International board to discuss Mills ban

Press, 21 April 1979, Page 60

International board to discuss Mills ban

NZPA London New Zealand’s refusal to let the Welsh rugby league prop, Jim Mills, play in New Zealand now seems certain to be referred to the league’s; international board. Senior officials of the English Rugby League — in-;; -luding the manager of the' Great Britain team to tour’ Australia and New Zealand!’ Harry Womersley — met in Leeds yesterday to discuss | a letter received from the! Auckland-based New Zealand' League earlier in the week. 1

An English League spokes- ! man, Mr David Howes, said after the meeting: "We stud- i ied the letter at length but basically it just confirmed , what the press had already ’ said — that they intend to apply their local ban on ! ,Mills playing in New Zealand. ■ “As far as we were conjeerned there was no sugges- 1 tion that we will change our I stance, which is still that iMills served a nine-match: ’ suspension for the incident ’over which the New Zealand

ban was imposed, and has therefore served his punishment.” The mattei will, be put before a full meeting of the council of the English League, in Swinton, near Manchester, next Wednesday, and the council is expected to refer the question to the international board for an urgent decision. Mr Howes would not predict the outcome of the meeting yesterday, but there seems no likelihood of the English League suddenly

; backing away from its oft- ■ repeated stance. "Although we’ve been ■ playing it low-key so far, : obviously the thing has to i be decided fairly ugently • now,” he said. The Great Britain team • leaves for Austrlaia on May i 21, and is due in New ZeaI land in mid-July for 10 matches. Mills—-sent off a record i 19 times in his career — 5 was banned for life by the ■ New Zealand League after ■ an incident in the Kiwis-

Wales test at Swansea, in 1975, when he stamped an I the head of the New Zealand prop, John Greengrass. The headlong confrontation to which the two leagues now seem committed was avoided during the Great Britain tour of Australia and New Zealand in 1977 only because Mills withdrew from the touring party after selection, citing “personal reasons.” He later underwent a hernia operation. If the ban — which the, English league contends is!

“illegal’’ — does go to the| ! international board it will effectively be decided by Australia and France, thej two remaining board mem-' bers after the withdrawal of Britain and New Zealand. The board meets irregularly, usually to coincide with a world championship tournament, but league sources in London said that a question such as this would possibly be decided by telephone after written submissions from the parties involved.