Bennett on the offensive over citing
By Steve Mascord in ToulouseNovember 19, 2004
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Australian coach Wayne Bennett has slammed the citing of prop
Mark O'Meley and said a quarter of his squad had not realised their
potential on tour.
Bennett named two debutants and captain Darren Lockyer in his
squad to play France on Sunday. North Queensland fullback Matt
Bowen and St George Illawarra centre Matt Cooper are the new caps
for the Test at Stade Toulouse, while Lockyer will make his
comeback from a rib injury suffered last month.
O'Meley was also named in the starting side, pending his
appearance before a disciplinary committee via video conference for
rushing in to inflame a brawl last weekend.
"I'm still trying to work out why he got cited, particularly on
what we've seen, the video evidence," said Bennett, who has not
spoken publicly since the 24-12 loss to Britain at Wigan last
weekend. "The whole system has been bizarre, point one. There's 11
punches thrown in the [brawl] and he didn't start it.
"There are two instances. The first one he wasn't involved in
and the second one, he wasn't involved initially either. We're just
confused about why he's been singled out. If they want to go down
that path, there's another three guys they should have charged as
The Australians have insisted the Rugby Football League go to
the expense of organising a video conference for the hearing, even
though the system is not used in Britain. "Point two, they want to
do it by phone hook-up and they've got video evidence they want to
get him convicted on," Bennett said.
"It's taken quite some work to convince them we're not going to
turn up for a telephone hook-up. The craziest [suggestion] is we're
going to do it next week.
"We do it [video hearings] in the NRL. It's easy to do, I'm
sure. I'm sure they've got the facilities in the UK and France to
Bennett said there were "half-a-dozen" spots open in the side to
play Britain at Elland Road on November 27.
"There's at least six players on this tour who haven't played
anywhere near how they are capable of playing," he said. "Of course
it's a concern."
Asked if the Australians would win the final should those
players realise their potential, he said: "It'll give us a chance,
anyway. The other 11 had better join in, too."
Lockyer and interchange forward Jason Ryles (hamstring) will
have to complete contact work at training on Saturday morning to
confirm their places.
After training just once in three days during their stay in
Paris, the Australians were put through a gruelling two-hour
session upon their arrival in Toulouse. Once more, halfback Craig
Gower (groin) did little and he declined to be interviewed for a
second consecutive day. Cooper also pulled up sore during sprints
and had a hip flexor injury iced.
The French side includes new cap Remi Casty and Said Tamghart
along with promising youngsters in centre Damien Couturier and
19-year-old lock Gregory Mounis.
France have a couple of UK-based players in the side in
Featherstone winger Frederic Zitter and Wakefield second-rower
Olivier Elima.
FRANCE V AUSTRALIA
FRANCE: Renaud G Jerome Hermet, Claude Sirvent,
Damie C Maxime Greseque, Julien Rinaldi (c); Gregory
Mounis, Djamel Fakir, Olivier Elima, David Ferriol, David
Berthezene, Abel Fellous. Res: Laurent Carrasco, Olivier Pramil,
Remi Casty, Said Tamghart.
AUSTRALIA: Matt B Brent Tate, Matt Cooper, Tonie
Carroll, Matt S Darren Lockyer (c), Brett K Shaun
Timmins, Ben Kennedy, Craig Fitzgibbon, Willie Mason, Craig Wing,
Mark O'Meley. Res: Shane Webcke, Petero Civoniceva, Jason Ryles,
Scott Hill, Nathan Hindmarsh, Andrew Ryan (two to be omitted).
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Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says the investigation by North Korea is "different from those in the past". Photo: AP
Tokyo: Japan will ease sanctions on North Korea after the isolated nation said it would start a new investigation into abductees and other Japanese citizens living there.A group of Japanese ministers agreed on Wednesday to loosen the restrictive measures, and the cabinet was to approve the move on Thursday, chief cabinet secretary Yoshihide Suga said.Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the investigation team that North Korea was to establish&on Thursday was &different from those in the past&.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Photo: AP
&Based on the principle of reciprocity, Japan will lift some of the measures we have been taking,& Mr Abe said after the ministers' meeting. &But this is just a start. I am determined to do all I can to reach a complete resolution.&
North Korea admitted in 2002 to abducting 13 Japanese citizens in the 1970s and 1980s, mostly to help train its spies. It returned five of them later that year, saying the others were dead.Mr Abe has called the issue, which has long complicated Japan's attempts to deal with the threats of North Korea's missile launches and nuclear weapons tests, one of the most important for his administration.North Korea has conducted , including two overseen by leader Kim Jong-un, that have heightened tensions on the peninsula before talks in Seoul between Chinese President Xi Jinping and South Korean President Park Geun-hye.At least 10 abductees are still living in North Korea, according to a list North Korean officials handed to Japanese counterparts at a meeting in Beijing on Tuesday, the Nikkei newspaper reported, citing unnamed government officials. Japanese officials will check the list of names and life histories against their own list of 860 known or suspected abductees, the &newspaper said.However Mr Suga said Japan received no list of survivors from North Korea.Sanctions to be eased include the lifting of reporting requirements for Japanese citizens taking more than 100,000 yen ($1040) to North Korea, or wiring sums of more than 3 million yen there, the Nikkei reported. North Korean ships would be allowed to enter Japanese ports for humanitarian reasons, the newspaper said. Japan will retain bans on charter flights, trade of goods and exports of nuclear and missile technology in line with United Nations resolutions.Bloomberg
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