Son of Wallabies legend makes emotional plea to end bitter rugby awards night stand-off
Several Sydney rugby clubs have found themselves at the centre of the storm.
Mark Catchpole - the son of Wallabies legend Ken Catchpole - has implored feuding Sydney rugby clubs to drop threats to boycott the player-of-the-year award named in his late father's honour. Several clubs in the NSW Shute Shield competition have privately threatened to brush this month's Ken Catchpole Medal night in protest over perceived inconsistencies in player eligibility breaches.
In late June, Gordon was docked two competition points for fielding a player who had not gained a clearance from his overseas club. A month later, competition leaders Eastern Suburbs was accused of understating the representative status of one of its players in a round 11 game, taking it over a player points quota aimed at preventing clubs "buying" a premiership by stockpiling the best available talent.
Each player in the Shute Shield is given a points rating determined by a number of factors, including their rep CV. Teams must be at a combined 100 points or under in each game. Easts rated prop Vunipola Fifita one point when in previous seasons he had been a 13 or 12 due to his five Test appearances for Tonga.
When the discrepancy was brought to the Sydney Rugby Union's attention, Easts successfully argued their information sourced from a rugby data based showed Fifita had played only four Tests and therefore triggered a lower points rating. The Sydney Rugby Union cleared Easts of wrongdoing, leading to outrage among rival clubs.
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The SRU has since ordered an independent review into the incident, with those findings to be handed down before next weekend's final round. It may come too late to change the minds of those threatening to boycott the annual awards night. The Ken Catchpole Medal is awarded to the competition's best player and has been won by the likes of Phil Kearns and Simon Poidevin. Ex-Wallabies Tim Horan and Morgan Turinui have acted as emcees in recent seasons.
Ken Catchpole's son Mark addresses awards night furore
Catchpole, a brilliant halfback who captained the Wallabies in 13 of the 27 Tests he played, is regarded as one of Australian rugby's all-time greats. He was one of the five original inductees to the Australian Rugby Union Hall of Fame in 2005.
Son Mark, who twice won the award bearing his father's name while playing for Warringah and Sydney Uni in the 1990s, was saddened to learn club rugby's biggest night could be collateral damage due to the Easts conflict. "It's not only a big honour for our family to have dad's name on the award, but it's a big honour to win it," he told Yahoo Sport Australia.
"I would hate for any player to have that honour lessened in any way. I don’t know all the ins and outs (of the Easts matter) but I would hope the clubs could put any differences aside for the sake of the award.
"It sounds a bit political and the clubs need to resolve it so the young bloke who wins it is not deprived." This year's awards are due to be held on August 14 in Sydney.
