Kiwis to continue fight over "ineligible" player
New Zealand's narrow victory has Great Britain everything to do to reach the Tri Nations final
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Tuesday, 31, Oct 2006 08:51
New Zealand Rugby League chairman Sel Bennett has vowed to clear the Kiwis of any wrong-doing over the fielding of an apparently "ineligible" player in Saturday's Tri Nations win over Great Britain.
The Kiwi chief believes he has identified a loophole that will allow his team to escape punishment for the inclusion of Nathan Fien in their squad.
Despite Fien's nearest New Zealand heritage being three generations back, Bennett believes that the wording of the Rugby League International Federation's rules on the issue are unclear.
"We looked at the rulebook and the constitution says grandparents. It's a play on words. Grandparent, great-grandparent, in a lot of families it's one and the same," he said.
"We're not giving this up easily, we believe we're in the right. We have made no mistake. We believe Nathan is a Kiwi."
When first faced with being stripped of the points earned in a hard-fought 18-14 win Bennett had threatened to pull his team out of the event, but he now claims that there is any such ultimatum was rash.
"It's very emotional and you do say things on the spur of the moment," he said.