News Drugs, sex, domestic violence: football's dark cover up

[blue bags]

• Ex-NRL star Sam Burgess’s lawyer slams domestic violence allegations as propaganda
  
  
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• October 7, 2020 1:58pm

• by STEVE ZEMEK
• Source: NCA NewsWire

Live Stream

1:10
A lawyer for Sam Burgess has made the explosive claim in court that his estranged wife Phoebe and her dad were acting out of “malice or retaliation” when domestic violence and drug allegations against the NRL star were made public.
Mr Burgess did not appear in Moss Vale Local Court on Wednesday as he fights an accusation he intimidated his father-in-law Mitchell Hooke last year.

Solicitor Bryan Wrench told the court his client denied the allegations contained in a 50-page statement given to NSW Police by his estranged wife and Mr Hooke’s daughter, Phoebe Burgess.

The allegations were published last week in The Australian and Mr Wrench said they could amount to contempt of court
Mr Wrench told the court he was considering making an application for Mr Hooke and Ms Burgess to be held in contempt of court.
Phoebe and Sam Burgess are no longer together.Source: Instagram
He said allegations, which were published in The Australian, represented “orchestrated propaganda” and appeared to be “born out of malice or retaliation”.

Mr Wrench told the court Mr Burgess had made an application regarding unrelated matters in another court on September 24 and that six days later Ms Burgess filed her affidavit with police.

Asked by Magistrate Ian Cheetham who should be held in contempt of court, Mr Wrench replied: “At this stage I don’t know whether Phoebe Burgess or Mitchell Hooke, who have been engaged in long conversations with The Australian.”

High profile lawyer Bryan Wrench arrives at Moss Vale Court. Picture: John GraingerSource: News Corp Australia
Mr Wrench said he was troubled because he had still not received the affidavit despite making repeated requests with police.

Burgess, 31, has previously indicated he intends to plead not guilty to intimidating Mr Hooke.

He was charged with one count of intimidation and had an apprehended violence order taken out against him after an alleged argument at Mr Hooke’s Southern Highlands property in October, 2019.
Sam Burgess has denied serious abuse allegations levelled against him by his former wife. Picture: Cameron Spencer/Getty ImagesSource: Getty Images
After going to visit his children, Mr Burgess was asked to leave after tensions escalated resulting in police being called.

The allegations made by Ms Burgess were filed in relation to the intimidation charge against Mr Burgess.

It’s also been alleged he underwent a secret drug test at an underground carpark at Souths Juniors the following day which was subsequently swept under the carpet by the Rabbitohs.

Ms Burgess claimed in her statement to police Mr Burgess tested positive to MDMA and that the test was submitted to a pathologist under a false name.

The former South Sydney premiership winner and English international has denied the allegations and any wrongdoing.
Sam Burgess has denied all allegations made against him. Picture: Christian GillesSource: News Corp Australia
“The allegations are categorically denied,” Mr Wrench said on Wednesday.

The club has also denied having any knowledge of the incidents or any domestic violence allegations.

Mr Burgess has also been stood down from his position on the Rabbitohs coaching staff and at Fox Sports.

NSW Police and the NRL integrity unit are investigating the allegations against Mr Burgess.

No charges have been laid.


https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nr...a/news-story/9a5c7548cacd6969f7fd12bdf012d78f

 

[bileduct]

IS this really a bombshell claim???

Geez if my wife sent my mum to come and find me when I was out partying with my mates I think id have something to say as well!

Hah, yeah, I loved the "Julie virtually had to drag Sam and Luke to her car by their ears" bit from a previous article.

Why bother stating what actually happened when you can just say "virtually" and make up any sensationalistic bullshit.

 

[bileduct]

"Wild lifestyle!"

Holy f**k, this dude is a lightweight compared to a lot of people I knew in my clubbing days.

 

[butchmcdick]

"Wild lifestyle!"

Holy f**k, this dude is a lightweight compared to a lot of people I knew in my clubbing days.

did your buddies treat women in the same way as has been alleged in the article too ?

 

[T-Boon]

did your buddies treat women in the same way as has been alleged in the article too ?

Bombshell post Butch.

 

[Penrose Warrior]

f**k off media.

 

[YoHadrian]

Looks like we have summer off season circus story...

 

[T-Boon]

Sam needs to start leaking stories about Phoebe.
Maybe she enjoyed a few too many wines while pregnant.

 

[butchmcdick]

Bombshell post Butch.

so is that a no ?

 

[Perth Red]

did your buddies treat women in the same way as has been alleged in the article too ?

What has actually been alleged in regards to "women"?
That he got arsey with her and pressed up against her but wqasnt that bad that the family witnessing it did anything about it.
That he got arsey with her father in law but left when requested to do so despite having the right to visit his kids (put this in the women category given the FIL over the top response).
That his wife didnt like his partying.
That he had an affair
Anything else?

 

[T-Boon]

That his wife didnt like his partying.

This was controlling behavior on her part.

 

[THE CHAMP]

did your buddies treat women in the same way as has been alleged in the article too ?

This alleged behavior has been alleged before.

 

[butchmcdick]

This alleged behavior has been alleged before.

allegedly

 

[dogslife]

This alleged behavior has been alleged before.

Are you alleging that this is allegedly his go?

 

[THE CHAMP]

Are you alleging that this is allegedly his go?

It was allegedly someone elses go before but it turned out it wasn’t

 

[blue bags]

Health regulator to investigate Souths doctor’s role in Burgess allegations


The top medical regulator in NSW is investigating and could stand down South Sydney doctor Andrew McDonald over his role in the Sam Burgess allegations.
A four-month investigation by a team of reporters at The Australian uncovered accusations of drug abuse and domestic violence against the now-retired Rabbitohs player.

McDonald is alleged to have helped Burgess during a drug-fuelled episode where the NRL player is accused of needing liquid valium to calm him down.

South Sydney is also being probed over allegations the club deliberately hid Burgess’ behaviour and a failed drugs test from the public and the NRL.

Burgess claiming 'propaganda'
“We have a formal complaint and have commenced inquiries to gather details of the specific allegations and all associated evidence,” a spokeswoman for the Health Care Complaints Commission told the Herald.

“This will enable us to determine what is alleged to have occurred and what further action is required.”

The investigation is likely to take between one and two years to complete.

McDonald may be stood down in the meantime, which is the call of the Medical Board of NSW.

Burgess not a distraction
https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nr...s/news-story/50302191f872c81d1d024b6b72f0fab7

 

[blue bags]

To Australia, Sam Burgess and Phoebe Hooke seemed perfect. But to insiders, the marriage between the knockabout footy star and the privileged journalist was never going to last - with the cracks starting with a 'shoosh' at their WEDDING

• Burgess, 31, is alleged to have intimidated his wife Phoebe's father Mitch Hooke
• The retired NRL star is banned from approaching or contacting his father-in-law
• NRL and police are investigating accusations about Sam Burgess's personal life
• That follows a bombshell report last week about Burgess's alleged party habits
• Burgess has stepped down from his role at Souths and denied all the allegations

By JOSH HANRAHAN and STEPHEN GIBBS FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA

PUBLISHED: 02:15 AEDT, 8 October 2020 | UPDATED: 08:23 AEDT, 8 October 2020

• 
  The tension was obvious at the wedding of Sam and Phoebe Burgess in the picturesque New South Wales Southern Highlands in December 2015.

While there were smiles on the faces of the bride and groom as they walked up the aisle hand-in-hand, within hours guests would be wondering if things would last.

Corporate high-flyer Mitch Hooke and his wife Sarah had opened the gates of the family farm up to Australia's elite - business leaders, politicians and socialites - their kind of people.

Also now among them were rugby league players and friends of their new in-laws, the blue collar Burgess clan raised in a rough part of North England.

And by the time the eldest Burgess brother had given his best man speech, a crack in the unlikely union had already appeared, with Luke loudly 'shooshed' by Mr Hooke.

Sam and Phoebe married in a lavish ceremony at her parents estate in the Southern Highlands in 2015, but within hours the tension between their two families was evident with guests left to wonder if things would last

The Hooke family has closed ranks around Phoebe since she split with her husband. The Hooke women are pictured left to right: mother Sarah, and sisters Harriet, Jemima and Phoebe with father Mitch at the back

Phoebe Burgess offers glimpse of her parents' country estate
At the reception Sam's friend and former teammate Luke Keary reportedly got into a confrontation with Gene Fairbanks, a onetime rugby union star and Phoebe's brother-in-law.

An argument had apparently started when someone from the rugby group at the party referred to league players as 'more betters', suggesting they speak with poor grammar.

The same farm was the location of an alleged incident in October last year which led to police taking out an interim apprehended violence order on behalf of Mr Hooke against his son-in-law.

After bombshell allegations about Sam Burgess were printed in The Australian last week, the relationship between the two families deteriorated further.

On Wednesday the South Sydney legend's lawyer in court accused Phoebe or Mr Hooke of giving a damning statement about Burgess to the newspaper out of 'malice or retaliation'.

While the Hooke's grew up living a life of luxury, the blue collar Burgess clan came from North England where the family matriarch Julie (centre) admits that 'money was tight'

Both families have closed ranks and the gulf between them seems wider than ever.

While Sam and his brothers attended a mixed school in West Yorkshire, Phoebe and her two sisters went to Frensham, an all-girls school that costs up to $35,000-a-year.

Like his daughters, Mr Hooke had gone to a private school, boarding at Geelong College with his brothers while his father - a World War II pilot - worked a sheep farm.

After being lured to Canberra he secured numerous high-paying jobs and set up the family at their Southern Highlands property, Daffodil Downs

• Sam Burgess' mum and brother emerge after tense crunch talks with the embattled... A mother's unbreakable bond: Why Julie Burgess stood by her...

The Hooke family regularly travelled overseas, taking ski holidays alongside the rich and famous in Aspen, Colorado.

About the time of Phoebe's graduation her conservative-leaning father, now a key powerbroker in Canberra, was making major waves in Australian politics.

As the head of the Minerals Council, Mr Hooke played a key role in derailing then-Labor prime minister Kevin Rudd's planned mining tax.

He was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 2016 in acknowledgement of his 30 years in public life.

About the time of Phoebe's graduation her conservative-leaning father (left), now a key powerbroker in Canberra, was making major waves in Australian politics

Sam stands arm-in-arm with Sarah and Mitch Hooke, Gene Fairbanks and Jemima Hooke, now ex-wife Phoebe, and youngest Hooke daughter Harriet

Sam (second from the left) and his brothers are inseparable even today, and have always shared a close bond

Julie Burgess (pictured with her four boys as children) vowed to stand by her four boys through the 'highs and lows' after the devastating death of their father when they were just teenagers

Sam denies all allegations levelled against him, which relate to an ongoing court case involving him and ex-wife Phoebe's father Mitchell Hooke (Julie Burgess is pictured on the left, her eldest son Luke is at the front and lawyer Bryan Wrench can be seen at back)

The rugby league club in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, where the Burgess boys learnt their craft

In contrast to the Hooke family story, Julie Burgess admits that when she and late husband Mark were raising four boys there was little money to spare and the lads regularly wore hand-me-down clothes.

WHO ARE THE BURGESS FAMILY?
JULIE: A former high school deputy headmaster, the matriarch of the family is renowned for defending her four boys, always. She followed her sons to Australia in 2012 after they had established careers with South Sydney

MARK: The boys' father died in 2007 at age 45 after a long battle with motor neurone disease. While their towering height comes from Julie, Mark is credited for giving the boys their brawn and toughness.

LUKE: The oldest of the four boys, he is known to his brothers as 'Biffa'. Luke moved to Australia in 2011 to play for South Sydney. He began dating model Yolanda Hodgson and the couple have a daughter Grace, but split in 2019.

SAM: The first of the family to make the move to Sydney, he quickly became a key part of the Rabbitohs outfit. After a few years together he married Phoebe Hooke in 2015, before their public split in late 2018. They have two children, Poppy and Billy.

TOM: Tom and his twin brother George are the youngest members of the family. He was the last of the family to move to Australia in 2011. He is engaged to Tahlia Giumelli and the couple are currently expecting a second child.

GEORGE: The 28-year-old has returned to England to play in the Super League having married wife Joanna in 2016. The couple have three children under the age of three.

Tom, George, Luke and Sam Burgess stand on either side of their mother Julie after their first appearance in first grade together in 2013

Sam Burgess and Phoebe Hooke split started with a 'shoosh' at their WEDDING

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...hoebe-Hooke-split-started-shoosh-WEDDING.html

 

[T-Boon]

Haha. Are you one of these nutty Hooke's Blue Bag?
You are keeping this story going.
They are going to be Australia's Kardashian's.

 

[bileduct]

did your buddies treat women in the same way as has been alleged in the article too ?

Which allegation in particular are you referring to?

 

[mave]

Who gives a shit if Burgess went out and alledgedly had affairs, and wild weekends ?

That is his problem, along with his wife.

The only issue should be the potential cover ups by Souths with the alledged doctoring of medical prescriptions, drug tests , etc