The Macleay Valley Mustangs are in a dire situation but president Tim Moorehead has fired back at comments made by Port City Breakers coach Dan Kemp, who questioned the club’s ability to bring players through their ranks and suggested they didn’t attempt to retain their quality players.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
The Mustangs have had a season to forget and earlier this week Moorehead revealed the club is in danger of folding.
Macleay Valley was forced to drop their reserve grade side a month ago and they have continued to struggle to field a team in first grade.
However, Moorehead claims their situation worsened when the Breakers poached their key players in the week leading up to round one of the 2018 season.
“There are six Kempsey boys playing for the Breakers,” Moorehead told the Argus.
“Three of them were lured to the Breakers as they offered the players money, a promise of a first grade position and the lure of winning a premiership.
“To promise them a first grade spot, a week out from the season starting, punishes their players who had trained all pre-season and it resulted in us losing players who had trained and played with us during that time.”
Kemp suggested the Mustangs made little effort to retain these players, but Moorehead disagrees.
“We knew why they had left and we understood the reasons behind their decisions,” Moorehead said.
“These players use football as a secondary income to help support their families.
“They are my friends first and I wasn’t going to put pressure on them to stay.”
Moorehead also pointed out quality players from their successful Under-18.5s teams hadn’t left the club due to an inability to bring them through the ranks, but instead some had been recruited into the NRL pathways.
“Several of the best Under-18s players have joined NRL feeder clubs,” Moorehead said.
“We were happy to see them leave to chase their dreams.”
According to Moorehead, every club in the Group Three Rugby League competition, other than the Mustangs, pays their first and reserve grade players match payments, with additional rewards provided to key players within the team.
The Mustangs aren't in a financial situation where paying their players is viable but the club is hoping to rectify this in the near future.
“This is the first year the new committee has been together, we are an entirely new group, but it was always the plan to see how things went this season and hopefully put ourselves in a position to pay our players next year,” Moorehead said.
The season hasn’t gone according to plan but Moorehead claims the club can recover, they just need the support of the community.
“We need the commitment from our players but also the community to get behind us,” Moorehead said.
“We need more volunteers to be coaches, trainers, be on the gate and in the canteen.
“The club also needs to make more connections with local businesses and increase its sponsorship to become more competitive on the field.”
The heated debate between Moorehead and Kemp sets up an enticing match up between the two clubs on July 14 in Port Macquarie.
The Mustangs have a scheduled bye this weekend.
Also making news:
