Manly has issued NRL with a 48-hour deadline to resolve John Hopoate junior coaching saga
- February 26, 2016
- by Paul Crawley and Christian Nicolussi
- Source: The Daily Telegraph
MANLY have issued the NRL with a 48-hour deadline to try and make peace with John Hopoate — or face the threat of Supreme Court action.
That was the clear message from Sea Eagles chief executive Joe Kelly on Thursday afternoon after the club sent a letter to ARL Commission chairman John Grant asking for “mediation” before the weekend.
The reason for the urgency is that Manly’s SG Ball team is due to play Canberra at Brookvale Oval on Saturday.
The Daily Telegraph understands there is still hope Hopoate could be back in charge of the under 18s team by then.
“We sent a letter to the NRL today seeking a mediation with respect to this matter and resolving it,” Kelly told The Daily Telegraph.
Asked what would be the likely outcome if there was no resolution, Kelly said: “We would have to consider our legal options.”
Hopoate’s barrister Julieanne Levick could not be contacted on Thursday night but earlier this week she reportedly urged Manly to “man up and back Hopoate 100 per cent”.
Asked if it was fair to say that the club was standing right behind Hopoate, Kelly said: “Yes.”
The NRL had previously threatened that the Sea Eagles could be fined and potentially stripped of NRL competition points if Hopoate was allowed to continue in his role.
NRL and Manly officials meet some weeks back with a detective inspector from the NSW police who expressed concerns about Hopoate mentoring teenagers.
The NRL did not respond on Thursday night but at the NRL season launch Grant told the media the door was open for Hopoate to return to the game.
“We have been very clear about the position we’ve taken,” Grant said.
“We have the responsibility and authority to do that.
“And Manly, as a member of the Commission and NRL club, have an obligation and responsibility in making sure the people they engage, we actually get the opportunity to approve.
“This goes back to the issues we had two years ago. The reason we have very tight registration process now is to make sure the right people are in the game.
“As I’ve said to Manly directly, that doesn’t preclude John from getting back into the game, but there’s got to be a plan.
“We’ve made a decision, we’ve asked them for a plan.
“It’s up to them about how they want to take this forward.”
But one part of the club’s argument relates to jurisdiction, and the fact that the NSW Rugby League is in charge of the SG Ball competition, and not the NRL.
Kelly again pointed out that Hopoate was hand-picked by the NRL last year to complete a high performance coaching course.
Hopoate said he paid $400 to do that course, which is designed to create a pathway to NRL coaching.
“Part of the resolution is to understand the NRL granting him a level two coaching certificate which gives John the right to be credited by the NSW Rugby League to coach SG Ball,” Kelly said.
“They have given him that which obviously gives him an opportunity to coach.
“But they then are suggesting that they won’t register him.
“And we actually disagreed with that position anyway (over jurisdiction).
“It is very much a legal matter in terms of who has jurisdiction.
“But secondly one of inconsistencies, where on the one hand he received a coaching certificate by the NRL and then they are not allowing him to coach.”
http://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nrl...k=9b9a0f64f0cf70873b5fe9b5ad0c9ff6-1456541961
.
