Rugby: Hewitt 'poor role model' says Minister

By VERNON SMALL

Former All Black hooker Norm Hewitt gave his right arm for Wellington in the NPC rugby final, but Associate ACC Minister Ruth Dyson is not amused.

The capital's captain has drawn a stiff-arm from Ms Dyson, who has rebuked him for being reckless, short-sighted and a bad example.

"By playing with a broken arm, Norm has been a poor role model for his young fans," she said.

Hewitt's attitude undermined ACC's safety message, which urged sportspeople to look after themselves when they were injured.

Hewitt broke his arm with 20 minutes to go in his team's upset win over Canterbury, but decided to play on because the side's two props had already gone off injured.

He moved from hooker to loosehead prop despite the agonising pain in his injured right arm.

Ms Dyson, a staunch red-and-black supporter, said she would have said the same thing if a Canterbury hero "had been as daft."

But the minister immediately found herself offside with other MPs and at odds with All Black lore, which is littered with players who have played on injured.

Sports Minister Trevor Mallard said he understood what Hewitt had done. "While I am sure she is giving a careful and responsible message in this area ... a lot of people who have played rugby will understand why Norm did what he did."

National's sports spokesman, Murray McCully, tackled what he called Ms Dyson's "whingeing, wowserish statements."

"Perhaps Chris Cairns should hand back his share of the prizemoney from the ICC knockout cricket tournament in Kenya for playing with an injured knee?

"Maybe All Black Colin Meads deserved a tongue-lashing for playing in South Africa with a broken arm in 1970?"