Five North Queensland Cowboys players charged with wilful damage and may face further charges
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The North Queensland Cowboys players could face additional police charges following reports the club have tried to downplay allegations the group egged up to five show cars in Townsville on Wednesday night.
The five players – Kiwi international Jason Taumololo, NRL-contracted players Tautau Moga and Braden Uele, and Holden Cup players Kalyn Ponga and Jake Clifford – were yesterday hit with two charges of wilful damage in relation to the alleged incident in the parking lot of a Night Owl convenience store. They are set to face court on October 11.
But police sources last night confirmed the players could face further charges following eyewitness reports the incident left one of the vehicles with a cracked windshield and put dents in others.
The victims of the alleged attack, Ashley Olsen and Schae Gregory, claimed last night they were hanging out with friends when the group of men threw eggs at them, not once, but twice in the space of two hours.
The pair said they first saw the group early in the night when they allegedly bought five dozen eggs from the Night Owl on Hugh St.
Mr Olsen said the group hid behind bushes around 10pm and launched eggs at them as they sat around talking in the carpark of the Hugh St complex, hitting them and their cars.
He said around two hours later a car pulled up on Hugh St and a group of people jumped out of the car and threw eggs at them with enough force to crack a windshield and put dents in others.
“They hid in the bushes and threw eggs at us, then maybe two hours later they were throwing eggs at us from across the road,” Mr Olsen “We were just minding our own business and they just started pegging us with eggs.
“It doesn’t really sit well with me. I didn’t think these guys would do something like that, maybe 12-year-olds.
“The police have rung me and said the Cowboys want to talk to me, by the sounds of it they want to try to keep it quiet.”
Ms Gregory was hit with one of the eggs during the incident and when she saw the car pulled over by police, she ran to tell them what had occurred.
“We jumped in our cars to go find them and found them pulled over by the cops,” Ms Gregory said.
“I jumped out of the car and ran over to the cop and asked if they’d pulled them up for that reason, but they’d only pulled them up for an RBT. I showed the cop all the photos and told him to have a look at all our cars.”
Police sources yesterday backed the claims of Mr Olsen and Ms Gregory, saying the players could face further charges than the two counts of wilful damage they’ve already been slapped with.
Ms Gregory said she was furious with Cowboys coach Paul Green, who tried to play the incident down yesterday as the Cowboys boarded their flight to Melbourne for tomorrow night’s NRL qualifying final against the Storm.
“In the whole scheme of things though, let’s keep it in context, we are talking about an egging here,” Green said.
“It’s disappointing if it does turn out to be true as it’s not what we are about as a club. But ... we are talking about an egging here and let’s keep it in context.”
NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg was highly critical of the accused Cowboys players, particularly Taumololo, saying the incident was “not OK”.
“He’s (Taumololo) let his club down and he’s let the game down,” Greenberg said.
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/...s/news-story/5358b88328b8dedb5d5c4664ee2701b3
