Radio Sport staff: Ma'a Nonu's move

By: Radio Sport staff | Thursday, October 18, 2012 1:51 PM

In the wake of Ma'a Nonu's move from the Blues to the Highlanders for next season's Super Rugby competition, we thought we'd gauge the opinion of the Radio Sport team and see what they think of the situation.

Team captain Malcolm Jordan believes Nonu is being selfish in ditching the Blues and threatening to head offshore if he wasn't able to make the move to the Highlanders. He sees the situation as the ‘tail wagging the dog’.

Jordan is happy that Nonu is staying in New Zealand because he is a valuable player but he’s disappointed in the way the veteran All Black has treated the Blues franchise.

News editor Rikki Swannell isn't allowed to use the words she wants to use in commenting on the Nonu situation in a public forum.

She's all for players changing teams and trying to get the best deal they can but in this circumstance, he'd signed a contract and should be forced to honour it. Swannell thinks it’s a classic case of going running to daddy because you're not happy and he should just ‘suck it up’.

Journalist Brenton Vannisselroy believes the New Zealand Rugby Union needs to take responsibility for bending over backwards to accommodate Nonu.

He says you can't have players cutting contracts short for any old reason and making up the rules as they go.

Afternoon host Kent Johns is of the opinion that the issue is around the contracting model. He says central contracting is a farce and he’s advocating that the franchises should hold the contracts with the players. He uses the NRL example of the franchises each getting a handout from the administration each year, which helps them pay the players' contracts. Johns is adamant the NZRU should have nothing to do with the deal.

So there it is - not much support for Nonu's move in the Radio Sport office.

Photo: Photosport

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