Dragons hint at more disciplinary action over biosecurity breaches
Author:
Brad Walter NRL.com Senior Reporter
Timestamp: Tue 6 Jul 2021, 10:14 AM
St George Illawarra CEO Ryan Webb has confirmed that 13 players hit with a total of 20 matches in suspensions and $318,000 in fines may face further disciplinary action after an emergency Dragons board meeting on Tuesday.
The NRL announced the bans and fines totalling $305,000 for the players who breached the game's biosecurity protocols when they attended a gathering at prop Paul Vaughan's house.
Each of the players have also been fined $1,000 by NSW Police for breaching NSW Public Health Orders.
Vaughan has been issued with an eight-match suspension and a $50,000 fine for inviting 12 players to his home in Shellharbour on Saturday.
The NRL issued a statement on Monday afternoon which alleged a number of players hid or fled the residence when NSW Police attended the home after complaints from neighbours.
It’s also alleged that a number of players gave or were involved in giving misleading information about the event during the NRL’s investigation into the breaches and that some of the players conspired to withhold key information from the NRL.
The notices allege that all players involved knowingly breached the game’s biosecurity rules by attending the premeditated gathering.
Webb said the players were aware of the game’s biosecurity protocols and received a clear directive after last Friday night’s golden point defeat of the Warriors that they weren’t to celebrate over the weekend.
“We had a really good win over the Warriors and with the bye this week – in a normal non-COVID world – that’s a reason to be able to enjoy yourself that weekend,”
Webb told SEN radio.
“But it was made clear that because of the times we’re not doing that this weekend, but when the world’s back to normal and we can we’ll do it then. That point was very clearly made.”
Webb said most of the players had admitted they had done the wrong thing but forward Jack de Belin initially told the Dragons he had only briefly visited Vaughan’s house.
“Originally that’s what we were told, that he dropped something off and kept moving,” Webb said.
“Then that through interviews and discussions and other pieces, that fleshed out to be more than that.
“We said to Jack, ‘Well you need to go firstly, like the others, to cop your $1000 fine for breaking the public health order’. That’s why he came up separately, maybe a day later. That was, among a lot of things, another disappointing piece.
“The majority … knew they were doing the wrong thing. They’ve said, ‘Yeah, we’ve done the wrong thing here, we’ve got to take the hit’, but the part they don’t all comprehend – well hopefully they do now – is that they’re not just taking the hit, the whole club does.
“That’s where the frustration lingers, but we have to work on that now.”
An emergency meeting of the Dragons board on Tuesday will discuss the incident and Webb said further action could be taken against the players.
“There’s a lot we had to talk through as a group, so I don’t think anything’s off the table,” Webb said. “I don’t know where the discussion will go, there’s a lot to sift through.
“We’ve got to make sure the board is aware of all the intricacies of how this played out and the reaction to everything by each of the players.
“Then we’ll make some decisions of what we want to do as a club.
“There’s a lot of people right now that have lost a lot of trust in our club and we’ve got to try and earn that back.”
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