Bradford Bulls prop Craig Kopczak withdrew from the Bulls squad before the clubs final game of the regular season against the Catalan Dragons. The move was an effort to have his contract terminated with the ailing club and it is thought that next season he will link up with the Huddersfield Giants, a move that will secure his financial future.
The move has upset some, with team mate Elliott Whitehead saying Kopczak had “done the dirty” on his team mates by not telling them of his plans himself.
For the record, the Bradford Bulls lost the game 50-26.
We all know what a complete and utter farce the Bradford Bulls situation has turned into. Now that the club looks as though its future may be a little more secure, no one is giving any guarantees even about the clubs future in Super League next season.
Craig Kopczak is a professional Rugby League player. He has spent the last few months playing for a club that could not pay any of its bills. It is only by charity that this club continued to play game, and I’ll say right now, the players, coaches and back room staff that stayed on while not being payed are better people than I am! I would have been out the door as soon as some suit come in and told me I’d would have to play for nothing.
Kopczak’s agent is looking to use a preecident set by Rangers soccer club in the Scotland that basically means that when a club goes broke and ownership changes, a player has the ability to terminate their contract. I’m not going to pretend I know if his manager is right or wrong, and no doubt it will all be played out in court, but when I look at a young bloke that just wants to secure his financial future and has a chance to move from a club that right now is a bit of a mess to another club that is a lot more stable….I understand why he would make that move.
For his Bradford team mates to bag him is poor form. They know what they themselves are going through. This isn’t a charity event, this is professional sport.
So I support Craig Kopczak 100% and I hope player players association get’s behind him as well. After all, this isn’t just about Kopczak, this is about the rights of every player that ends up at a club that goes broke and who just want’s to secure their future at a club that isn’t going to spend the next few years trying to drag itself out of the mess that going into administration leaves behind.
Link: Bradford Bulls Squad Left Stunned By Craig Kopczak’s Departure
Leaguefreak quote:”For his Bradford team mates to bag him is poor form. They know what they themselves are going through. This isn’t a charity event, this is professional sport.”
No one is bagging the lad for wanting away….some of his team-mates are pissed at the timing…rumours that Koppy signed for Shuddersfield back in July, while still under contract, probably arent helping either.
Fact is Koppy (and other Bulls players), can refuse to have their contracts moved over…and more will leave.
They just won’t look like complete dicks for doing so.
Why does he look like a dick? He’s a professional player doing the best thing for his career. If team mates of his are upset about that they need to get over it.
How has he been made to look a dick?
By bailing four days before the teams last game and sending his agent to tell MP.
It was the manner and timing of the exit that caused the reaction freak, of course his mates and fans are going to be disappoint at the way he went about it, be a sad day for a sport that thrives on passion and team ethic if there was a collective meh!.
Most BB supporters that I’ve spoken with acknowledge that Koppy had the right to refuse being Tupe’d…even if there is a suspicion he had been tapped up to do so.
Its not like this is just any other team. These players have been playing for nothing for too long. He has zero obligation to a club that isn’t even paying the coach!
I’d have walked the first day they mentioned they wanted me to play for free.
But the players were paid(a day late on one occasion), koppy wasn’t being asked to play for free and, until the Tupe rules became relevant, did in fact have an obligation to the club(till late 2013).
Like most BB fans, I can understand the fella’s decision…and no transfer fee should mean he gets a larger signing on ‘bonus’ with his next club, but his failure to front up about the move with the people who had actually been f**#ed over was wrong imho.