Lack of sportsmanship angers New Zealand Warriors(credit:
Wikipedia)
The New Zealand Warriors (34.00A$ with Sportsbet.com.au to win the Grand Final) are furious with Sunday’s opponents Gold Coast Titans (13.00) over an incident they class as showing a ‘lack of sportsmanship’ over a choice of playing jersey.
The Warriors were already upset with the NRL over their decision to schedule their opening game on the Gold Coast at 1pm local time, but Gold Coast’s decision to wear their away strip at home has infuriated the New Zealand club.
With the Queensland heat an obvious problem, the Warriors applied to wear their white away shirt instead of their original black jersey, but the Titans have countered by claiming they will wear their alternative white shirt instead.
Chief executive Wayne Scurrah said: “It's not being done for any other reason than to force our players to wear the hottest possible jerseys.
"It's somewhat unsportsmanlike."
Scurrah said the Warriors had complained to the NRL about the early kickoff time, which was dictated by television and by the fact that there is no daylight saving in Queensland.
The Warriors will be in the same situation in round three, when they travel to Brisbane to face the Broncos.
"We cop it twice and we're not happy," Scurrah added.
"We've formally complained to the NRL, firstly about the decision to schedule games in Queensland at that time of the time of day in the early part of the season, and secondly to have us as the away team, given that we train in the coldest conditions.
"You wouldn't want a player to suffer heat exhaustion or something even worse because of this type of scheduling. We think it's a risk to players' health."
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