2017-18 World Sevens Series
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@kiwimurph this article highlights the way league and the parents get it wrong. Signing a five year deal at 15 is crazy and irresponsible. I know a number in this boat and it makes no sense to put all your eggs in one basket.
Anyone in the professional world and fight for players it won't stop anytime soon. -
"By naming him in the All Blacks Sevens team it appears that NZR doesn't think his contract with the Warriors holds any value. Contracts signed by a minor (under 18) are not deemed binding in New Zealand.
However Nanai-Seturo is understood to have signed his agreement in conjunction with his parents and an agent so age should be irrelevant."
League media suggesting laws shouldn't count ...
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@kiwimurph Nice. Did he score any tries?
Anyone who tries to hold a 15 yo to a contract can suck a dick.
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a contract is a contract though. He’s obviously tried to slip out the back door. If he’d followed the proper rules then I’m sure the warriors would’ve released him. He’s the one who signed for 5 years as a 15 yr old. Can’t blame the warriors for any of this. He trained with them all off season last year. Someone’s from nzrfu obviously been in his ear. Not a good look to start your career though.
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@chchfanatic if " Contracts signed by a minor (under 18) are not deemed binding in New Zealand" am not sure the Warriors can get that upset given they seem to gave tried to pull a swifty themselves.
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@booboo said in 2017-18 World Sevens Series:
"By naming him in the All Blacks Sevens team it appears that NZR doesn't think his contract with the Warriors holds any value. Contracts signed by a minor (under 18) are not deemed binding in New Zealand.
However Nanai-Seturo is understood to have signed his agreement in conjunction with his parents and an agent so age should be irrelevant."
League media suggesting laws shouldn't count ...
Is that true though? The law doesn't say that contracts signed by a minor are not deemed binding in New Zealand. A contract signed by a minor is not enforceable against a minor, which is something else. Also, if he is 18, he is not a minor anymore. This could be a continuing legal battle.
Contract and Commercial Law Act 2017
Contractual capacity of minors
86 Contracts unenforceable against minors but otherwise have effect
(1) Every contract entered into by a minor is unenforceable against the minor but otherwise has effect as if the minor were of full age.
(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to a contract to which section 92(1) applies.
(3) This section is subject to sections 87 to 91.Any contract lawyers on the Fern?
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Maybe lets wait until weve heard more information. A league journo writing an article that quotes his league agent who got the flick...
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@stargazer yeah it’s an interesting case. Surely the nzrfu did their due diligence.
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@kiwimurph and one that is League v Rugby, facts are probably optional.
If he signed a contract at 15 that wasnt binding due to his parents not being there, doesnt make it legal now he is 18.
You'd expect and hope BOTH parties (as in the Warriors and NZR) in this are acting within the parameters of what is legal.
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NZR would have to be 100% certain of their legal rights to have selected Nanai for Sydney. If he is not legally allowed to play rugby due to his RL contract then there is the risk that the NZ sevens team would have to forfeit games as they are playing an ineligible player.
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@stargazer said in 2017-18 World Sevens Series:
@booboo said in 2017-18 World Sevens Series:
"By naming him in the All Blacks Sevens team it appears that NZR doesn't think his contract with the Warriors holds any value. Contracts signed by a minor (under 18) are not deemed binding in New Zealand.
However Nanai-Seturo is understood to have signed his agreement in conjunction with his parents and an agent so age should be irrelevant."
League media suggesting laws shouldn't count ...
Is that true though? The law doesn't say that contracts signed by a minor are not deemed binding in New Zealand. A contract signed by a minor is not enforceable against a minor, which is something else. Also, if he is 18, he is not a minor anymore. This could be a continuing legal battle.
Contract and Commercial Law Act 2017
Contractual capacity of minors
86 Contracts unenforceable against minors but otherwise have effect
(1) Every contract entered into by a minor is unenforceable against the minor but otherwise has effect as if the minor were of full age.
(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to a contract to which section 92(1) applies.
(3) This section is subject to sections 87 to 91.Any contract lawyers on the Fern?
Contracts against minors are enforceable only to the extent that they are fair, reasonable and in the interests of the minor. See in particular
section 88 (http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2017/0005/21.0/DLM6844198.html). The presumption is that they are unenforceable but this is rebuttable by the side wanting to enforce it if they can show the contract is fair and reasonable (or at least the part they want to enforce is fair and reasonable).I would not like to speculate too much, but my instinct is that the length of time and the age in which he signed make this probably unenforceable against the player. A football player at 15 is not really in a position to lock himself into a club for 5 years where other options may present themselves.
On the other hand, the Warriors might point to the facts (AIUI):
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that the parents and an agent were involved in the preparation of the agreement
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the contract has already been partly performed (ie he has trained with the Warriors and been a part of their systems), meaning that Nanai-Seturo has probably already benefited a great deal from the contract already.
I suspect that the NZR and the Warriors will come to an arrangement that will sort it out fairly quickly. It's murky, neither side is guaranteed to win and if the Warriors won they would have a reluctant player anyway, so I would imagine NZR will write a small cheque and it will be smiles all round.
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@bovidae said in 2017-18 World Sevens Series:
NZR would have to be 100% certain of their legal rights to have selected Nanai for Sydney. If he is not legally allowed to play rugby due to his RL contract then there is the risk that the NZ sevens team would have to forfeit games as they are playing an ineligible player.
That seems unlikely. They would only lose points if he was deemed ineligible by WR. Their list of criteria for ineligibility is not likely to contain whether he is the subject of a contract dispute with a rugby league club.
NZR might be liable for encouraging someone to breach a contract (very doubtful); but I am skeptical that they would face any in-competition penalties for this.
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