Graham Lowe: Umaga not the only contender in hit parade

This is a story about a former All Black captain and a feisty Otahuhu pensioner. Before anyone starts thinking I have finally taken leave of my senses, I must confess that never did I think I would mention Tana Umaga and Mrs Desma Bankier in the same sentence.

But the recent bizarre headlines involving footballers on both sides of the Tasman have brought me to it.

When Umaga clocked his misbehaving Hurricanes teammate Chris Masoe with a woman's handbag after the Super 14 final, my mind was cast back to the great Otahuhu Rugby League club of the 1960s and 1970s. We had our own Sergeant-at-Arms.

Mrs Bankier (no one ever dared call her anything else) was the mother of a more-than-useful prop forward, Glen, and served as a club committee member and doorlady of fearsome reputation.

She became a legend around Auckland Rugby League as she policed a strict dress code and quickly arrested bad behaviour with a lethal glare. She pounced on trouble, and troublemakers, before they got traction. Expulsion was her major weapon and no one argued with her.

While I never actually saw her throw a handbag haymaker, we all knew she was not only prepared to do so, but was capable of putting a ring into a few ears.

Mrs Bankier was a symbol of times which now sadly seem to have disappeared. There was an inherent respect for the Mrs Bankiers of the world and most clubs had one.

She didn't care if you were the best player in the club, or the up-and-coming coach. If you broke the rules she'd come down on you like a ton of bricks. But she was also a good judge of footy talent.

When I took over the Otahuhu Premiers in 1977, I was keen to get the talented centre Ken Anderson (cousin of Kurt and Dane Sorensen), who was playing for Swinton in the UK.

There was no money for players but Mrs Bankier and her ladies committee ran a few raffles to pay for an airfare and we were able to get Kenny back. She was equal in value to any modern-day corporate sponsorship.

Tellingly, if any individual dared step out of line, she had the support of every other person in the club in dealing with it.

Call me old-fashioned, but I believe this respect began in our own homes. When I was growing up the rules were crystal clear. If I stepped over the bounds of decent behaviour I got a kick up the arse from my father.

My dad wasn't a brute or a bully but he disciplined his kids on rules scorched into our souls.

As painful as some of those lessons were, I'm glad I received them. During my career as a coach, there was no grey area in my mind when it came to right or wrong. Of course, I'm not pretending footballers didn't got themselves into scrapes - usually aided by a few too many beers. But I believe there was a respect in those days which is sadly lacking now.

Perhaps it is because the concept of club loyalty is now foreign to elite sports people, who are fawned over by supporters. From their pedestals, the top players feel they can do no wrong. I am fortunate that among the hundreds of players I coached, while some were real hard-heads, I was always confident of their behaviour because they had respect.

I'm sure any player belting a woman in days gone by would have been dealt with by his own teammates - and not just with the use of a handbag. I cannot imagine the likes of Colin Meads letting something like that pass without administering his own justice. I'm just glad we never had that modern-day escape for the thugs - anger management.

On the other side of the ledger, I'm concerned that a new phenomenon seems to have crept into the methods of our sporting observers. Increasingly, judge and jury calls are very quickly made when sports stars are involved.

And where's the consistency in dealing with these heroes who prove themselves time and again to be just normal human beings?

Wendell Sailor recently found out how harsh this can be. He tested positive for cocaine and had his life turned upside down.

Personally, I can't understand why anyone would take such drugs, but he did. I'm told this is something people in all walks of society are prepared to risk taking.

Sailor did not take it as a performance-enhancing agent but, I imagine, for some sort of buzz.

To be treated as he has been by the Australian and NSW rugby unions is well over the top. His behaviour was hurting no one but his dumb self - unlike New Zealander Tevita Latu, who got slapped with an almost immediate suspension by Cronulla when they discovered he had punched a girl in the face.

I think the club is to be congratulated for being strong enough to make a quick decision. But I don't agree with the NRL refusing to allow him any future registration with another club. After all you only get 10 to 20 years for murder.

Contrast this with the example of the All Black player last year who hit his pregnant wife and has been given permanent name suppression.

The moment we have to ignore common decency to win football games we'd better give up.

Perhaps we should have special training camps for the up-and-coming Tana Umagas and Mrs Bankiers of this world, who can continue to instil some of the values of yesterday - with the handbag hit parade of today.

* After reading the list of players named in the 2006 All Black squad, I don't know why they didn't just list the Super 14 players who didn't make it. It would have saved us all a lot of speculation.