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Club clears Eels star over drink incident
'Thrown out of pub' ... Parramatta's Tim Smith.
Photo: Tim Clayton
August 18, 2006 - 1:29PM
Parramatta rugby league club officials have cleared halfback Tim Smith of any wrongdoing after an allegation he was involved in a drunken incident yesterday.
The finding came after a radio station report that Smith was allegedly refused service and kicked out of a Sydney pub yesterday along with teammate Eric Grothe.
"He's in the clear," Eels CEO Denis Fitzgerald told Macquarie Radio.
"The thing that I'm particularly worried about is Tim Smith, given that we have agreed with Tim after a previous incident that he wouldn't be drinking alcohol until the end of the season.
"Tim wasn't seen to be drinking alcohol, but what was in front of him on the CCTV was in fact water, and the other guys have confirmed that he had not been drinking alcohol."
Fitzgerald confirmed Smith had left the premises before a group of patrons - including winger Eric Grothe - was asked by management to leave.
"In fact the CCTV showed that he left the hotel at 8.12pm - apparently they got there about 5.30pm - but he left at 8.12 and he was going out on a dinner date with his girlfriend," Fitzgerald said.
"There were just two people who were asked to leave, one was Eric Grothe and another regular there at the hotel."
Smith was warned by Parramatta in June that he would be fined $10,000 and his contract would be in jeopardy if he was caught drinking again after several alcohol-related incidents.
Smith was fined $1000 by the club for a drunken scuffle with Test cricketer Michael Clarke at a pub in Cronulla in June and agreed not to drink for the rest of the season.
He had turned up to training affected by alcohol on May 15, the same day Brian Smith quit the club as coach.
Management from the Intersection Tavern at Ramsgate in Sydney's south confirmed to Macquarie radio there had been an incident.
The tavern said after one patron was refused service, another member of the group attempted to be served and the players were asked to leave.
In an email to Macquarie radio, an eyewitness claimed the players were "drunk beyond all belief".
The eyewitness said the players were swearing and Smith was spitting on the carpet.
When the players were refused service, Grothe allegedly started banging the walls until teammate Daniel Wagon, who was reportedly well behaved, escorted him out of the pub.
In June, Parramatta chief executive Denis Fitzgerald had called an alcohol summit with players after several incidents.
Winger Jarryd Hayne was fined $1000 in June after admitting he bit a woman on the arm while intoxicated at The Roxy nightclub in Parramatta.
AAP
http://www.smh.com.au/news/league/club-clears-eels-star-over-drink-incident/2006/08/18/1155407994514.html
Photo: Tim Clayton
August 18, 2006 - 1:29PM
Parramatta rugby league club officials have cleared halfback Tim Smith of any wrongdoing after an allegation he was involved in a drunken incident yesterday.
The finding came after a radio station report that Smith was allegedly refused service and kicked out of a Sydney pub yesterday along with teammate Eric Grothe.
"He's in the clear," Eels CEO Denis Fitzgerald told Macquarie Radio.
"The thing that I'm particularly worried about is Tim Smith, given that we have agreed with Tim after a previous incident that he wouldn't be drinking alcohol until the end of the season.
"Tim wasn't seen to be drinking alcohol, but what was in front of him on the CCTV was in fact water, and the other guys have confirmed that he had not been drinking alcohol."
Fitzgerald confirmed Smith had left the premises before a group of patrons - including winger Eric Grothe - was asked by management to leave.
"In fact the CCTV showed that he left the hotel at 8.12pm - apparently they got there about 5.30pm - but he left at 8.12 and he was going out on a dinner date with his girlfriend," Fitzgerald said.
"There were just two people who were asked to leave, one was Eric Grothe and another regular there at the hotel."
Smith was warned by Parramatta in June that he would be fined $10,000 and his contract would be in jeopardy if he was caught drinking again after several alcohol-related incidents.
Smith was fined $1000 by the club for a drunken scuffle with Test cricketer Michael Clarke at a pub in Cronulla in June and agreed not to drink for the rest of the season.
He had turned up to training affected by alcohol on May 15, the same day Brian Smith quit the club as coach.
Management from the Intersection Tavern at Ramsgate in Sydney's south confirmed to Macquarie radio there had been an incident.
The tavern said after one patron was refused service, another member of the group attempted to be served and the players were asked to leave.
In an email to Macquarie radio, an eyewitness claimed the players were "drunk beyond all belief".
The eyewitness said the players were swearing and Smith was spitting on the carpet.
When the players were refused service, Grothe allegedly started banging the walls until teammate Daniel Wagon, who was reportedly well behaved, escorted him out of the pub.
In June, Parramatta chief executive Denis Fitzgerald had called an alcohol summit with players after several incidents.
Winger Jarryd Hayne was fined $1000 in June after admitting he bit a woman on the arm while intoxicated at The Roxy nightclub in Parramatta.
AAP
http://www.smh.com.au/news/league/club-clears-eels-star-over-drink-incident/2006/08/18/1155407994514.html
