Alcock continues to play part in Harbour's NPC semifinal hopes

By CHRIS RATTUE

Chad Alcock's career with North Harbour was short but spectacular and his legacy remains.

As North Harbour prepare to take on Northland in Whangarei tomorrow and a lawyer prepares to investigate a case that could see Waikato lose 10 competition points, the Alcock name is back in the limelight.

The case against North Harbour last year - when they were docked NPC points for playing South African Alcock before his international clearance was in order - continues to resound through the game.

This time, it may in fact help North Harbour's cause (and that of other unions such as Auckland, Canterbury and Bay of Plenty) in making the NPC semifinals.

If Waikato are docked their points gained against Southland and Auckland for illegally playing loose forward Joel McKenty, who had a stint playing in Ireland, it will remove one of the major contenders from the title hunt.

Irony indeed, considering North Harbour might be the major beneficiary.

And North Harbour will also feel that their error last year, for which many believed they were punished too harshly, will be brought into perspective as more unions are revealed to have fallen into similar slack practices.

Privately, some of those standing to benefit from Waikato's blunder have sympathy because McKenty and Toby Lynn (who played in the loss against Wellington) were low-profile players.

While players leaving New Zealand know they need a clearance, it is easy to assume they can return with automatic rights to take to the fields in their native land.

But Waikato's rivals also have a hard-headed approach - this is the big league and Waikato knew McKenty had played in Ireland.

If they have erred, then they should suffer. And the Alcock case set a precedent, although mysteriously Bay of Plenty escaped similar punishment over playing the ineligible Colin Bourke.

The lesson is that unions have to dot the i's and cross the t's no matter how unheralded a player might be, and that ignorance is no defence. And after all, the Alcock case gave everyone fair warning.

North Harbour should continue their drive towards a semifinal place tomorrow against ailing Northland, for whom this and their following home game against Bay of Plenty are do-or-die chances to at least get some bonus points.

If North Harbour can leave Whangarei with five points, they will be well positioned for a semifinal place. Should their cause be helped further by a Waikato loss, it will add another dimension to the Alcock name which caused them so much embarrassment last season.