LEAGUE - When the Saints go marching out

The Department of Corrections has withdrawn the jailhouse Ngawha Saints from the premier rugby league competition. Advocate sports reporter Peter Thorley looks at the reasons behind the sudden end to the controversial initiative.
A fear of attracting negative publicity has robbed Northland rugby league fans of their first chance to see the Ngawha Saints in action.
The minor premiers have been pulled out of the competition by the Department of Corrections, with their major semifinal match against second-placed Takahiwai certain to have pulled big crowds to Jubilee Park tomorrow.
It was the long-awaited first clash between the two teams after Takahiwai defaulted both of their matches in a well-publicised protest against the restrictions surrounding the prison team's involvement in the competition this year, adding a little extra spice to the game between the two most consistent teams in the competition.
The Saints, up until now, have played all their matches inside Ngawha Prison and perhaps the expected high turnout had something to do with the Corrections Department flip-flop over the matter.
At the beginning of the month, the department gave the team provisional approval to play in the finals series, but that decision was reversed on Wednesday morning, with Saints' coach Joe Henare phoning Whangarei and Districts Rugby League chairperson Sharon Bird to give her the bad news.
The official reason was the event had attracted too much media attention, but it seems likely the chance of the prisoners earning some bad publicity in front of the waiting cameras in an election year was deemed too risky.
No one from the Corrections Department would front up to talk about the last-minute decision and even coach Henare was gagged.
"I'm not allowed to make any comment any more, my media delegation has been wiped, which is sad because I definitely had a few things to say," he said.
Henare will be gutted for his team who, no doubt, had been looking forward to this opportunity all season.
Unable to organise a board meeting at such short notice to discuss the matter, Bird rang around the rest of the board members for their input before deciding to what to do.
There was some support for Portland taking the fourth playoff spot as the fifth-placed team, but not enough, and instead Takahiwai will go straight into the grand final without having to play another game.
The Ruakaka side will now play the winner of the match between third-placed Kaikohe Lions and fourth-placed Moerewa Tigers at Jubilee Park tomorrow, with the final now moved forward a week to next weekend.