Rugby League: Slanging continues over Ridge debate

Auckland Warriors skipper Matthew Ridge continues to protest his innocence over eye-gouging allegations, but pressure is mounting on both sides of the Tasman for him to do something about his anger.

Ridge admitted in his newspaper column Sydney's Sunday Herald yesterday that he was stupid to give Lesley Vainikolo a "facial" in last weekend's game against Canberra, but refused to apologise.

"What I did was a silly thing," Ridge said in his column. "But I'm not about to apologise to Lesley. Why should I? Did you see the letter he wrote? It accused me of gouging.

"It wasn't his fault what happened, it was my fault. Both he and I know my fingers didn't go anywhere near his eyes.

"Don't you think if I had gouged him, they would have thrown the book a me? You bet they would have.

"What I did was give him a vigorous facial. That's it. It's ridiculous to label me as a gouger." Ridge was suspended for eight weeks over the incident.

But as the Warriors' management discussed ways of getting professional help for Ridge's temper, old adversary Gary Jack was calling for something more permanent.

Jack, a former Australian fullback, said Ridge should have been banned for 20 weeks.

"The game is certainly better off without him and it wouldn't bother me if he quit the game for good following this," Jack said in the Sunday Telegraph.

Ridge was one of several players to give evidence against Jack in a recent high-profile court case involving former Manly and Australian forward Ian Roberts.

"Ridge has shown a total lack of respect for the game and it's clear he doesn't respect any other player. The game is tough enough without players resorting to that sort of crap ... send him back to rugby union." - NZPA