0
I love the fact that the only place you can find allegations of misconduct by the Western Force is on the SMH website. None of the other major sites picked up the Force sueing story (and made it all look like the Forces fault) and to date this little treasure below is only to be found on the SMH site.
I personally love the fact that the Forces name appears everywhere with only a small mention of the fact the alleged incident occured whilst as a Brumby!
Swept under the Matt
The Western Force paid hush money to an alleged assault victim of Matt Henjak's, write Jacquelin Magnay and Gerard Ryle.
The Western Force Super 14 club has made secret payments over an alleged assault by one of their star players.
A South African national, who was paid more than $15,000 earlier this year, dropped police charges and a civil case which he began after he claimed to have been assaulted in a nightclub by halfback Matt Henjak.
The Herald can reveal the secret negotiations involved the Western Force and the chief executive of the Rugby Union Players' Association, Tony Dempsey, the alleged victim and his law firm.
Dempsey, a lawyer, collected a fee for acting as the legal go-between.
The secret payment involved foreign money transfers from the Western Force to the South African law firm and a cheque of between $15,000 and $20,000 to the alleged injured party. Confidentiality clauses were signed by both sides after the final payments were made early this year.
The alleged assault happened three years earlier and meant that for certain periods Henjak was unable to travel to South Africa, fearing police charges.
Sources said some money was paid to Dempsey and other funds were transferred to South Africa. A third amount was paid directly to the alleged victim.
The alleged assault is believed to have occurred while Henjak was touring South Africa for his former club, the ACT Brumbies, in 2004.
The halfback was lured to the Western Force the following year. The Brumbies had earlier refused to pay the alleged victim.
Henjak has had a troubled time in South Africa. In July 2005, he became the first Wallaby for 40 years to be sent home in disgrace from a foreign tour for a separate incident in a Cape Town nightclub.
A hastily convened disciplinary committee hearing found Henjak guilty of throwing ice from his drink after a group of students had spilled a round of drinks belonging to Wallabies players.
Though the incident - as told to the public - appeared minor, Henjak was sent home in disgrace and was given a two-year, two-match suspended sentence and a $500 fine.
The penalty was one of the heaviest imposed in the century-long history of the Wallabies. Not since Ross Cullen admitted biting the ear of Irish opponent Ollie Waldron in a match against Oxford University on the 1966-67 tour of Britain was a Wallaby sent home from an overseas tour.
Three other players were disciplined over the incident. Wingers Lote Tuqiri and Wendell Sailor were fined $500 each and given two-match suspended sentences. Prop Matt Dunning received a $500 fine.
Attempts by South African police to investigate the 2004 incident were hindered by a case of mistaken identity, after a fifth Wallabies player, Henjak's Brumbies teammate Jeremy Paul, was incorrectly identified as the alleged assailant.
Paul was questioned by South African police, served with legal papers but gave a sworn statement he was not involved.
The sending home of Henjak in 2005 was favourable timing as the police had identified Henjak as the original 2004 assailant and were seeking to question him.
Personal Favourite this one -Dempsey, who is being touted as a replacement for beleaguered Force chief executive Peter O'Meara, under fire for secret payments to players to lure them across the Nullarbor, told the Herald that Henjak approached the RUPA upon his return to the country. But Dempsey said he was bound by lawyer-client confidentiality.
"I am not admitting there was payment or a settlement," he said. "From time to time, we are contacted by the players, and I can't comment about that situation at all."
Dempsey said he didn't see any conflict of interest in his roles as a RUPA executive providing free legal advice and being paid as a lawyer by any club for that advice.
Team officials yesterday repeated that Henjak's punishment was a result of shenanigans at the Pulse nightclub.
Team manager Phil Thompson told the Herald he was unaware until later in the week and after Henjak had returned home that there "was another incident at a provincial level that was all very tight-lipped".
"When we sent him home it was for the ice throwing at Pulse. We had no knowledge of any warrant for his arrest or that the police wanted to speak to him," he said. "It was only later in that week we heard of the other incident. But when we made the decision we didn't know, and the incident at Pulse didn't involve any other member of the public."
On returning to Australia, Henjak found he couldn't go back to South Africa to play rugby union as he faced arrest.
It was only when the patron at the nightclub withdrew his complaint to police that Henjak could enter South Africa to fulfil his Super-14 commitments to the Western Force. The civil action was still being negotiated. Brumbies management had refused to pay the complainant, but the Western Force agreed to.
Western Force chairman Geoff Stooke said he had "no comment" to make about Henjak.
At the time of the alleged assault, Henjak was touted as George Gregan's understudy for the halfback role, and his imminent switch to the Western Force with close friend Matt Giteau would spark a lengthy representative career. Since then, Henjak's form has been indifferent, and he is not among the top-four candidates for the national halfback spot.
Henjak, who turns 26 tomorrow, did not return the Herald's calls. At the time of the 2005 incident, he said he was being a little bit loud, drinks got spilt and he threw ice.
"I was being a little bit silly, and I ended up putting the team under more pressure than it needed to be," he said.
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by WF2006
