Friday, 9 November 2007
The Kiwi league team have rejected a report today that coach Gary Kemble was applying "wacky bonding" methods to get his beleaguered team to gel together - instead, it was the players themselves who instigated the antics.
According to The Dominion Post report, Kemble had upset some players with his "wacky bonding sessions, the latest of which involved several of them wearing nothing but a tie as they served dinner to their teammates".
He had also allegedly made them do things such as hakas in the street.
The NZPA source said Kemble had no involvement with either situation.
"It was a penalty dished out by the players themselves after a `Kiwis court session'.
"The court sessions by the players deal with misdemeanours (among the team) for being late at things.
"The (waiters incident) wasn't to do with lateness - it was to do with a competition among groups within the team and these people had finished last and had to wait on the winners.
"They were dressed in their number ones - they had their ties and suits on, only without their shirts."
As for performing hakas in public, he said it was a players' penalty dished out for those who were late boarding the team bus or for meetings.
" They have to perform the haka on their own in front of their teammates in a public place - there is nothing demeaning about it, they do it gladly, willingly - they know that's what they have do."
The Kiwis are looking to avoid a series whitewash in Wigan after losing the first test 20-14 and suffering a 44-0 defeat in the second test last week.
They play the third and final test on Sunday morning NZ time.
-NZPA
