Young to honour Crisp's contract

DISGRACED Young rugby league captain-coach Brent Crisp will not be sacked by the Cherrypickers after being banned for two years from representative football and suspended for the remainder of the Group Nine season.Crisp's career is in crisis after Country Rugby League hit him with the heavy penalties for his behaviour at a hotel in Queensland last month.CRL imposed the bans on Crisp and Mudgee lock Matt Finlayson at the conclusion of an investigation on Friday.Crisp and Finlayson were members of the Country Seconds team that beat Queensland Outback 64-8 at Roma a week ago, but details of their offences have been not released.As Crisp watched from the sideline as Young played Gundagai in a Group Nine game at Alfred Oval yesterday, club president Steve Woolford declared the Cherrypickers would not dump the star centre.Woolford vowed Crisp's three-year contract with Young, which ends in 2012, was safe "at this stage"."He's (Crisp) done the wrong thing but we don't think there is a need to sack him," Woolford said yesterday."We'll stick by him and make sure he takes responsibility."He's signed for three years and we won't be doing anything to get rid of rid of him at this stage."We'll weigh up the situation."Woolford yesterday described Crisp's dramatic fall as a "bolt from the blue"."Obviously the club is disappointed," Woolford said."He's certainly in the wrong ... made a mistake and is paying the price for it."With Crisp banished for the last month of the Group Nine premiership, Woolford said Young was being harshly "disadvantaged"."The outcome for the club is disappointing," Woolford said."We'd be happy to see the CRL suspend him for 10 or 20 years (from representative football)."I can't see why the club should be punished."We're paying him (Crisp) pretty good money and we'll be disadvantaged. "Despite losing their best player for the final weeks of the season, Woolford said Young would not lodge an appeal against the suspension."It might have been different had we been able to make the semis," Woolford said."I have still emailed my disappointment to the CRL, but I respect the decision."It is understood Mudgee, which is in contention for the Group 10 finals, will lodge an appeal against Finlayson's suspension from club games.Crisp was unavailable for comment yesterday.