Parramatta players Corey Norman and Junior Paulo, as well as Penrith's James Segeyaro, dined out with a former Nomad bikie and an accused criminal before Norman was allegedly caught in possession of unknown pills on Friday night.
Eels front rower Paulo posted a photo on Instagram on Friday night of the trio having dinner with a group of men at a Chinese restaurant.
Among the group photographed is former senior bikie Paulie Younan and accused fraudster and money launderer Rafat Alameddine. While he is facing his own charges, Mr Alameddine is also the older brother of Talal Alameddine.
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Talal Alameddine is currently in Goulburn Supermax having been charged with supplying the gun used to kill accountant Curtis Cheng outside the NSW Police headquarters in Parramatta last year.
The photo is believed to have been taken hours before The Star casino security guards stopped a group of men, including Norman, from entering the premises.
Paulo removed the post from his Instagram on Sunday evening.
It is understood the group were stopped during a routine metal detector search when a 25-year-old male, believed to be Norman, was found in possession of a container with unidentified pills.
Another member of the group is believed to have stepped forward and claimed that the container was his.
Police were later called and interviewed a 25-year-old male.
It is unknown whether Paulo, who captioned the photo "Thanks to the boys for having us tonight", or Segeyaro were with the group when they were stopped after dinner.
Mr Alameddine, 25, was at the dinner while on bail having been charged with fraud offences.
Sitting three seats over from him was former senior Nomad bikie boss Mr Younan.
Mr Younan was handed his bikie colours by former Nomad boss Sam Ibrahim and has previously been locked up on unrelated charges in NSW, which involved the alleged kidnapping of Stephen Toy from near a car park near Granville Red Rooster restaurant.
My Toy was alleged to have been bashed and stabbed, tied to a chair, beaten with a plank of wood and threatened with his thumbs and toes being cut off and sent to his mother, but in 2010, the kidnapping and other charges against Younan were dropped and the NSW government later paid him his legal costs of about $20,000 for wrongful arrest.
He was also at one time a member of the Bandidos bikie gang but is now believed not to be affiliated with any outlaw motorcycle gang.
Officers are looking at CCTV footage of the incident and the pills have been sent for forensic investigation.
At this stage, Norman will still line up for the Eels against Melbourne at Pirtek Stadium on Monday night.
The Eels, who have notified the NRL's integrity unit, will undergo a thorough investigation into Norman's night out before presenting its findings to the NRL.
If it is deemed Norman has brought the club into disrepute or committed an offence in breach of his contract, he will be sanctioned accordingly by the Eels.
The NRL will only step in if it believes the punishment doesn't fit any indiscretions committed by the player.
