Opinion: Give Zac Guildford his 1st division second chance

OPINION

There's a bit of you-know-what going down at the Woodend Rugby Club, over whether or not former All Black Zac Guildford should be taken on as a coach.

Or "troubled" former All Black Zac Guildford - as pretty much every news article about the guy describes him.

Which I think is putting it mildly. Someone who has consistently struggled with alcohol and gambling addictions; who is currently on home detention after stealing $40,000 from his grandfather and $60,000 from a friend; and who has admitted using methamphetamine and cocaine... they're more than just troubled aren't they?

He also assaulted a woman in 2019 and, remember too, there was also the incident in Rarotonga back in 2011 when he got boozed up, ran into a bar naked, and assaulted a couple of people.

And he's been so addicted to gambling, that he even sold his 2011 Rugby World Cup medal to get a few thousand bucks. How sad must that transaction have been?

Guildford has been in talks with the Woodend Rugby Club about coaching. Photo / George Heard

And it seems, doesn't it, that every time Guildford has screwed up there's been someone willing to give him a second chance. But, to be fair, he seems to blow it every time.

And that's why, as far as some people involved with Woodend Rugby are concerned, Guildford is not only troubled, he is trouble full-stop - and they don't want the club taking him on as a coach.

Guildford himself has confirmed to us today that he's been in talks with the club about coaching the club's Division 1 team, but nothing's been confirmed yet.

A news report out today says two club committee members have quit over it and some sponsors aren't happy either.

According to the report I've seen, his potential appointment was announced at the club prizegiving at the weekend.

And so the people who aren't happy about it are saying they're not happy because it's all been done without the club going through the proper process.

Apparently, no vote has been taken at the committee level - and so one of the committee members who has reportedly quit is saying they've had a gutsful of the club not following the proper procedures. But I think that's just code for saying they don't want Guildford.

The word is also that, even though there's been no vote, the majority of committee members don't want him coaching either.

So you can imagine what it must've been like at the weekend when everyone turned up at the prizegiving and the "big announcement" was made. Was that a pin dropping that I just heard?

Now I'm no athlete, but one thing I've learned - especially as all our kids have been involved in some pretty intense sporting activities - is that at whatever level, you need a coach you can rely on.

Someone you know is going to turn up at training, who's going to turn up on match day or race day almost before everybody else.

And I've got to say that, based on what I've seen and heard about Guildford, I think I would really struggle being confident that he would turn up at training, would turn up on game day on time, wouldn't go AWOL - and that's just the coaching stuff.

What about trusting that he wouldn't turn up at some club event off his nut or help himself to money at the clubrooms or defraud the club in some other way? Because, as we know, these are all things he's shown he's capable of.

But let's think about it this way too. Unlike someone else who's been in the news this week, Guildford doesn't hide his shortcomings. He's done some pretty crappy things - I'm not sure how much lower you could get than stealing $40,000 from your grandfather.

But he's never pretended to be a pillar of society when he isn't. Unlike our friend from the Bay of Plenty who we've been talking about this week.

And yes, he's been given plenty of chances to turn his life around. But let's not forget that this is someone who grew up with gambling and drinking all around him.

When he was in court earlier this year for stealing the money from his grandfather and a friend, a member of his family spoke about Trackside TV being on 24/7 and addictions being normalised.

Here's a quote from one of Zac's uncles: "From a very young age, the law for us was to gamble, watch the horses, and drink alcohol as a family."

I'm not saying that excuses him from any of the appalling things he's done. But it provides a bit of context.

And it's why I think the people at the Woodend Rugby Club who aren't happy about Guildford being signed on as coach of the Division 1 team need to pull their heads in and think about the opportunity they have.

I'm not talking about the opportunity for Zac himself. I'm talking about the opportunity the club has to teach the kids involved in the club, especially, that just because someone stuffs things up - it doesn't mean they shouldn't be given another chance.

It could go pear-shaped. Of course it could. But it could also be something that Woodend Rugby Club could be extremely proud of. And it could be a lesson for us all, that even someone like Zac Guildford - who has let himself and other people down time and time again - even someone like him can eventually turn their life around.

Being part of something like that would surely beat winning any trophy or club title. Surely.