Opinion: It's time for Northland Rugby to walk the walk

New rules outlined in the refreshed code of conduct guide should help minimise player and fan aggression on our rugby fields.

It always feels slightly strange having club rugby playing at this time of year.

Coming off the back of a typical hot, dry cricket season, players trade the helmet for a mouth guard and charge out on to a hard, sometimes brownish, turf before the rain and mud comes in a few months' time.

Heat can have an interesting impact on sportspeople. It can either drive them to exhaustion or to breaking point, as your body cries out for hydration.

It's in these moments where players and fans can do stupid stuff. With their patience drying up under the hot sun, all it takes is one poor tackle or one wrong call from the referee for someone to throw a punch or yell a nasty comment.

To be fair, this happens just as much in the cold days of winter as it does in the warmer days of autumn. Unfortunately, it's a big and disgusting part of rugby across the country, referees getting abuse from the sideline and players turning on each other, settling matters with their fists.

So, you can imagine my delight when I hear of Northland Rugby's new, 13-page code of conduct guide, specifically outlining what is and isn't acceptable for the upcoming season of club rugby.

To be fair to guys at the union, the document looks the business, going into explicit detail about what is acceptable in the setup of a rugby field, identifying all actions by players and fans which are prohibited and requiring an event manager be at every game to ensure all the boxes are ticked.

The new guide has even been signed and agreed to by all clubs ahead of the season and sends a message to all players that misconduct will not be tolerated.

Well, it would have, if Northland Rugby hadn't totally backed away from condemning three players who were all sanctioned by an independent judicial board this week over an incident at a pre-season 10s tournament.

In a statement released by Northland Rugby on Thursday, the board found the actions from the three players required punishment. However, the union would not mention who the players were, what club they were from, what the incident was or what the sanctions were.

In that statement, Northland Rugby confirmed it took misconduct by players and spectators very seriously; but when you won't name and shame those who are in direct violation of the codes you preach, what's the point of having a code of conduct in the first place?

Players and spectators won't learn to change their behaviour if their actions aren't totally denounced by the people who make the rules. That's the reason verbal and physical violence has stayed a part of the game at a club level for so long.

In a Northern Advocate story just last year, former police officer and rugby referee Gavin Benney criticised the level of hate he received as an official on the field, saying he had been accused of so many things and seen so many poisonous people fighting over club rugby in the space of just two weeks.

People from the rugby community will know the three players who were sanctioned and know what they did. Perhaps Northland Rugby sees this as punishment enough but it's not, you need to come out and denounce future breaches of your codes or don't have them at all.

The message from the union is that there has been an "overall improvement in the behaviour of our players and fans" which I look forward to seeing as the season progresses.

But if you're not willing to be proactive in dealing with these issues, they will continue. In the South Zone competition, players who are given a red card immediately cost their team two points, regardless of their indiscretion.

This is a great rule and one that will make players and clubs think about the ramifications of misconduct on the park. Along with its code of conduct, Northland Rugby is certainly talking the talk when it comes to cutting out bad behaviour.

Now it's time to walk the walk.

Round 1 premier fixtures (all games starting at 2.15pm):

Waipū v Kamo at Caledonian Park: Field 2
Otamatea v OBM at Kaiwaka: Field 1
Hora Hora v Kerikeri at Hora Hora RFC: Field 2
Western Sharks v Hikurangi at Pioneer Park: Field 1
Mid Northern v Wellsford at Mid Northern RFC: Field 1