Keith Senior is not a happy chappie.
A furious Keith Senior led a group of current and future Crusaders
players who vented their anger after the Welsh club’s shock move to pull out of the Engage Super
League.
Crusaders bosses contacted the
RFL on Monday to inform them of
their decision to withdraw their
licence application, less than 24
hours before the names of which
clubs had secured three-year licences for 2012-14 were due to be released.
But the club’s playing staff were
not made aware of the decision until the public announcement from RFL chairman Richard Lewis.
Senior, who had a signed a two-year contract with the club due to start next season, wrote on Twitter: ‘Crusaders have just f***** me over, what a b*****d joke.’
His thoughts were quickly echoed by Crusaders’ current players, who between them described the club’s owners as ‘gutless’, advised fans to support another club and claimed they were owed wages.
Australian prop Mark Bryant said: ‘The owners did not even have the backbone to come and speak to the players about why they withdrew their application.
‘It’s a joke. I’m out of here next year anyway, but (I’m) owed a ton of cash by the club! Absolute disgrace!’
Scrum-half Jarrod Sammut asked: ‘What’s the sentence worth these days for murder? The people running this club have hell to pay!’
Former Leeds and Hull FC full back Jordan Tansey fumed: ‘F****** joke. Looks like a labouring job for me!’
And Welsh youngster Ben Flower added: ‘Don’t know why they’ve withdrawn the licence. All I know is that this has wrecked Welsh rugby league for the future.’
Announcing the news: RFL chairman Richard Lewis
Crusaders chief executive Rod Findlay defended the decision, insisting it would have been unfair to take the club into Super League when they had serious doubts about their finances.
Findlay said: ‘This has not been easy, but after a lengthy and exhaustive examination of the club’s finances, our view is that Crusaders is not sustainable as a Super League club at this stage.
‘We will now sit down with the Rugby Football League to consider our options for 2012 and beyond.’
Wakefield Wildcats were favourites for the chop, but Crusaders’ decision
gave them an 11th-hour reprieve.
Coincidentally, Wakefield host Crusaders on Sunday in their next Super League match.
Halifax were the only club under consideration who were not awarded a licence.
if they want to run rampant so be it! We'll be lucky if we can field a team next week. The lads have been treated shamefully, those "village people" down at Wrexham are an absolute disgrace.
