League: Vagana supports sacked Latu

Nigel Vagana

Kiwi veteran Nigel Vagana has leapt to the support of his sacked Cronulla teammate Tevita Latu, saying he has been harshly dealt with by the club and the NRL.

Latu was sacked this week by Cronulla and deregistered by the NRL after an early morning incident on Monday, in which he allegedly punched a 19-year-old woman, breaking her nose.

Vagana told the Herald yesterday that he could not fathom how Latu could be dealt such a severe punishment so soon after the incident and before the court case had been heard.

The one-test Kiwi, who admitted to club management that he had punched the woman, is due to appear in the Sutherland District Court next month after being charged with assault.

Latu may never be allowed to play for Australia or England again.

Vagana said he believed the punishment was out of whack compared with that of others, such as Penrith's Craig Gower.

Gower was axed as skipper and fined A$100,000 ($120,500) following allegations of misbehaviour at a golf tournament last year.

Vagana, who captained the Kiwis in the recent Anzac test, said Latu wasn't helped by being a New Zealander.

"He's a Kiwi playing in competition here ... He was sacked 36 hours after the incident when it's hard to see that they had got to the end of the investigation. They must have got a heck of a lot of information in a very short time.

"I don't know why he's got what he did. Maybe they succumbed to pressure by the NRL, the media or the public. I think he was hard done by.

"What he did was very wrong but I don't believe it warranted a sacking.

"I have had a yarn with him. He's not a lost spirit, he's a tough character and all the boys are supporting him."

He was adamant Latu deserved another chance in the professional game and was surprised to hear of talk that he could be banned indefinitely.

He thought a suspension and heavy fine would be appropriate.

"Oh well, if the NRL want to be like that they are losing a great player."

New Zealand Rugby League general manager Peter Cordtz said it was too early to say what Latu's league future would be if he returned here.

But there was a precedent in how he might be dealt with.

"It's a tough issue and it's going to polarise people again," Cordtz said.

"The only thing that we can do is ensure that the processes we apply to it are consistent."

The precedent is the case of three teenage players jailed after a pregnant girl was beaten and kicked in the stomach in an Auckland reserve in August 2003 to try to procure an abortion.

Shaun Metcalf and Geoffrey Ruaporo were sentenced to 18 months in prison, while Kyle Donovan, who was present at the attack, got a 15-month term.

After the three completed their sentences, the NZRL gave them a "last chance" of rehabilitation by allowing them to return to league, despite opposition from the girl and her family.

Last Monday night, Metcalf (Harbour League) and Ruaporo (Tamaki Leopards) were on opposite sides in a Bartercard Cup match.

Cordtz said the NZRL was responsible not just for one competition, like the NRL, but also for league at the community level.

It had to consider whether people should be excluded from any involvement in the game at any level.

In Britain, prison sentences for assault haven't been a barrier to players returning to action.

In 2003, Leeds duo Chev Walker and Ryan Bailey, and Rochdale's Paul Owen were jailed after a drunken brawl which left another Leeds player unconscious with a broken jaw outside a Leeds nightclub.

All three returned to their clubs on completion of their sentences, and Walker and Bailey played for Great Britain against the Kiwis in the Tri-Nations tournament in 2004.

Latu, who joined Cronulla from the New Zealand Warriors at the end of last year, had been out drinking after the Sharks' loss to the Bulldogs on Sunday when the alleged assault on the woman occurred.

The victim, Brooke Peninton, told police she was punched once in the face and fell to the ground during an argument outside a service station.

- additional reporting NZPA