THE Manunda Hawks’ president has defended the decision to recruit the player at the centre of the furore that has led to their suspension from next season’s AFL Cairns competition.
Buoyed by the support he has received since the call was made last Friday, club president Richard Martin is determined to fight the suspension and is not regretting the addition of Samuel Boxsell to their playing roster midway through the season.
At the time Boxsell was recruited by Manunda he was facing a charge of an indecent act with a child under 16 and had been sacked by Barooga Football Club in Shepparton as a result.
That charge was dismissed in a Victorian court last Thursday.
A former Port Douglas player, Boxsell was hit with a five-year club ban at the beginning of this year for an altercation with teammates.
It was alleged that threats of violence directed at Boxsell were what led to Manunda forfeiting their games in Port on August 2.
That triggered a month-long investigation by the AFL Cairns board, which concluded that the Hawks were bringing the code into disrepute and made the landmark decision to boot both senior and reserve grade teams out of the 2015 competition.
Martin said that he had no problems in recruiting Boxsell – he played six games for the Hawks this season – and was prepared to fight to overturn the club’s ban, even if it meant taking legal action.
“We did our due diligence checks, got the OK from AFL Cairns and gave the kid a chance to play footy,” Martin said. “When we realised a fortnight out from the game in Port there may be trouble, we mitigated and said he’d be staying in Cairns.”
Manunda will hold an open question and answer night at Cazalys’ Hawks Bar tonight from 7pm, while presidents of all seven AFL Cairns clubs will meet with the AFL Cairns board for a briefing session on Friday morning.
“Those are the first two steps and after that we’ll have a lot better idea of where we stand,” Martin said.
“It’s good to see the support we’ve got since the decision.
“And the fact that everyone is rallying certainly gives you the impetus to keep on fighting.”
Article courtesy of The Cairns Post
Last Modified on 17/09/2014 21:21