Lauderdale silence on Winter’s future
LAUDERDALE president Julie Kay has declined to discuss the future of coach Darren Winter following his suspension at the hands of the TSL tribunal.
Winter was handed a sixmatch ban — four weeks increased to six with a 50 per cent grand final loading — for behaving in an abusive, insulting, threatening or obscene manner towards or in relation to an umpire in the first quarter of last weekend’s heavy loss to North Launceston.
The penalty will force him to miss the first third of the 2018 season, should he be reappointed.
Winter was expected to have his contract extended into a ninth year but a cloud now hangs over whether the Bombers will be willing to resign a coach who is unable to have any official match day role until Round 7.
“Lauderdale Football Club accepts the tribunal sanctions handed down this week and takes responsibility for incidents which occurred on Saturday,” Kay said in a statement to the Mercury.
“We are proud of players, coaches and support staff who took our club to its first TSL Grand Final. Everyone will learn from the experience and look forward to achieving a TSL premiership, which is our goal in 2018.”
The tribunal heard that Winter approached the emergency umpire during the first quarter last Saturday and said: “Tell them to stop it”. The emergency umpire asked Winter to “cool down” and leave. It was alleged Winter again approached umpires later in the quarter and said “you cheating f---ing c----” while angrily gesturing at the field of play.
While accepting the tribunal’s decision, Kay denied the players were under instruction to step over the line, which has been suggested in northern reports and on social media.
“During the past week, Darren and the LFC have been the subject of an article which appeared in a northern newspaper and subsequently spread far and wide on social media.
“The comments, innuendos and nastiness which has accompanied this has caused much distress to Darren, his family, our young players and the LFC community.
“The social media commentary has been particularly hurtful and unnecessary.
“Our players take full responsibility for their actions on the field and are very upset that the article asserts that they were told to carry out those actions.
“Darren Winter is part of the fabric of Tasmanian football and has contributed positively to the football careers of many, made himself available to all media outlets when approached, is a strong advocate for the TSL, the talent of young Tasmanians and is a highly accomplished and qualified senior coach. He has taken responsibility for his behaviour towards the umpires on Saturday. LFC will not be making any further statements until the end of October.”