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RUGBYWA TRIBUNAL HEARING ADJOURNED
A RugbyWA Serious Misconduct Tribunal met tonight to consider the incident involving Matt Henjak and Haig Sare on Sunday 10 February 2008. After the hearing the Tribunal issued the following statement:
The Tribunal met for the first time tonight. The Tribunal consisted of Robert Viol (Retired District Court Judge) as Chairman, Stephen Scott (a senior Legal Practitioner with more than 30 years experience) and Mitch Hardy (Acting CEO of RugbyWA).
Each of the players involved had requested an adjournment of the hearing to enable them to consider the evidence and, if necessary arrange representation. The Tribunal considered this a reasonable request and the hearing has been adjourned until Tuesday 19 February 2008 at 4pm.
The Tribunal considered whether the players should be stood down pending the determination of the complaints. The Tribunal decided that natural justice required that the players should not be stood down. The Tribunal was concerned that standing down the players could suggest some prejudgement of the matter by the Tribunal. In support of that decision, the Tribunal had regard to the ARU Citing Procedures for Domestic Competitions which permit a cited player to continue to play until the date of hearing.
Until the conclusion of the hearing, the Tribunal considers that it would be inappropriate for RugbyWA to make any further comments on the matter.
RugbyWA acknowledged the Tribunal’s determination and consistent with the Tribunal’s recommendation, no further comments will be made on the matter until the hearing is completed.