Fast Eddie Facing Ban For A Month
Sydney Morning Herald
Tuesday February 20, 2007
EDDIE Jones may be suspended for a month after earning the dubious honour of becoming the first coach to front the SANZAR judiciary - for making derogatory comments about Sydney referee Matt Goddard.
Jones, who took over as Queensland coach after being sacked from the Wallabies, will appear before SANZAR judicial officer Terry Willis in Brisbane tonight for alleged breaches of the organisation's code of conduct. If found guilty, Jones is facing at least a $10,000 fine and suspension from the game. The range of penalties goes from warning, fine, major fine, match exclusion, and suspension for as long as one month.Although no prominent rugby coach in Australia has been suspended from the game, Australian Rugby Union sources last night said Jones was expected to be "made an example of". Jones was in good humour last night, explaining it was not in his best interest to comment on his judiciary appearance."I've probably said enough, and at this stage I'd better leave it at that," Jones said.On Saturday night, Jones made a scathing attack on Goddard's performance after the Reds' loss to ACT in Brisbane, describing it as "disgraceful", "ludicrous", and "lacking common sense". Jones was highly critical of Goddard in immediate post-match television and radio interviews, and at the official press conference, when he even taunted SANZAR officials.Jones began his attack on Goddard by saying: "How much is the fine? I'll have to check with my accountant ... Whatever you have to pay, I'll pay twice. I thought it [the refereeing] was outrageous." Jones was incensed by Goddard's scrummaging interpretations, explaining: "We were definitely the strongest scrum in the first half, and we get penalised for collapsing the scrum. Work that one out. It is disgraceful. This is not good enough. It's not good enough for rugby."The previous week, Jones made a similar attack on South African referee Mark Lawrence after he penalised the dominant Queensland scrum against the Crusaders in Christchurch.ARU and SANZAR chief executive Gary Flowers, who was at the Brisbane match, met Super 14 officials yesterday, including tournament directors Peter Rowles and Brendan Morris, and decided Jones would have to front the judiciary."In our view it was a very clear-cut case for referral to the SANZAR judicial officer," Flowers said last night. "We have been very clear all along about this issue, and that there would be zero tolerance of adverse public comments of referees. We stressed to teams, coaches and administrators before the Super 14 that we would not tolerate criticism of any match officials."The facts in this case is that not only has there been heat-of-the-moment comments, but there has been a series of comments, and one might even say a campaign challenging SANZAR to do something about it."Well, we are. There are systems in place which were agreed upon at the SANZAR conference with input from coaches, about how coaches would interact with match officials. Those processes are in place, and so it shouldn't be debated in the public arena."I know it all makes good stories for the press, but it really undermines the role of the match official, and it's not on. We have reviewed the quotes in the press, and have transcripts of the radio and television interviews, and these will be fed through to the judiciary officer."What is relevant is the number of comments, the context in which they were made, and the fact they have been made over a couple of days, and these will be taken into account."ARU officials have been exasperated for some time with Jones, with sources stating last night that earlier this season there was official correspondence over his "behaviour". Flowers's strong stance yesterday even took many in Queensland rugby circles by surprise, because of a belief that the ARU chief, renowned for his conciliatory approach, would not have the courage to take on the combative Reds coach.Last night Jones wasn't even certain of gaining the support of the Queensland Rugby Union for his hearing, as there is uncertainty about whether Jones or the state union would pay the fine.Tahs file complaint - Page 36
© 2007 Sydney Morning Herald