By CHRIS RATTUE
Canterbury have hit back at criticisms by Counties Manukau that they have attempted to lure national under-19 centre Casey Laulala into their development programme.
Steelers coach Andrew Talaimanu saw red when Canterbury's academy manager Rob Penney rang Laulala days before the Counties Manukau NPC squad was named.
Talaimanu was
angry that Canterbury made the approach mid-season, and said smaller provinces were expected to compete in the NPC first division while being left exposed to continual player raids from the big city teams, some of whom had the advantage of being Super 12 franchise bases.
Outgoing Canterbury chief executive Steve Tew said yesterday that his union would continue to chase the country's most talented players, although their primary aim was to develop their own talent.
He said Canterbury would stick by international rugby regulations that required them to inform other unions if the players they were chasing were under contract.
And he denied any suggestion that Canterbury would use the lure of Super 12 contracts to entice players to their NPC team.
"What is a good time of year to approach any player? "They've always got something to prepare for. There's no perfect time."
Tew is about to become the New Zealand Rugby Football Union's general manager of rugby.
"[Canterbury] have a very competitive approach to talent identification ... There have been advantages historically for major metropolitan areas in what they can offer players young and old. Nothing has changed.
"We run Canterbury (the provincial rugby side) completely separately from the Super 12 team ... [although] players are bright enough to work out the advantages we can offer."
Laulala was one of the stars of the New Zealand under-19 triumph at the world championships in Chile this year.
