LEAGUE - Warriors lay down law: If one can't go, we all won't

THE Takahiwai Warriors have laid down the law for their incarcerated opponents and their guards - if any of their players are banned from playing at the prison, the whole team will pull out of the fixture.
The Warriors are the Ngawha Saints' first round opponents in this year's Northland premier rugby league competition, and are scheduled to play on April 5.
"As far as we're concerned it's one out - all out," the club's new senior coach Mark Freeman said.
Freeman said the team wouldn't feel comfortable knowing which team-mate had been banned and would rather forfeit the points for the game than put one of their players in that position.
"Really, we don't feel that's any of our business, if you've done your time for a crime, then we wouldn't want to see the same crime held against them for the rest of their lives," he said.
Freeman said Takahiwai was one of the clubs who opposed the Ngawha Saints joining the league.
"We voted against it and we haven't played them yet, let me put it that way, the politics of it all are not really my place to comment on, but if my team is going to play then I'm going to be there coaching them."
Whangarei and Districts Rugby League chairperson Sharon Bird said Takahiwai's position was news to her, but she considered it unlikely that many players would fall foul of the Corrections Department need to check players visiting Ngawha Prison.
Lists of the club's registered players will be submitted to the Corrections Department staff before the season gets under way, so players' criminal records can be checked.
Ngawha Prison Manager Peter Phelan said he was sorry to hear one team had taken such a negative stance.
"We have certain standards when it comes to who we let on the site ... and we vet people to keep people out who have serious charges pending, or who have been released from prison in the last 12 months," he said.
He said they were following the same model that had been a success with the Auckland Prison rugby league team.
Representatives of the Whangarei and Districts Rugby League Board will travel to Ngawha Prison today to inspect the facilities at the prison ahead of the start of the competition in April.
"We're going up to have a look at the whole set-up and the team's representatives have all been invited to come along as well, so they can explain to the teams what's going to happen and the processes they'll go through when they go to play there," Bird said.
The Ngawha team have already been confirmed as a starter in the competition but Bird said that any incidents will be dealt with by the board quickly and severely.