Topine was shopped to rival clubs weeks before $4m claim against Bulldogs
Jackson Topine’s lawyer lodged a $4 million claim against the Bulldogs that alleged his client was incapable of playing the sport less than three weeks after the young back-rower’s agent sent an email to all 17 NRL clubs spruiking his client as an off-contract player.
Topine on Wednesday commenced legal proceedings against the Bulldogs over an incident last year in which he alleges he was punished by head trainer Travis Touma for reporting late to training and was allegedly told to wrestle between 30 to 35 of his teammates.
The training session on July 18 last year has been described in Topine’s statement of claim as a “deprivation of liberty” and “unlawful corporal punishment”. It is claimed Topine suffered “psychiatric injury” and “physical and mental impairment” as a result.
Topine has not played since and documents filed to the Supreme Court allege he had “suffered ongoing incapacity to play the game, with such ongoing incapacity continuing as at the date of filing this statement of claim”. Touma was subsequently cleared of any wrongdoing by the club. Canterbury and Touma are yet to file defences in realtion to the proceedings.
Topine’s agent, Tyran Smith, sent an email to all 17 clubs on April 8 with a list of his off-contract players that included Topine. There is no suggestion Topine’s legal team knew about Smith’s email.
The email from Smith was sent less than three weeks before the statement of claim was lodged followed on from a
similar email on December 19 last year that also included Topine as an available player. There is no suggestion Smith knew about the coming legal action.
He told the
Herald Topine’s name had been included on a list of available players that was generated by his agency’s computer.
“This is a list which shows NRL players who were coming off contract in 2024,” Smith said. “It is a list generated by our system on an annual basis. Jackson’s name was on the list because our system noted him as coming off contract with the Bulldogs in 2024. In Jackson’s case the uncertainty of his long-term prognosis has meant he has been taken off the list.”
The email, which has been seen by the
Herald, said: “Jackson Topine is known for his exceptional work ethic and attitude towards growth and success.
“As the recipient of the 2022 clubman of the year award at the Bulldogs, his approach to being part of the squad impressed his team through his enthusiasm, effort and positivity. In his limited number of first-grade appearances, he has shown an extremely high tackle efficiency (93.5% in 2023, 94.3% in 2022, and 97.2% in 2021), which is a reflection of his grit and high endurance.
“He represented the Maori All-Stars during 2021 in a 10-10 draw, and played in the 2022 NSW Cup grand final against the Penrith Panthers.”
The ceasing of payment
Topine’s statement of claim alleges that the contract of the former Australian Schoolboy was illegally terminated. Sources talking under the condition of anonymity to protect confidences told this masthead that
Topine was paid for at least three months after refusing to return to training.
It is alleged he provided the club with several medical certificates to justify his absence but would not respond to calls from club officials who decided to stop paying him well after his sick leave entitlements had expired.
Before the Bulldogs stopped paying him, Topine’s agent was notified that the club would cease to make payments to him if he could not fulfil his contractual obligations. The club stopped paying Topine on October 31 – the end of the rugby league financial year. The NRL also approved his removal from the club’s salary cap.
Those close to Topine believed he had a 10- to 12-year NRL career ahead of him. Given the average NRL salary exceeds $400,000 – and considering his status as a junior representative star – they predict he could have earned more than $4 million.
Topine was on an annual salary of around $125,000 at the time of the incident in question, which occurred at Gracie Jiu Jitsu in Smeaton Grange, in south-west Sydney.
The statement of claim says Topine was made to wrestle 30 to 35 teammates. This masthead has been told under the condition of anonymity that the club’s internal investigation into the matter estimated he had been told to wrestle 24 players for a total of four minutes at approximately 10 second intervals per teammate. The session was not captured on video.
The sources said Topine turned up to training for the rest of the week and did not raise an issue with the treatment at the time.
This masthead has learned that the incident occurred in the same week as he was demoted from the NRL for defensive lapses (including four missed tackles) in a 44-24 loss against the Brisbane Broncos at Belmore on July 15.
Three days after the loss – on the same day as the wrestling incident in Smeaton Grange – Topine was named to play in the No.11 jersey for the Bulldogs against the Panthers that weekend. The next day he was told by Ciraldo that he would instead be the team’s 18th man. He hasn’t played in the NRL since.
Three weeks before it was claimed Jackson Topine was incapable of playing the sport, his agent was spruiking his client’s availability as an off-contract player.
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