Henjak ready to lift lid on Force
By Wayne Smith
February 21, 2008 THE Australian Rugby Union is set to decide Matt Henjak's future but the repercussions of the incident that has placed his career in jeopardy could reverberate for weeks to come and await his Western Force teammates on their return from South Africa.
RugbyWA has passed on to the ARU the recommendation of its code of conduct tribunal that Henjak's Force contract be terminated, but the troubled half-back's future will remain in limbo until the national body examines the hearing transcripts.
Even if the ARU endorses the recommendation, Henjak then has five business days to lodge an appeal - although it is unclear whether, like Wendell Sailor following his two-year drug ban, he will bother to go to the expense of challenging his effective ejection from the game in Australia.
However, sources close to Henjak said the former Australia half-back disputes some of the alleged facts and findings of the tribunal, opening up the possibility of an appeal if the ARU tears up his contract.
Either way, there is a distinct possibility that Henjak will not go quietly. He is also understood to be seriously considering "lifting the lid" on the culture of the Western Force and RugbyWA's handling of a number of disciplinary incidents.
If Henjak is shown the door by the ARU, it is unclear where he will go. His former Force boss Peter O'Meara said the 26-year-old had told him recently that he had no interest in switching to rugby league, which may be fortuitous because attempts by Henjak's manager, Greg Keenan, to offer his services to NRL clubs appear to have evoked no interest whatever.
The player's best option would appear to be to remain in rugby overseas.
As hardline as ARU chief executive John O'Neill has been on disciplinary matters since returning to the job in mid-2007, it is not beyond the realms of possibility that the ARU could review the tribunal's findings and decide to lighten Henjak's penalty to a heavy fine and a severe suspension.
Yet that is a long shot at best, especially in light of the unusually graphic language contained in the official statement released following the marathon eight-hour tribunal hearing in Perth on Tuesday night. In one passage, the tribunal members said they were satisfied Henjak "punched (teammate) Haig Sare when Haig was sitting down vulnerable and unable to defend himself ... the committee was unable to find any justification for that assault which probably caused Haig Sare's jaw to be broken".
While the ARU is left to wrestle with the finer detail, the Force already has turned its attention to two broad questions that flow from the February 10 blow-up at a Fremantle bar.
Why were as many as eight of their players out socialising just two days before the team's departure for a three-match Super 14 tour of South Africa?
And why did the players not intervene to separate Henjak and Sare, particularly as their dispute spread over three distinct phases?
The initial argument occurred in the toilets of the bar, flared up again in the middle of the busy establishment, and then erupted a third time outside in the street.
Force captain Nathan Sharpe, speaking from South Africa, said the team had discussed the issue at some length.
"We've got to act quicker," Sharpe said.
"It's disappointing as a team that we let it get to the point it did. But the two of them left the pub on the intention of talking things through outside and they were left on their own."
Acting Force chief executive Mitch Hardy intends to press for an explanation of why the players were in a bar in the first place.
Although former Force half-back Chris O'Young has quit Glasgow Warriors to rejoin Perth club, he will not be named in the 22 for the round-two match against the Cheetahs, with James Stannard to make his starting debut at half-back in place of Henjak.
