christchurch-Eastern Suburbs had not offered him a game in his own grade for three consecutive matches and had written to the board releasing him. Williams said that in his letter he had asked the board whether it considered that

his five years service to Kaiapoi deserved compensation by means of a shorter stand-down period.

Playing Squash It was difficult to sit on the” side-line while his team , played, Williams said. He was playing squash three ' times each week to keep fit I and was determined to regain I his place in the Canterbury team with the ultimate aim of earning higher honours. “I did not want to stir up ' any trouble—just ask a few ! questions,” he said.