Tuqiri to fight ARU sacking
By David Beniuk, 2 Jul 2009
- Tagged:
- ARU, Australian Rugby Union, John ONeill, Lachie Turner, Lote Tuqiri, NSW Waratahs, Peter Hynes, Rugby Union, wallabies, Wayne Bennett
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lote tuqiri. aap images
Lote Tuqiri has engaged lawyers and will launch immediate legal action against the Australian Rugby Union following the shock termination of his lucrative contract.
Tuqiri’s agent Les Ross confirmed the former Wallabies winger would fight his sacking, which was announced late on Wednesday by an ARU email.
“All I can tell you is that Lote disputes that the ARU are entitled to terminate his contract and he has retained solicitor Mr Mark O’Brien and Mr Tony Marr, senior counsel, to immediately commence proceedings against the ARU,” Ross told AAP.
Mystery surrounds the reason for Tuqiri’s dismissal, but the ARU had been conducting an investigation into a possible breach of the players’ code of conduct.
The ARU statement read: “The employment contract of Lote Tuqiri has been terminated effective today.
“ARU has treated this issue as a standard employment matter.
“The ARU will not make any further comment on the matter as it may be the subject of legal proceedings.”
It is understood the “legal proceedings” referred to are Tuqiri’s action against the ARU and the winger has not broken the law.
It is also understood Tuqiri’s absence from Australia’s first four international matches this year was not related to the reason for his sacking.
One of Australia’s highest paid rugby players, Tuqiri was contracted to the ARU until 2012.
He was signed to a massive deal in 2007 as the ARU regime of Gary Flowers fought off an offer from NRL club South Sydney.
Speculation about the ARU investigation had pointed to a late night visit to the Crown Casino in Melbourne in the lead-up to last month’s Test against Italy, which also reportedly involved backs Adam Ashley-Cooper and Peter Hynes.
An internet report had also suggested four high-profile rugby players were involved in a serious off-field incident.
Another report said Tuqiri had been issued with a “final warning letter” after a late-night drinking session with Wallabies teammates in 2007.
An ARU spokesman refused to comment further but the body’s chief executive John O’Neill will front the media when the Wallabies Tri-Nations squad is announced on Thursday.
A spokesman for Tuqiri’s Super 14 team, the NSW Waratahs, said the franchise would be making no comment as the matter related to an ARU investigation.
Rugby Union Players Association boss Tony Dempsey was unaware of the situation when contacted by AAP.
“It certainly comes as a surprise,” he said.
“We always represent our members, we always look to provide them with advice and we always ensure that all dealings are fair and reasonable.”
Tuqiri, 29, has a far from squeaky clean off-field record since switching to union from NRL club Brisbane in 2003.
In 2005 he was involved in the infamous “ice-throwing” incident in Cape Town which resulted in Matt Henjak being sent home.
Tuqiri was fined $500 and given a suspended two-match ban following the incident.
He was sent home from a Wallabies training camp in January 2007 for failing a fitness test and months later apologised to teammate Sam Norton-Knight for shoving him and giving him a verbal spray during a match for NSW.
Later that year, he apologised to Wallabies selector Michael O’Connor for putting a conversation on speaker-phone as O’Connor was being critical of Waratahs teammate Peter Hewat.
And in July 2007 he was banned for two matches and fined $20,000 for failing to attend a team medical and registering an alcohol reading at a team breath test.
Speculation arose that the 67-Test veteran may consider a move back to rugby league when he was left out of Australia’s first four internationals of 2009, with Lachie Turner, Drew Mitchell and Hynes all preferred on the wings.
But Tuqiri denied he would quit rugby in his newspaper column last weekend, and would earn considerably less in the 13-man game.
The Gold Coast Titans have already expressed an interest in Tuqiri, while rebuilding Cronulla and St George Illawarra, the home of former clubmates Wendell Sailor and coach Wayne Bennett could also hold appeal.
© AAP 2012LOTE TUQIRI
Age: 29
Height: 191cm. Weight: 103kg.
Rugby Union
Test matches: 67.
Test tries: 30 (equal third most in Wallaby Test history).
Test debut: 2003, v Ireland, Perth.Rugby League
NRL games for Brisbane: 99 (for Brisbane)
State of Origin games: 6 (for Queensland)
Tests: 5 (for Australia – 3 games for Fiji)
NRL debut: 1999, v Cronulla, QE II Stadium, BrisbaneINDISCRETIONS
JULY 1, 2009: Contract terminated by Australian Rugby Union, who were conducting an investigation into a possible breach of the players’ code of conduct, although circumstances were unclear.
JULY 3, 2007: Banned for two matches and fined $20,000 for failing to attend a team medical.
MAY 14, 2007: Apologises to Wallabies selector Michael O’Connor for putting his phone on loudspeaker during personal conversation about teammate Peter Hewat.
MARCH 2, 2007: Apologises for shoving NSW Waratahs teammate Sam Norton-Knight and giving him a verbal spray for an on-field mistake.
JANUARY 4, 2007: Sent home from a Wallabies training camp after failing a fitness test.
JULY, 2005: Involved in night club spat with teammate Matt Henjak in Cape Town and is fined $500 and given a two-match suspended sentence.
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July 2nd 2009 @ 7:41am
katzilla said | July 2nd 2009 @ 7:41am | Report comment
I wouldn’t be surprised if Deans knew about this investigation long before the first test match of the year.
3 Test matches without any game time is a long time for someone who is supposedly ‘In the Mix’.
Quite clearly an attempt to fix the previous mistake of giving Lote a second contract in the first place.
If they will get away with it remains to be seen, more then likely he’ll be given an undisclosed payout (probably the remainder of his contract) and he’ll go away and the ARU will look like they’ve done the right thing by the majority of fans who disagreed with his contract in the first place.
July 2nd 2009 @ 7:55am
The Mole said | July 2nd 2009 @ 7:55am | Report comment
Are they going to sack Giteau for leading the young guys astray with the most recent (very serious) rumours?
July 2nd 2009 @ 8:00am
Mike said | July 2nd 2009 @ 8:00am | Report comment
Just to clarify, these are not criminal proceedings and there is no legal constraint on public comment. On the other hand, the ARU might end up paying damages out of this, and they would be well advised to avoid saying anything that might increase those damages (or even lead to a defamation suit).
Tuqiri will also be advised by his lawyers to keep public comment to a minimum. There is little clarity in this area of the law, actually there never was, but the major statutory changes brought in by the Howard Government (and the rather more cosmetic changes by the Rudd Government) mean that no industrial lawyer can safely predict the outcome of such a case. The lawyers will want to control every bit of information that might go before a judge.
I’m intrigued by the assumption that the ARU must have had good grounds for their action – in the real world, parties and their lawyers get it wrong all the time. Most cases are settled before they get to court, but for those that get to court, there are many litigants who were very very confident before the case, and very very sorry afterwards. Litigation in the end comes down to a human being sitting behind a bench making a decision, and humans are unpredictable.
If he gets up on breach of contract, Tuqiri’s case on damages will be assisted by recent comments from Robbie Deans indicating that he was good enough for Wallabies selection. There will then be an argument as to sponsorship deals that he could have obtained, i.e. the damages won’t be limited to just the balance of his contract. Then there are legal costs – the general rule is that the loser pays most of the winner’s legal costs, as well as his own.
Of course, the legal costs can go against Tuqiri as well, so there is an incentive for both sides to settle. But the sticking point is likely to be reinstatement – the ARU will prefer to give Tuqiri some money to go away, but he may not accept that.
And for those thinking about how the ARU can use the balance of Tuqiri’s contract for other purposes – forget it! They will pay it all in payment of their own legal costs, and to Tuqiri in settlement (Tuqiri will want enough to cover his own legals plus something for himself). If the matter does not settle, the overall cost to the ARU is likely to be a lot more.
July 2nd 2009 @ 8:18am
Bay35Pablo said | July 2nd 2009 @ 8:18am | Report comment
The De-Flowering of the ARU by JON is almost complete. I am sure when he came in he was a like a 2nd wife looking to get rid of anything the first wife had left behind. ARC, we’ll get rid of that! Lote’s $1m contract would have been on that list too. My bet is he’s been waiting for the smallest stuff up to free up $1m a year. Who needs Lote with all these other cheaper young pups?
Lote will go and earn huge coin in Europe or Japan, who rate him higher than we feckless lot do. If he goes back to league he needs his head read. it won’t be for the cash, and it won’t be to play internationals!
Mike, you sound like you may be in the law. All I can say is Lote won’t get his full contract as a pay out, and even the ARU would be hard pressed spending the difference in costs. The fact Lote will probably earn more coin in Europe when he goes there will reduce the quantum of any damages I’d say …
I agree with the comments the ARU should just be up front about the reason. In the absence of information gossip flourishes, which just makes things worse. If the reason is valid, what’s the problem with stating it? These blokes keep inventing new ways to stuff up.
July 2nd 2009 @ 8:18am
Brett McKay said | July 2nd 2009 @ 8:18am | Report comment
This could become very big, no doubt, and if there’s such a thing as good timing in something like this, then at least the Wallabies aren’t playing for a few weeks yet. Though of course they could weel becomes distracted if this goes on.
Very dangerous to make assumptions of course, but you’d have to think the ARU exhausted all avenues of alternative before making a decision like this. Likewise, It will be interesting to see how Tuqiri’s legal team fight it..
July 2nd 2009 @ 8:28am
True Tah said | July 2nd 2009 @ 8:28am | Report comment
Pablo good point, if Lote goes and signs a multi-million contract with a French club, then he can hardly claim he was out of pocket for being sacked by the ARU, having said that, in Europe they tend to prize forwards more than backs, so maybe Japan is more his scene?
July 2nd 2009 @ 8:31am
Temba said | July 2nd 2009 @ 8:31am | Report comment
Let the NRL have him, he has not beaten a man on the outside for years… Unions needs agile fast wingers, not 100KG plodders. Plus booze heads fit better in that crowd anyways. Haven’t been a fan of LT for a while, not since everyone figured out his step. He got the big bucks and stopped re-inventing himself…
July 2nd 2009 @ 8:34am
Jolly Jupes said | July 2nd 2009 @ 8:34am | Report comment
Cross coder – your point about the ARU holding off is very interesting as the announcement yesterday was “timed” to limit PR damage but it has also limited his options for future employment as the windows for league and the French Rugby squads closed on Tuesday. The fact that the grounds for dismissal are unclear would also make a future employer wary so that is limiting as well – this may feature in terms of a damages claim.
I also note that a noted former journalist handles the media these days for the ARU. I am surprised that he of all people would allow so many “no further comment” style press releases. The announcement was also made last night at 6.30pm which would have pissed the media channels as it misses the news and the next days papers (politicians use the 5.30 pm Friday slot for the same reason) – This is obviously a strategy but non explanation only invites the media to chase and the speculation and bad will becomes the damaging element to the game. People who say give the media nothing, ignore the fact that the media is free advertising – It gets used by organisations like the ARU to promote the game but you need to front up in the bad times as well
July 2nd 2009 @ 8:38am
fox said | July 2nd 2009 @ 8:38am | Report comment
Mike has it pretty much spot on regarding the ARU and Lote being well advised not to make public comment at least prior to negotiations are settled or given up to the courts to adjudicate, but WE can speculate here so let’s get on with the job.
What I am hearing from relatively good sources:
1. John O’Neill has long wanted Lote off the books. His predecessor spent a lot of cash on Lote to retain him from the jaws of the dreaded NRL. O’Neill doesn’t think he’s worth the money, or like his attitude. Even though he was skating on thin ice Lote hasn’t been on his best behaviour. He was relegated to club rugby. This gave him a sense of security that he would not be treated to certain regular undertakings that are part and parcel of being a professional sportsperson. Apparently he was. He may well be calling an old Waratahs and ex-NRL friend as I write this for empathy.
2. Deans dropped Lote for legitimate reasons. They were purely on field related and nothing to do with any ARU investigation or any off field incident. At a recent lunch Robbie was sincere in certain conversations around the table that Lote would be back. Lote had become an individual and behaved as such on the field as well as off. Deans like his wingers on the wings. Lote likes to “roam” and look for the ball. In other words, Lote plays for Lote. Deans wanted Lote to play for the team. He always talks about unity. Deans wanted to fashion him into someone who played a role for the good of the team.
Like I said this IS all purely speculation at this stage and nothing’s verified.
I’m saddened to lose LT from the game, but it does create ample space for the ARU to retain other talent – for starters, maybe we can now give Ioane the money he deserves and secure his services from the jaws of the Japanese?
July 2nd 2009 @ 8:41am
WLN said | July 2nd 2009 @ 8:41am | Report comment
Good riddance! Why are you hating on the ARU? Real rugby fans should spit on him in the street for taking diverting ARU money to pay lawyers instead of letting it be put to better use. That’s if it wasnt such a waste of spit. Dont be surprised when you find out Deans is in on this. He set a clever trap early in his appointment by giving up his business class seat for Turkey and the sucker took it. Right then Deans knew this was a guy who could never be in a merry band of brothers. You’d hope his sacking would result in the ego finally landing but unfortunately there’ll be a stupid club somewhere willing to pay to cushion the blow. Now he’s just chasing whatever coin he can wangle off the ARU so that his house in Birchgrove is safe before he relocates somewhere else in the world. And the further away from here the better. When a player has more lawyers than the amount of tries he’s scored in a season (and that’s counting club rugby) that oughta tell ya something…