Houston we have a problem
9 Feb 2006
Leroy Houston, the surprise inclusion on the Wallabies’ end-of-year tour, is missing.
Houston, who bolted in the Australian midweek side – despite being only 19 – has now bolted from home a day before his side the Waratahs kick-off their Vodacom Super 14 campaign against the Reds.
NSW chief executive Fraser Neill said he believed the family had some idea of the youngster’s whereabouts.
“He hasn’t been home but they think they may know where he is but they’re not sure and they haven’t been able to contact him,” Neill said. “From the NSW point of view, we don’t know where Leroy is. He didn’t come to the launch, didn’t come to training and didn’t get on the plane to Brisbane. But firstly, that’s obviously a family issue and it’s extremely sensitive and you have to handle these things carefully.
“It’s especially sensitive when someone of that age is involved, and with the meteoric rise he’s had in profile and that sort of thing,” he said. “It’s something we take very seriously but handle very sensitively.
“As soon as we can, we’ll get in touch with Leroy to talk to him and take some positive action …,” Neill said. “We’ve got Masi, who’s our Pacific Islander liaison officer, and while Leroy is a Maori, Masi has lived in New Zealand most of his life, so he’s very familiar with the issues there as well. And I think that’s a very important part of that as well, the cultural sort of issues, being sensitive to them and being appreciative to what those issues are and dealing with it accordingly.
Coach Ewan McKenzie echoed Neil.
“We’ll just wait till we get to the bottom of things because the absence from training is more of a symptom than the problem,” McKenzie said. “We just want to get to the bottom of it as much as we can and help him develop a path to sort things out.”
15 Comments
9 Feb 2006, 17:36 pm
One tour with a bunch of Aussies would terrible for anybody, Let alone a vulnerable youngster like Houston. He obviously and understandebly got as far away from the possibly of repeating the tragedy as he could. Go ya good thing.
9 Feb 2006, 17:37 pm
MMmmm, not a very good time to be running away from home.
Hope the bugger is okay and has’nt been abducted by some inbred recluse from the outback.
9 Feb 2006, 17:43 pm
Hope he is ok. I would recommend to test his blood for “all sorts of recreational things” when he gets back.
At the risk of being a ****, I’ve just heard too many stories about youngster stepping over “the line” and running off.
9 Feb 2006, 17:50 pm
Sounds like something from bobfromaccounting.com
9 Feb 2006, 20:50 pm
Maybe he just did want to come face to face with Eddie Jones again
9 Feb 2006, 22:34 pm
Or the thought of playing the Stormers in the next fortnight terrified him (LOL)
10 Feb 2006, 00:43 am
hope he hasn’t got the andrew walker syndrome
10 Feb 2006, 01:17 am
The ARU should never have recognised the NRLs two year ban for Walker’s cocaine use. Typical of RL that they ban somebody gets 12 months for taking steriods(Rodney Howe) but a person with a small amount of cocaine taken at a party two days before the test gets 2 yrs for their trouble.
10 Feb 2006, 03:13 am
I don’t think anyone would have signed Walker anyway. He’s over 30 and had a history of going walkabout at the Brumbies.
Houston has been found.
10 Feb 2006, 06:44 am
Brumby where, when, what & how?
10 Feb 2006, 08:30 am
RC
In Texas. With a Map.
Cheers
10 Feb 2006, 09:11 am
Redcard, there’s an article on foxsports.com.au abou it. he won’t be in the squad to tour South Africa. Maybe it’s the Sydney culture that isn’t suiting him.
10 Feb 2006, 09:38 am
Methos killed by Red Card in the conservatory with a babbejaan spanner!
10 Feb 2006, 15:48 pm
Knuckles at Bath wanted Walker.
10 Feb 2006, 15:53 pm
would Walker have been able to get a visa? I think he had a couple of DUI convictions (got banned for driving a few times)
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