Hammett a Crusader not a Rebel
Tue, 23 Feb 2010 09:31
Mark Hammett will not be allowed to join the Melbourne Rebels as assistant coach.
The New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) will refuse to release Hammett from his contract with the Crusaders, where the former All Black hooker is an assistant coach to Todd Blackadder.
Hammett had been considered as an assistant to Rebels' head coach Rod Macqueen when the team becomes the the 15th Super Rugby franchise next year. The Sydney Morning Herald reports that a high-ranking Rebels' official had sounded out the NZRU late last week regarding the Crusaders' assistant coach's availability.
It is also understood there was interest in Hammett being involved with the Wallabies, having had a close playing and coaching relationship with Wallaby coach Robbie Deans.
The Australian Rugby Union (ARU) chief executive John O'Neill said on Monday he had received a call from his New Zealand counterpart Steve Tew on the Hammett issue.
"He [Tew] expressed his concern about an approach which had been made to Hammett by the Rebels," O'Neill told The Sydney Morning Herald. "And he asked if the ARU had any knowledge, or worse still, any involvement in this. I told him 'no' on both counts.
"Tew's concern was that Hammett was under contract. In New Zealand coaches are contracted to the NZRU. Steve made it pretty clear to me they would not be releasing him, and that Mark was staying with the Crusaders."
O'Neill stressed to Tew they were not looking towards New Zealand for an assistant Wallaby coach.
"For the first time we have appointed a non-Australian as head coach, and we told [Deans] when he was appointed that we would like him to develop Australian coaches," O'Neill said, adding: "So his assistants have to be Australian. That hasn't changed."
At present Deans's assistant coaches are Jim Williams and Richard Graham.
O'Neill added that bringing forward the Rebels date for signing Australian players gave the new franchise "every opportunity to develop as competitive a team as possible for their entry to the Super Rugby ranks".
"We still have concerns around players announcing midway through a season that they will be switching to another team the following season," he said.
The Sydney Morning Herald reports that the ARU has also granted a four-month deadline extension to the working capital requirements that form part of the Rebels' licence agreement. The franchise must raise several million dollars this year.
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