League: Ancestry row over Fien looks near crisis

Nathan Fien

Leading Kiwi league figures are demanding an end to Australians donning the black-and-white jersey, as the international board sets about ruling on the Nathan Fien controversy.

The dispute reached a crisis point yesterday with revelations that Fien's Kiwi origins are more tenuous than originally stated by the New Zealand Rugby League.

It has also cast the spotlight on Australian born and raised Kiwis such as Brent Webb and the Cayless brothers, with former national coach Bob Bailey saying similar selections should never occur again.

The New Zealand Rugby League confirmed yesterday that Fien, the 27-year-old Warriors hooker who has played two Tri-Nations tests, has a great-grandmother born in this country.

Queenslander Fien qualified for the Kiwis under international league's grandparent rule, although the NZRL remained defiant last night, claiming that the term grandparent could include great-grandparent. Fien would qualify through residency after another Warriors season.

NZRL chairman Sel Bennett played the "we're just simple football folk who want to get on with the game" card. But he threatened to pull the Kiwis out of the Tri-Nations if they were docked Saturday's win over Great Britain in Christchurch, where Fien played.

"I wouldn't let the players play. Why let them play for a dead cause?" said Bennett.

"I believe we are correct. The Sydney media are just hunting for a story. What do we do - employ a genealogist?"

Bennett claimed the NZRL hierarchy knew Fien's Wanganui-born ancestor was a great-grandparent.

"No one asked us," said Bennett, when asked why this had not been revealed at the time.

Prior to the Melbourne test, the NZRL faxed her birth certificate to the Australians who, with some scepticism, accepted Fien's right to play.

Bennett yesterday quoted parts of Oklahoma state legislation which he said showed that in some parts of the world a great-grandparent and grandparent were virtually one and the same. Few are likely to view this generation generalisation in the same light.

Fien's late great-grandmother "Nana" Lett, born 100 years ago, has found fame in death unimaginable in life. Fien has said he never met her.

Leading league figures of the past hit out at the selection policy yesterday.

Former Kiwi captain Duane Mann and Bailey have been disappointed that Australians even qualified through residency.

Other Kiwis revealed similar views off-the-record.

Bailey said: "Playing for the Warriors for three years shouldn't qualify you. That's an absolute joke.

"It's an even bigger joke now. We're the laughing stock of rugby league. Willie Mason and Mark Geyer were right.

"Once we start using Australian players, a lot of the interest goes out of following the Kiwis.

"A rugby bloke said to me the tests look like NRL club games with the players just swapping into different jerseys."

Bailey believed Kiwis should have to be New Zealand passport holders.

Mann was saddened that young players from this country became "starstruck" across the Tasman and lost to the Kiwi cause. He believed the eligibility rules needed tightening, partly to encourage the local game.

"I've said to Brent Webb that I don't believe he should be a Kiwi," said Mann. "He's a lovely bloke and loves the lifestyle here, but he's not a New Zealander."

The International Board's executive were believed to be attempting a telephone hook-up overnight. The British camp refused to comment.