Brown and Swanepoel to Start for Cottesloe In This Weekends Semi-Finals

[Hansie]

Whose been dropped from Cott to make way for Brownie? Matt Aitken? Worked all year and for many past year's for that club and now in with a chance of a flag and out he goes. Could perhaps take it if Rules ( 3 games) had been followed!!!

[AndyS]

Let's face it, if it has caused this much angst here what would have happened if he had suddenly shown up in a Sydney club match? He is here because he a) has to play and b) causes the least aggravation for the establishment here.

[fulvio sammut]

RWA and Cottesloe are nailed. If they play either Swimminpool or Brown, and win the game, Wanneroo, Nedlands and Palmyra can go to the courts to have them disqualified. And they will succeed.

[goony]

He would have been sweet playing for Warringah over in Sydney - they have a fairly easy game as it is and it isn't a knockout finals match... Lote Tuqiri showed up out of the blue for what was a crunch game and there was no complaints made by either team then, yet had it been finals then it would have been a different story - probably the same one as we have here actually...

[fulvio sammut]

For Swimminpool its 6 games, and there is no international or representative dispensation available for him.

[goony]

RWA and Cottesloe are nailed. If they play either Swimminpool or Brown, and win the game, Wanneroo, Nedlands and Palmyra can go to the courts to have them disqualified. And they will succeed.

I hear Pally would have top representation as well

[laura]

What if Cott loses, everyone takes them to cleaners, hangs it on them and tells Browny he's crap for not getting them a win? Obviously everyone thinks Rugby WA have gone about this the wrong way but as for Swanepoel & Brownie, they personally haven't done anything wrong so there's no point slagging them off.

And, there's no point getting up in arms about it now, before the game has even been played. The game could go either way, both teams made it to the finals without Brownie or Hodgo or any other Wallaby amidst the ranks. What's to say Wanneroo can't wipe the floor with Cottesloe? Deal with the legalities after the fact (but before next week's match) because RugbyWA has clearly stated that Brown will be playing this Sunday afternoon.

I for one think its fantastic to have a Wallaby playing in WA club rugby, albeit bad timing.

[fulvio sammut]

And they'll be paying through the nose for it, Goony.

---------- Post added at 16:04 ---------- Previous post was at 16:02 ----------

What part of "they are both inelligible" don't some people understand?

[laura]

The part where Brown was granted a dispensation by RugbyWA under Rule 11(3)(a).

[palitu]

and not only that, it is amateur rugby...

[fulvio sammut]

You can't grant dispensation when you don't have the power to do so.

Anyway, the courts will sort it out.

---------- Post added at 16:12 ---------- Previous post was at 16:11 ----------

So that makes it ok to ignore the rules? Grow up.

[inactive]

i am pretty sure there is something about where if you have been away for representative reasons you are able to apply to play (the player) and if the board approves its fine?

[force addict]

in the end it's RWA & ARU's/Board decision

[rick boyd]

Did anyone complain when Dan Carter played for his club in Canterbury a few weeks back? No, his club AND the opposition were damn proud to have an All Black on the field. Granted, it wasn't in the finals, as far as I know, and he grew up playing for that club, so the situation is a little different. But the bottom line principle is not.

The whole issue of Force players allocation and availability needs examination, I agree, but you can't really fault the basic principle here. Clubs who have international players only get to see them once in a blue moon, and when they do that's just the luck of the draw.

Wanneroo had three Force players appearing for them regularly at one time while other clubs had none, and I don't recall them complaining about it then.

There is a bigger picture than club rugby.

[jazza93]

These players are not being brought in to make the game more exiting. They are being brought into the team purely to win the game.

As for the Dan Carter situation, if any wallabies player came from RWA juniors everyone would be more than happy to let them use the representative law to their advantage. That is what it is there for, this is just abusing it.