Dragons star glassed in Bali
By Josh Massoud
October 28, 2008
ST GEORGE Illawarra's star Justin Poore is recovering at home from cuts to his face and head after being glassed in Bali.
The Dragons' forward was set upon by a male stranger at a nightspot near Kuta Beach last week, with onlookers declaring the attack "completely unprovoked".
The incident occurred just a week after the Dragons prop returned from a charity mission to Rwanda, where he and fellow NRL stars helped build houses for widows and orphans.
According to witnesses who contacted The Daily Telegraph, Poore was abused and then struck in the face with a whisky tumbler about 1am last Friday morning.
"(Poore) was at the bar with a mate," one witness, known only as John, said. "When his mate went off to the toilet, this little bloke came up and started giving it to him.
"He called Poore every name under the sun, called him a 'crap player' and what not.
"Then he just took a swing at (Poore) with a whisky glass. It got him straight in the face and there was a fair bit of blood."
John said Poore did not retaliate, but instead appeared "shocked".
"It was completely unprovoked," he continued.
"Poore just sort of stood there and didn't fight back - in any case the other bloke left pretty quickly."
Although Poore lost a quantity of blood, he was well enough to fly back to Australia the following day. The 23-year-old was due to remain in Bali until Monday but was so shaken, he hot-footed it home to Wollongong as soon as possible.
He refused to comment, but a close friend told The Daily Telegraph Poore had visited a doctor and was cleared of any serious injury.
"There's basically two cuts - a small one on his forehead and a bigger one on the top of his head," the friend said.
"Justin was pretty shaken up by it - he realises how lucky he was not to lose an eye. It was pretty scary stuff given he didn't know the bloke from a bar of soap."
Poore told Dragons CEO Peter Doust about the attack when he arrived home. Club officials are satisfied he was not at fault.
"This is something that is very difficult for a young guy who's been on the receiving end - and did nothing to bring it on," Doust said.
"He managed the circumstances as I would expect him to - intelligently and with regard to his reputation and safety."
