| Kidwell stripped of captaincy as the booze Bunnies told to hop it | | Print | |
| Tuesday, 29 April 2008 15:53 | |||
 David Kidwell has been stripped of the Rabbitohs captaincy for this weekend's clash with the Cowboys for failing a breath test at training. Andrew Webster | April 29, 2008 SOUTH Sydney prop Jaiman Lowe does not believe there is a double standard in co-captain David Kidwell remaining in the side despite him and three other teammates being dropped for failing an in-house breath test. It was the last thing the winless Bunnies needed: five players, including Kidwell, recording blood-alcohol readings at a "regeneration session" in Brisbane on the morning after their 32-18 loss to the Broncos on Friday night. Under a hardline rule agreed to by players during the off-season, players are not allowed to have a skerrick of alcohol in their bodies the morning after games. While Kidwell has been stripped of the captaincy, he will play against North Queensland in a must-win match for Souths at ANZ Stadium on Sunday. But Lowe, halfback Eddie Paea, winger Fetuli Talanoa and five-eighth Ben Rogers were given no latitude and dumped for one match. Souths director of football operations Shane Richardson insisted the club wasn't "out of control" and said the sanctions were not because of any alcohol-related incidents. While he would not confirm the blood-alcohol readings, club insiders said they did not indicate the players had embarked on a heavy session the previous night or that morning. The Herald was told last night some players believed there would not be breath tests at the recovery sessions in Brisbane - something Richardson denied. Regardless, Lowe said he was prepared to accept the club's decision to drop him because the tough edict has been agreed to earlier in the season. And he said there was no ill-feeling about Kidwell staying in the side while the other four were dropped. "Not as far as I'm concerned, anyway," Lowe said. "Everyone knows how much Kiddy loves the captaincy and it's hit him pretty hard. The first thing he did when he found out was go up to 'JT' and ask him: 'What do I have to do to get it back?' Losing the captaincy is significant enough for him. It's a tough rule but it is one we all agreed to at the start of the season so there are no excuses. We had alcohol in our system. The punishment for that is being dropped. It's as simple as that. There's nothing we can do about it." Richardson said Kidwell was not dumped because it would have been "a double bunger" for the Kiwi international having also lost the co-captaincy. The developments continue a disastrous start to the centenary season for the foundation club, which has not won a match and has star recruit Craig Wing on the sidelines recovering from a shoulder reconstruction. Earlier this season, the uncompromising rule claimed winger Shannon Hegarty, who was dumped from the Charity Shield after registering the lowest possible blood-alcohol reading of 0.01. In January, back-rower David Fa'alogo was sent home from the Rabbitohs' trip to Florida following an altercation with a Jacksonville local. The decision to dump four players is a brave one given South Sydney are desperate for a breakthrough victory. "We're not taking a stand," Richardson said. "We made the rule as a group during the off-season and you can't change it whether you're 0-7 or 7-0. We're not a club in crisis. Our detractors might say we're out of control but that's not the case. You never like to be in these situations but there wouldn't be many clubs in the NRL who would be prepared to stick to their guns like we have with this one." Souths co-owner Peter Holmes a Court said: "This action … shows that we are serious about maintaining the standards set by the club and the players each and every week." The tough stance has left Taylor with few choices for the Cowboys match. Back-rower Dean Widders has been promoted to the starting side and will play at five-eighth with Issac Luke shifting to halfback. Rookie John Tamanika will make his NRL debut on the wing with Beau Falloon and Eddy Pettybourne called onto the interchange bench.
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| Last Updated on Wednesday, 14 May 2008 05:16 |