Border Telegraph | Sport | Shock over abuse claim

Friday, 5th December, 2008

Published: Wednesday, 21st December, 2005 10:28

Shock over abuse claim

By Border Telegraph Sport

HAWICK coach Jim Hay says that former centre Cammie Murray, now with Melrose, will be welcome back at Mansfield Park anytime after the ex-internationalist’s claims in The Scotsman newspaper that he was the subject of verbal abuse 10 days ago when the clubs clashed in a league match.

Murray claimed that such abuse was stopping ex-pros going back to their clubs.

But Hay, who himself spent two years at Gala as coach after a playing career at Hawick, told me: “ I was shocked in disbelief when I saw the report. For me it is good human banter, tongue in cheek stuff (from the crowd).

“If he (Murray) wants to know about venom and hatred, when I left Hawick to join Gala I was persona non-gratia for two years in my own club.

“It is the measure of the man, his character, to get on with it. You accept it as part and parcel of what happens. When you move to a rival club 20 miles down the road you are going to get stick.

“I would love Cammie to come back and play for Hawick. But we respect his decision. He has a young family. I look at him as a Hawick player. He has done a lot for the club, and the club did a hell of a lot for him.

“I found it a bit sad. Hawick might be a lot of things, but it does not give abuse at anybody and hatred etc is just taking it a bit too far.

“If Cammie got a bit of stick, it would be a sign of respect for the player. The Hawick crowd knew that one of their own talent had moved somewhere else and were a bit envious that he had chosen another club. As far as I am concerned he is a Hawick man and always will be.

“For the writer to say that it will put professional players off coming back into the amateur game, I think that is absolutely ridiculous. These are pro players; they get stick week in, week out. Let’s get a bit of perspective into this.

“If anyone was shouting at Cammie, I cannot see it being bordered on hatred because there is no hatred there. It would be tongue and cheek stuff. He was in a non-win situation, everything he did right he was booed, and what he did wrong he was cheered

“I am one of Cammie’s friends, I have known him for a long time, I hope he has no bad feelings towards the club for there are definitely none there.

“Hawick would welcome him back anytime he wanted, and as far as I am concerned he is always welcome.”

Murray, commenting on Hay’s reaction, said: “I did a lot of work in my time at Hawick, and if people can’t understand that I wanted to come back and play rugby and it was the best thing for my family, then so be it.

“They (family) are the most important thing. I put in eight or nine years at Hawick and I gave them a lot of time and effort. Yes, I can accept that I have moved clubs and there is a strong rivalry between the two towns, I think I am due a wee bit more respect than that.

“The move is for family reasons. Melrose is five minutes down the road and I don’t need baby-sitters or anything like that. The most important thing is being able to see my son

and it can affect family life. It is the only thing that made me come here. If I was going to come back and play rugby it had to be on my terms.”

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