Rugby: 'Truth' comes at a price for ex-Tui

Chanel Huddleston is back playing after her ban was reduced. PHOTO/Paul Taylor

FORMER Hawke's Bay Tuis women's rugby team player-coach Chanel Huddleston is playing again after her 18-month ban was reduced.

"My advice to players who feel they haven't been treated as good as they should have been by the Hawke's Bay union's judiciary in the future is to appeal it. It is costly but it is good to get the truth," Huddleston said yesterday.

She was banned for physical and verbal abuse of a referee in her former Napier Technical club side's June 20 match against Havelock North at Whitmore Park.

One of No 8 Huddleston's teammates, lock Tiana Winiata, was suspended for 12 months for physical abuse of the ref in the same game.

After unsuccessfully appealing the bans to the Hawke's Bay union the pair took their appeals to the New Zealand union.

Huddleston had her ban reduced to 15 weeks and Winiata to nine weeks.

"It cost us $500 each but it was worth it. We still believe the process taken by the Hawke's Bay union's judicial committee was poor," Huddleston said.

"The original penalties were ridiculous. The original appeal was held on August 12 and reconvened six days later. We were not informed of the outcome until September 17."

The Tuis 2014 player-coach and the most capped player for the team with 64 first class appearances from 2001 until 2014, Huddleston, pointed out Winiata and herself both had to write letters of apology to Havelock North manager Blair Heasley, a referee who had the whistle during the second half of the match when the incidents occurred, as the original referee, Rex Newman, had retired injured at halftime.

"We wrote to Blair and admitted there was some fault on our behalf. While we did make some contact it was accidental and unintentional with no malice involved. We questioned why no action was taken on the field at the time and why he waited until the Monday after the game before making a complaint," Huddleston said.

"We've learnt how important it is to have video evidence of games so stink ordeals like this can be avoided. Our bans also impacted on our lives outside of rugby," Huddleston, a new entrants teacher at Henry Hill School, said.

The former Aotearoa Sevens rep hasn't ruled out the possibility of playing for the Tuis in future but will only focus on club rugby and the coaching of some secondary school teams this year. With Napier Technical no longer fielding a women's team Huddleston has transferred to the MAC club and she played for them at a Gisborne-hosted Sevens tournament at the end of November and at a Hastings Rugby and Sports Sevens tournament last month.

Because of her ban former Kiwi Ferns rugby league rep Huddleston was unable to trial for the national side in the build up to next month's Auckland Nines tournament. She played at last year's Auckland Nines.

Her next outing with MAC will be at the annual Waipukurau-hosted Hawke's Bay Sevens tournament on February 13.

Hawke's Bay Rugby Union's club development officer Gary Macdonald said he had heard both sentences had been reduced.

"I haven't seen the paper work but the New Zealand union does what it does. The fact letters of apology were sent were admissions of guilt," Macdonald said.