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Lions to fine Rhan Hooper $40,000
Andrew Hamilton
January 11, 2009 11:00pm
BRISBANE Lions coach Michael Voss has shown disciplinary breaches will not be tolerated by fining wayward forward Rhan Hooper $40,000.
Hooper, who faced the sack after multiple contract breaches, had no choice but to accept the reduced contract to salvage his career.
Voss, who trained with the 21-year-old Hooper during the Christmas holidays,
has shown he will be as uncompromising a coach as he was a player when it comes to disciplinary issues.
Hooper skipped training in December, but convinced Voss of his commitment to the club when he returned from a 28-day suspension last week.
But the results of beep tests, skinfold tests and a 3km time-trial on his return to the club last week were below par.
"He failed to meet his benchmarks. We set some targets and he has failed to meet them," Voss said yesterday.
"We had some sanctions available to us that we weren't going to implement unless we needed to. They are based on the level of commitments he has shown lately."
The Lions seriously considered tearing up Hooper's contract, which has another year to run. But the club chose to give him the maximum possible financial penalty.
"It was important that he stay a footballer at the Brisbane Lions," Voss said
"Yes, at varying stages there was (discussions over terminating his contract). Rhan knew exactly where he stood, and he knew if there wasn't some degree of professionalism shown, that could happen.
"He expressed to us that wasn't his wish, and all we've ever wanted was a healthy, committed Rhan Hooper."
Hooper has been a serial offender since joining the Lions in 2005.
He was fined $7000 in January 2007 for walking out on the club because of personal problems and the grind of pre-season training.
Voss conceded the 20-year-old was running out of chances.
"It cannot happen again," Voss said.
"Now I have had a brief history with Rhan as coach and he obviously has a history with the club.
"He knows the requirements and he knows what might happen."
$40,000?!
Surely that's roughly half his salary! That's a fair whack...
I thought I read somewhere that he only had a year left on his contract.
Hooper's penalty fine by us: AFLPA
By Luke Holmesby
3:34 PM Tue 13 January, 2009
DESPITE it being the biggest fine he could remember in his time in football, AFL Players' Association chief executive Brendon Gale has endorsed the penalty imposed on forward Rhan Hooper by the Brisbane Lions.
Hooper was fined $40,000 for what the Lions called 'persistent and serious breaches' of his playing contract and Gale said the AFLPA endorsed the figure because it was seen as four separate fines rather than a single one.
"The fine in isolation would be far in excess of what is prescribed under the [players’] code of conduct," Gale said.
"But it is a series of what the club regards as serious and persistent breaches; the accumulation of which is four lots of fines and the aggregate is $40,000."
The Lions issued the punishment after Hooper served a club-imposed 28 day suspension for failing to attend pre-season training.
They said in a statement on Monday night that Hooper had failed to meet benchmark standards upon his return to training.
Gale confirmed the AFLPA had liaised with Lions, Hooper and his representatives before the penalty was decided and believes that the 20-year-old can resurrect his career.
"It is a two-way street and it is really important that Rhan meets the expectations outlined in his contract in terms of training and preparing professionally," he said. "If he does that he’s got an exciting future.
"It probably is [the biggest I can recall] but there have been a series of situations. There has been a pattern of persistent misconduct and the club has been pretty clear on what the expectations are of Rhan.
"So far he has failed to meet those but he’s got an opportunity now to get on with it. They think very highly of him as a footballer and we hope he can get on to prepare professionally and play good footy."
Responsibility also rests with Hooper if he wishes to continue at the elite level, however, the AFLPA would help him if he felt he needed it.
"There are some things that might be affecting his situation at the moment," Gale said.
"We’re there to support players and Rhan is no different. We’ve got a range of measures and services there to support him if required."
Hooper needs to shape up: Lappin
By Ben Broad
3:00 PM Tue 13 January, 2009
FORMER teammate and now Geelong assistant coach Nigel Lappin has warned Rhan Hooper to shape up or risk his career at the Brisbane Lions.
Speaking after the Cats slugged it out under the hot sun at Skilled Stadium on Tuesday, Lappin – who played with Hooper throughout the small forward’s 39-game career at the Lions – said the dynamic left-footer had let new coach Michael Voss down.
On Monday night the Lions announced Hooper would be fined $40,000 for “persistent and serious breaches of his playing contract”.
The 21-year-old had been banned from training for 28 days and, upon returning from the club-imposed suspension, failed to meet the required fitness standard.
Lappin, who believes Hooper can still be a success at his former club, warned the Lion to lift his commitment levels or risk being on the AFL scrapheap.
“I don’t have a close association with the club at the moment but I’m really disappointed with the way he’s gone about things,” Lappin said.
“He really needs to have a good look at himself and if he really wants to be the player that everyone knows he can be he needs to pull his finger out, otherwise he won’t last long under Vossy’s system.
“I know what Vossy’s like and he’s very hard and wants everything done professionally, so it should be a big wake-up call to Rhan.”
Lappin said he felt for his former teammates, many of whom were still close friends.
“It’s not even so much his work ethic. If he’s there he does the work, it’s just getting him there to training, and really that should be the easiest thing for him just to turn up and do training,” he said.
“It doesn’t concern me as much as it did last year, but I’m disappointed for the club because some of my friends are still there and I know they’re looking forward to a good season and they need guys like him putting in.”
Despite Hooper failing to meet his latest fitness benchmark, Lappin had no doubts about Hooper’s on-field ability.
“Look, I’m very confident that Rhan can be a very good player for the Lions for a long time,” he said.
“Hopefully he improves [his commitment because] he’s a fantastic young footballer. And he’s not a bad person, it’s just at times he’s not prepared to put into all the team stuff and you need that from every player.”
sewell2guerra said:
