Contract killer
14 Dec 2010
MARK KEOHANE, writing in SA Rugby magazine, says Lionel Mapoe has screwed the system.
Lionel Mapoe got what he wanted, which was a ticket out of Bloemfontein. But it was the way that he did it that sucks and betrays his immense talent on a rugby field.
A year ago Mapoe’s omission from the Springbok squad to tour Europe was more baffling than some of the selections. Mapoe was the form winger in South Africa. He appeared the dream selection: young, big, fast and bloody well black. It was as if God had gift-wrapped the complete package for the Springbok selectors who did as they tend to do with the logical and the obvious: they ignored Mapoe, who didn’t need an international tour to stay in the news. If only we were talking about this athlete for the right reasons.
I always imagined the first column I’d write about Mapoe would be in celebration of what he was doing in a Springbok jersey, but before he gets there he would probably have spent some time in every provincial union and probably not have played a game for any of them.
Mapoe, for whatever reason, was unhappy at the Cheetahs and decided the Sharks were his future. The Sharks, never shy to import from the Free State, which is South African professional rugby’s greatest feeder system, did not need a second phone call from Mapoe or his agent.
An injury ended Mapoe’s season and he was off to the Sharks. That he had a contract with the Cheetahs seemed nothing more than an irritation to the player and Mapoe’s rehabilitation proceeded in Durban while the Cheetahs threatened legal action.
The Cheetahs, the punching bag of South African professional rugby when it comes to losing talent to wealthier provinces, were always going to lose because even if a court ruled in favour of the union, all Cheetahs coach Naka Drotské would be left with was a player who had all the talent to be a superstar for the union but no desire to be true to that talent.
Mapoe wanted out and the Sharks were happy to oblige in taking a player still under contract. So when Mapoe walked out on the Sharks a month ago and joined the Lions after the Cheetahs and Lions administration had exchanged notes and put the squeeze on the Sharks, there wasn’t a whole lot of sympathy for the Sharks.
This, though, isn’t about the Sharks, the Cheetahs or the Lions. It isn’t about who is right or wrong and who acted in good faith. It isn’t about who has the moral high ground or whether the Sharks’ lawyers feel there was a loophole in Mapoe’s contract. It certainly isn’t about whether the Cheetahs and Lions feel common ground has been reached and that both unions and the player start 2011 as winners. It is about the absolute disregard shown by yet another player for a signed contract. What does a signature mean to Mapoe? Where is the integrity?
Every year players talk about the lack of professionalism among certain administrators. Players privately bemoan the incompetence of these amateurs who control their professions in the guise of CEOs. But what of the player who screws the system and does a dirty on his own integrity in the process? What a mess.
I have no sympathy for Mapoe or any player who walks out on a deal in which he has committed his name to paper. There is honour in a name and the assumption has always been there is honour in a signature.
Mapoe will get better as a player working with Lions and former All Blacks coach John Mitchell. He will break tackles, make tackles and score tries in next year’s Super Rugby tournament, but nothing he does on the field can disguise his lack of integrity off it.
The Lions must enjoy Mapoe’s talent while they have him, but they shouldn’t be surprised if he’s in Pretoria or Cape Town in February, given his track record.
If you let a player in through the back door then expect him to leave the same way.
– This first appeared in the December issue of SA Rugby magazine.
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180 Comments
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14 Dec 2010, 09:40 am
@the peanut gallery : ***** = s e m e n
14 Dec 2010, 10:12 am
@Fern : SBW’s 24 — you’ve only got so long to sow wild oats (although Warnie and Liz are extending the limits. So too that fine churchgoing boerseun Joost vdW — the drug-sniffer dog.)
Does your moral homily have a point?
Thought not.
14 Dec 2010, 10:30 am
Strangely enough i do not recall a similar article when John Smit and Vic Matfield did very similar with their French contracts.
In fact all the unions were being lambasted for not immediately making place for Smittie, the national pride and treasure.
14 Dec 2010, 10:57 am
@katman : There was as much outrage re Fourie, on this site and in my BD column, and I wrote as much about the lack of ethics displayed by Fourie.
14 Dec 2010, 10:57 am
Kevvie
The national pride and treasure.
Bitter much?
By the way what were the terms of smit and matfields contracts and under what circumstances were they terminated?
14 Dec 2010, 11:01 am
@keo : interesting what brings you out of slumber to comment/reply to
Transie said as much so you are in the clear
14 Dec 2010, 11:05 am
@ Tackler. Mundine got flogged byboxings version of Susan Boyle, a reality show winner. This came ad no surprise to those in the know. Jeff Femech cleaned up 140 000 betting against him. He had only beaten bums and lost anyone worth his salt. SBW is unbeaten after 2 fights against total nobodies. I am also unbeaten after 0 fights. As long as SBW can avoid another reality show winner such as the Biggest Loser champ he should be OL.
14 Dec 2010, 11:11 am
@stormer in a “D” cup :
SBW once kicked a horse in the chin. Its decendants are known today as Giraffes.
14 Dec 2010, 11:23 am
@cane : Now you using Chuck Norris sayings for SBW? Let’s see how he lasts with all the pressure. Has he not already had a few brushes with authority?
14 Dec 2010, 11:33 am
@stormer in a teacup :
The “Blind Chickenboy” in the Nando’s advert would whip sbw.
He has had 15 fights and won 21 of the by knockout:-)
14 Dec 2010, 11:33 am
@keo : Oh, you did? You said that Fourie screwed the system in a way that sucked and betrayed his immense talent on a rugby field?
Because I don’t recall that.
I do recall you writing a BD column lambasting the Lions and telling us how happy Fourie was to be at a real union. I guess this is not the one you’re referring to.
14 Dec 2010, 11:34 am
@Eish :
Sonny Bill has being playing Professional Rugby since he was 17 years old.
I got a feeling he can handle pressure.
The media hype is not of his doing.
He is among the most modest human beings to ever grace this great game.
Is he good enough. For sure.
Is he any better than Ma Nonu……………probably not. But then again, not many are.
14 Dec 2010, 11:35 am
@cane. I once hit a giraffe on the head. It’s descendents are now known as Shetlands
14 Dec 2010, 11:39 am
@katman :
Katman vs Keo.
I got US$25.00 that says Katmandu will take this one.
8)
14 Dec 2010, 11:40 am
@stormer in a “D”cup :
I concede.
14 Dec 2010, 11:41 am
Well he has Mapoed his bed.
No he must lie in it.
14 Dec 2010, 11:42 am
@katman :
Actually he did:
Jaque Fourie must honour his contract with the Lions, writes Keo in his weekly Business Day newspaper column.
When Jaque Fourie checks his bank balance every month there is a deposit from the Golden Lions Rugby Union. Fourie is under contract at the Lions, and has been his entire professional career. Now that he wants to relocate to France or use Cape Town as a lifestyle alternative, Fourie, through his lawyer Frikkie Erasmus, has challenged this contract as not being binding.
Erasmus also represents Stormers coach Rassie Erasmus and is the Stormers’ commercial manager, so you don’t have to be a genius to add up that sum.
The point is the Lions have a duty to the professional game to ensure Fourie doesn’t get out of his contract. The Lions have to be prepared to take the matter to the highest court and show the young professionals of today that there is such a thing called integrity, and it is this integrity that is assumed a given when a player commits his signature to a piece of paper, plays for a team and gets his match and monthly financial rewards.
The nonsense of what technically constitutes a legal contract misses the point because technically what constitutes a murder? I am sure Erasmus may technically believe there are flaws to Fourie’s contract and if the Lions wanted to end Fourie or any other player’s contract prematurely there is no doubt a legal brain in SA who would find the loophole in the signed agreement. But some things must be protected in sport, and among those things is the respect of a signature to a piece of paper, whether it is deemed to be legally binding or not.
There are no greater insults than when one’s integrity is questioned or when the accusation is that your word means nothing. This is what Fourie needs to be asking himself, despite his haste to get out of Johannesburg.
Fourie, since making his Lions debut as a 19-year-old, has always sweated blood for the Lions and those who have paid his salary have shown their gratitude financially for his effort and his loyalty to what has too often been a losing cause.
In times of injury and loss of form there was never a question that his contract would be under threat or was not legally binding. One has always stood by the other, which is why it is crucial to both the Lions and Fourie that the relationship is not lost because of another union’s haste (read Western Province) to get Fourie out of a contract.
Wherever Fourie goes, be it Cape Town or somewhere in France, it is bound to be temporary, and a player of his quality certainly doesn’t need to be made to feel like a turncoat every time he returns to the place that has been home all his life.
Fourie must stay until the end of the 2010 Currie Cup season because it is the right thing to do. That was always his commitment to the union and theirs was always to pay him until that date.
14 Dec 2010, 11:48 am
@cane :
Pay up:)
14 Dec 2010, 11:54 am
@Pam Anderson’s left ( . ) :
Only if you show me the right one as well!
Then gladly.
8)
14 Dec 2010, 11:55 am
Actually both together might be quite mesmerizing.
14 Dec 2010, 12:00 pm
“Contract Killer”
Thought it was a Blue Bulls related story!
Either Deon Helberg or Bees Roux
14 Dec 2010, 12:00 pm
@cane :
( . )( . )
Now pay up
14 Dec 2010, 12:02 pm
@Pam Anderson’s ( . )( . ) :
8)
Wowwwwwwwwww.
Thanks Pam. I’ll never be the same again.
lol.
14 Dec 2010, 12:02 pm
@cane :
Congrats on your Kiwi Sevens
Must say you guys were well supported
14 Dec 2010, 12:03 pm
Cheques in the post.
14 Dec 2010, 12:03 pm
@gunther : 66 that doos quota_sux aptly named him Mapoephol…hahaha
14 Dec 2010, 12:11 pm
geld maak die klipkoppe confused
14 Dec 2010, 12:11 pm
@Mighty Horua :
We were a bit lucky too, Mighty Horua. But that’s 7′s.
Not much between the top 5 or 6 teams.
Should be a very interesting year for the 7′s.
I was more than a little surprised by the support for NZ.
14 Dec 2010, 12:13 pm
@cane : Lots of kiwi support in the Cape. Wish they’d move to NZ. You want them?
14 Dec 2010, 12:24 pm
@cane :
Agree, it will certainly go to the end!
Support in Cape Town will always be great!
14 Dec 2010, 12:30 pm
@Pam Anderson’s ( . )( . ) :
We got enough of you lot here now.
3 of 8,
of my Sons Teachers so far, have been Saffas.
All great Teachers by the way.
14 Dec 2010, 12:31 pm
@Pam Anderson’s left ( . ) : Okay, I stand corrected. I apologise for any hurt I may have caused. Keo, seriously, I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.
As a gesture of goodwill, I offer you the following:
.. .. .. .. .. ,%%%%%%%,
.. .. .. .. ..,%%/\%%%/\%%
.. .. .. .. .c%%%\c.”‘”.J/%%%
.%.. .. ..%%%%/.o..o\%%%
….`%%.. .. %%%|.. ._..|%%%
..`%%.. . %%%(__Y__)%%’
.. ..//.. .. .; ‘%%%’\—/%%%’
.. .((.. .. ./.. ..`%%%%%’
.. ..\\.. ..’.. .. .. .. .. .|
.. .. \\../.. .. .. .. \..|.|
.. .. .\\/.. .. .. .. ..).|.|
.. .. . \.. .. .. .. ../_.|.|__
.. .. . (___________)))))))
14 Dec 2010, 12:32 pm
Fck me, that’s a mess. Looks way cooler in Word.
14 Dec 2010, 12:46 pm
@katman :
hahahaha….wanted to support you rather, but the money was too good
14 Dec 2010, 12:47 pm
@katman : A messed-up Lion … I’ve seen too many of those … but we hope it will change in 2011 …
14 Dec 2010, 12:50 pm
Magtag
I am so bored
Weird day
14 Dec 2010, 12:52 pm
R5000 pm isn’t a heck of a contract and in this regard Harold is a right *****. A little less than the 100 000 a month the Sharks paid him.
The reason he went to the Lions is because the Cheetahs wanted a transfer fee and the Sharks would not budge and so Harold, like usual, turned nasty.
The Lions and Cheetahs, the way they are behaving, deserve each other.
14 Dec 2010, 12:53 pm
How come you never hear Doppies complain.
14 Dec 2010, 12:55 pm
About those Keo articles … I also found it disturbing at the time that Keo would take Fourie on about failing to honour his contract with the Lions but then later write how well Fourie fitted in “at a real rugby union” (something to that effect), creating the impression that the “dishonoring your contract” part was all forgotten and forgiven.
14 Dec 2010, 12:56 pm
@Dawn : That guy does his talking on the field. 2011 is going to be a big year for Doppies.
14 Dec 2010, 12:57 pm
@Dawn :
I was very pleased to see your name registered among those who remembered Jinx with warmth.
14 Dec 2010, 12:57 pm
@Katsesnor : When it’s for the WP cause, you’re allowed to flip your opinion. Everyone knows this.
14 Dec 2010, 12:58 pm
@cane :
Sounds like you were surprised too.
I liked Jinx, believe it or not.
14 Dec 2010, 12:59 pm
@Dawn : Jinx liked you a lot.
14 Dec 2010, 13:00 pm
Jinne I can’t believe he’s gone.
Genuine.
Fecking unbelievable.
14 Dec 2010, 13:01 pm
Now let’s see if we get an article on the Lions and their dodgy procurement process. Hardly squeaky clean either by the sounds of it. How many Sharks has Muir and his misfits approached still in contract this year? At least 5
14 Dec 2010, 13:04 pm
Re Mapoe, I strongly advise Keo to sit down with the man and write us his side of events. He was abused at the Free State. First the Bulls wanted him and FS promised to get his contract sorted out, but dragged their feet (which saved them money for as long as they promised but didnt deliver). Then the Sharks tried to exploit the crappy situation Mapoe found himself in but declined to pay a transfer fee. Greedy Sharks vs stingy Free State. The Lions came to Mapoe’s rescue and offered the FS the tranfer fee that should have been paid by the Sharks. The Lions did the right thing and I can appreciate why the player opted for such an escape. How can anyone expect Mapoe to have any loyalty towards the FS that abused him? That the Sharks was unwilling to pay a transfer fee is not his fault either, and the court did back the FS. In my mind Mapoe’s situation worked out best for him with the Lions deal.
14 Dec 2010, 13:08 pm
@Katsesnor : Why not ask what the transfer fee was that the FS wanted the Sharks to pay vs what the Lions paid (bear in mind his massive R5000 pm salary at FS).
14 Dec 2010, 13:09 pm
@goyougoodthing2 : Muir learned his craft at the Sharks. If the Sharks are allowed to do this – and win trophies doing so – why not the Lions? We still miss Alberts and it will take a few serious poaches to level that score.
14 Dec 2010, 13:10 pm
@Dawn : 95 – Just saw you put something down on the Tribute thred for Jinx. Thanks Dawn. Jinx did like you a lot. Showed it here plenty.
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