Place in Rugby for K. Murdoch

Press, Volume CXIII, Issue 33253, 16 June 1973, Page 48

Place in Rugby for K. Murdoch

K. Murdoch, the All Black prop who was expelled from the 1972-73 NewZealand touring team in Britain, would be given every chance to rehabilitate himself in Rugby if he returned to the country and resumed playing, J. K. Brooks reports from Whangarei. This was said in Whangarei yesterday by the manager of the touring side, Mr E. L. Todd, who accepted full responsibility for banishing Murdoch as the result of an incident in a Cardiff hotel last December. Murdoch did not complete his return trip to New Zealand and is believed to be living and working in Queensland. Members of the New Zealand Universities team were hopeful of seeing him in Brisbane recently: indeed, one of the players was approached by a Queenslander and told that Murdoch would be in the city to watch the side Play. The remark, however, was overheard by a reporter and reference was made to the Otago prop’s

emergence from exile in a Brisbane newspaper. Understandably, Murdoch did not appear at the match. Mr Todd, who was in Whangarei for a meeting of the New Zealand Rugby Union’s council, was asked whether the council had a rule about the status of a player expelled from a tour or whether it had adopted a stand on the matter as the result of the Murdoch incident “There is no rule and we have not discussed the future of the player,” he replied. “But as far as I can see, if he were to return to the country he would be given every chance to rehabilitate himself in Rugby. This would have to be the case—there is no other way.” Mr Todd has not changed his views on the incident and maintains that his decision was in the best interests of the team and Murdoch himself. However, in view of his belief that the Murdoch affair is now a closed book, it will be interesting to see whether the massive prop returns at last to his homeland. Reports that Murdoch was interested in playing Rugby league in Sydney have gradually lost their credibility in the last six months.