The NRL judiciary
is set to sue Phil Gould for comments he may last
year when he was defending former St George Illawarra
forward, Craig Smith.
Its alleged that Gould
said the judiciary had conspired to bring about
a guilty verdict against Smith.
Gould's defence spokesperson
has claimed that the 2002 NSW coach was merely expressing
his opinion.
The 2001 verdict saw
Craig Smith suspended for the remainder of that
season. It came on the back of a number of controvesial
rulings against the New Zealand front rower which
saw him ultimately forced out of the country.
Gould spoke up in
defence of Smith, banging the table with his fist
in an often spirited oration to the judiciary.
Craig Smith now plays
for English Super League side, the Wigan Warriors.
Related
news (from August 2001):
SMITH SUSPENDED
Saints On TV 15/08/01:
In a black day for Rugby League, Craig Smith has
been found guilty by the NRL Judiciary of a grade
3 striking charge and has been suspended for six
weeks. This means that Smith will only be available
to play should the Dragons make the Grand Final
on September 30.
Smith, 29 acted within his rights when contesting
the charge which resulted from a tackle in last
Sunday's match against Brisbane. The incident saw
Brisbane's Kevin Walters suffer a fracture in the
orbital eye socket and a fracture in his nose and
this led to Smith being cited by the Match Review
Committee.
Most observer's agree that this was an accidental
knock and it now appears that the Judiciary is acting
upon the media frenzy which followed the injury
to Walters.
In particular, Brisbane's coach, Wayne Bennett was
repeatedly highly critical of the ref Tim Mander
for not acting on the incident in the first instance.
For some reason, Bennett was not called upon to
qualify his comments. The usual practice being that
coaches are fined for openly criticising referees.
Additionally, the media highlighted Smith's past
record and often focussed on the actual injury to
Walters. Very little attention was given to the
fact that this was an accident.
St George Leagues Club put up a solid defence and
kindred spirit, Phil Gould was there to talk on
Smith's behalf. Gould was invited to the hearing
by coach Andrew Farrar after Gould was heard on
TV and radio defending Smith.
Gould put up a spirited argument often thumping
the Judiciary table as he repeatedly reminded the
panel that Smith had no idea that his arm was going
to come into contact with Walters' head and claimed
that Smith was a victim of circumstances.
The panel of Darrell
Williams, Royce Ayliffe, Ian Roberts and Commissioner
Jim Hall didn't agree. Hall said Smith's tackle
had: "...forceful, deliberate or highly reckless
contact....There was no need for Smith to lead with
his elbow as he fell to the ground on the defenceless
Bronco halfback."
In the end, Smith was suspended and his career in
Australia is probably over.
A contract he had
earlier signed with Wigan for 2002 is now back on
the rails. Smith has only played 15 matches in Australia
in 2001. UK import rules require that Smith should
have played at least 16 matches to qualify as an
import but this has been waived because Smith is
a current international.
It's no secret that Judiciary and MRC boss, Jim
Hall has been targeting Smith all year. The inconsistency
of this system is now beyond a joke. For all intents
and purposes, it looks as if Jim Hall has finally
had his way and seen one of Rugby League's best
front rowers out of the game.
