Ben Te'o camp to hand report on alleged assault to NRL
by: DAN KOCH
From: The Australian
May 27, 2013 12:00AM
THE camp of under-siege Rabbitoh Ben Te'o has completed its own investigations and will this week hand to the NRL a brief of evidence they are convinced will clear their client over an incident in Brisbane last month which left a woman with a fractured eye socket.
After allegations arose last week that he had assaulted 22-year-old Katie Lewis while staying at the house of good friend and former Broncos teammate Corey Norman, Te'o has an important 48 hours ahead of him.
Firstly, he will be looking to help Souths retain top spot on the ladder when he and his high-flying teammates travel to Sharks Stadium to take on Cronulla tonight.
He will barely have time to catch his breath after full-time before he and Rabbitohs teammate Greg Inglis head north to join the rest of the Queensland squad for Game I of this year's State of Origin series.
Having made his debut for the Maroons in last year's decider, Te'o will again be part of the forward rotation for the series opener in Sydney, with Queensland coach Mal Meninga having accepted Te'o's denial of the assault accusation as well as his subsequent explanation of the events which led to him calling police.
After speaking to the respective parties, Lewis was taken home and no one was charged.
While Lewis last week revealed she intends to make a formal statement to Queensland police this week, there has been no suggestion the investigation will be reopened.
However, the NRL's newly-formed integrity unit has been conducting a review of both the incident and the handling of it by the South Sydney administration.
With the formal side of their investigation set to conclude by week's end, Te'o's camp is looking to hand over their findings by Wednesday -- a move they hope will bring an end to the matter and allow Te'o to focus on his role in Origin I, before he goes about rebuilding his reputation.
