From the club
Further to the CEOs statement shared yesterday regarding the Club standing down two players pending investigation and being provisionally suspended by the NRL, the club can provide the following information.
First, the matters that are the subject of the ongoing NRL disciplinary process occurred during the recent visit to Port Macquarie.
Second, we can further confirm the breaches do relate to players bringing young females of a consensual age back to the team hotel.
We want to reiterate that while neither player is the subject of a police investigation, these are concerning matters that we are treating very seriously.
We have been conscious through our review of these allegations over the past few days to do everything we could to protect the identity and welfare of the girls involved, that is why we have been careful with the information we have disclosed. To the extent possible we will continue to do that.
After the past few months where our players received some deserved recognition for their charitable and community work, this is obviously a very disappointing situation.
This behaviour not only breaches our Club’s Code of Conduct, it is not reflective of the standards and values we have tried very hard to instil in our players.
Out of respect for the ongoing NRL disciplinary process and all involved, we are unable to make further comment at this stage, however as our valued members we are committed to keeping you as informed as we can.
We will be issuing a similar statement to the press later this morning, but wanted you to hear this from us first.
Your ongoing support of the club is as always much appreciated and much needed in times like these.
