Danny
14-10-2004, 07:18 PM
Interesting spat between Penrith and NZ about Puletua's fitness and availability for the test series. Penrith want him to rest and be fit for next year, NZ want him to play.
Who has the priority?
Who makes the decision?
Kiwis call in doctor over Puletua row
By Brad Walter
October 14, 2004
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Former All Blacks doctor John Mayhew has been engaged by the New Zealand Rugby League in a bid to resolve a club-versus-country row over injured Penrith forward Tony Puletua.
Puletua, who requires ankle surgery, wants to play for the Kiwis in the coming Tri-Nations series but the Panthers have ordered him home after Saturday's opening Test against Australia for an operation on October 21.
Penrith chief executive Mick Leary said the club wanted to ensure that Puletua was fit for the start of next season. But the NZRL is challenging the Panthers' view that the recovery time for the operation will be four months.
While the Kiwis have agreed to release fellow Penrith second-rower Joe Galuvao to have an ankle reconstruction next week, a specialist consulted by the NZRL has advised that Puletua would need as little as six weeks to get over his operation to remove bone spurs.
It is understood the NZRL had planned to ask NRL chief medical officer Hugh Hazzard to make a ruling but his roles as team doctor for Australia and the Bulldogs presented a possible conflict of interest, so Mayhew was approached.
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Mayhew, recently retired after almost two decades with the All Blacks, now works for the Millennium Institute in Auckland, where the Kiwi side is based, and he is expected to assess Puletua today. If Mayhew's report is favourable, the NZRL then plans to forward copies to Penrith, the ARL and Britain's Rugby Football League in a bid to convince them that Puletua should be allowed to play in the remainder of the series, which culminates with a final at Old Trafford on November 27.
NZRL general manager Peter Cordtz said: "John Mayhew's credentials are second to none, so it goes without saying that if his review supports the opinion of our medical staff, we will be taking this matter further.
"The Tri-Nations agreement we have signed with the ARL and the RFL obligates all countries to field their best possible team, and to lose one world-class second-rower in Joe is obviously a blow but to lose Tony as well would be a massive setback.
"Having said that, we have Tony's best interests and welfare at heart and have already proposed a program to treat and manage the injury, as we have done with him in the past."
Leary said he had not heard from the NZRL yesterday but was aware of behind-the-scenes manoeuverings to pressure the club into backing down.
"We fully support the involvement of our players in representative football but what the club doesn't want to see is a situation like what happened with Martin Lang, who let a similar injury go and it virtually ended his career," Leary said.
"As far as we're concerned, Tony is booked in to have the operation next week, and if he was to put it off for a month that means he will miss the first four weeks of next season and that is unacceptable to Penrith."
Kangaroos back-rowers Ben Kennedy and Nathan Hindmarsh said the dispute over Puletua would fire up the Kiwis for a big performance on Saturday.
"They'll get stuck in, for sure," Hindmarsh said. "They're two great players, they're two big, mobile back-rowers, so I think it's a bit of a bonus for us that they're not to kick on. But it's going to be a nice, tough game on Saturday." Kennedy added: "Obviously them playing makes it a lot tougher for us . . . but we're building for this week and so are they."
Who has the priority?
Who makes the decision?
Kiwis call in doctor over Puletua row
By Brad Walter
October 14, 2004
Page Tools
Email to a friend Printer format
Former All Blacks doctor John Mayhew has been engaged by the New Zealand Rugby League in a bid to resolve a club-versus-country row over injured Penrith forward Tony Puletua.
Puletua, who requires ankle surgery, wants to play for the Kiwis in the coming Tri-Nations series but the Panthers have ordered him home after Saturday's opening Test against Australia for an operation on October 21.
Penrith chief executive Mick Leary said the club wanted to ensure that Puletua was fit for the start of next season. But the NZRL is challenging the Panthers' view that the recovery time for the operation will be four months.
While the Kiwis have agreed to release fellow Penrith second-rower Joe Galuvao to have an ankle reconstruction next week, a specialist consulted by the NZRL has advised that Puletua would need as little as six weeks to get over his operation to remove bone spurs.
It is understood the NZRL had planned to ask NRL chief medical officer Hugh Hazzard to make a ruling but his roles as team doctor for Australia and the Bulldogs presented a possible conflict of interest, so Mayhew was approached.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Mayhew, recently retired after almost two decades with the All Blacks, now works for the Millennium Institute in Auckland, where the Kiwi side is based, and he is expected to assess Puletua today. If Mayhew's report is favourable, the NZRL then plans to forward copies to Penrith, the ARL and Britain's Rugby Football League in a bid to convince them that Puletua should be allowed to play in the remainder of the series, which culminates with a final at Old Trafford on November 27.
NZRL general manager Peter Cordtz said: "John Mayhew's credentials are second to none, so it goes without saying that if his review supports the opinion of our medical staff, we will be taking this matter further.
"The Tri-Nations agreement we have signed with the ARL and the RFL obligates all countries to field their best possible team, and to lose one world-class second-rower in Joe is obviously a blow but to lose Tony as well would be a massive setback.
"Having said that, we have Tony's best interests and welfare at heart and have already proposed a program to treat and manage the injury, as we have done with him in the past."
Leary said he had not heard from the NZRL yesterday but was aware of behind-the-scenes manoeuverings to pressure the club into backing down.
"We fully support the involvement of our players in representative football but what the club doesn't want to see is a situation like what happened with Martin Lang, who let a similar injury go and it virtually ended his career," Leary said.
"As far as we're concerned, Tony is booked in to have the operation next week, and if he was to put it off for a month that means he will miss the first four weeks of next season and that is unacceptable to Penrith."
Kangaroos back-rowers Ben Kennedy and Nathan Hindmarsh said the dispute over Puletua would fire up the Kiwis for a big performance on Saturday.
"They'll get stuck in, for sure," Hindmarsh said. "They're two great players, they're two big, mobile back-rowers, so I think it's a bit of a bonus for us that they're not to kick on. But it's going to be a nice, tough game on Saturday." Kennedy added: "Obviously them playing makes it a lot tougher for us . . . but we're building for this week and so are they."