Father at centre of Paul Gallen swearing story rejects claims of inconsistent story
HE father at the centre of the Paul Gallen abuse controversy has strongly refuted Cronulla’s claims that pictures he posted on Facebook prove any inconsistencies in his story.
Adrian Katona said on Sunday that he felt “sick” by Cronulla chief executive Lyall Gorman’s argument that photos of three 10-year-old boys posing with players showed they had nothing other than “a wonderful night”.
The photos were taken from Mr Katona’s Facebook page over the weekend and posted on social media.
The Daily Telegraph can reveal that two other two boys caught up in the swearing scandal have backed Mr Katona’s version of events.
My own son was witness to the incident along with another boy who was with Mr Katona on the night.
Gallen said on Triple M on Sunday that there are no winners in this. And while he maintained that he had no recollection of the incident, Gallen offered for the boy and his father to meet him at a Sharks game.
Gorman reiterated that offer on Sunday: “Throughout this story we have had a very clear need and obligation to defend the character of Paul and our club.
“And while it is clear that there is little likelihood of any agreement on the facts we extend an open invitation to the boys to join us on Father’s Day.”
But this conciliatory tone appears to contrast with Gorman’s strong stance over the weekend in which he claimed the incident, as alleged, did not happen.
And as part of the club’s defence, Gorman has questioned why the father made no mention of the Gallen incident when he originally posted those pictures the day after the game.
Gorman said on Saturday: “It has sort of aligned my thoughts about the inconsistencies in this matter at the moment.”
But Mr Katona said Gorman should have been aware that the boys had a good night up until the Gallen incident because the family had explained that in an email sent that same day.
That email that was posted on The Daily Telegraph website and showed how the family had thanked Gorman and praised the Cronulla players for how they treated the boys.
But they also explained in that email the incident involving Gallen and asked for Gorman to contact them by phone.
The family is yet to receive a call from Gorman.
Asked why he didn’t mention the Gallen incident in his post on Facebook, Mr Katona said: “I didn’t want to go out of my way to bag the club because Thomas (his son) loves them.
“And I was embarrassed for them to be honest. That’s why we sent the email straight away, so the club could deal with it rather then have it all out in social media.
“Like I have said, the boys had an awesome night up until that point. And it was only after that there was a problem.
“It was the actions of one player that had let the rest of the team down. Like we said in the email straight up, Shane Flanagan tried to rectify the problem straight away.
“He took the cards off the boys, and he said, “Look, if you want to put them in an envelope send them down to me, I will make sure they get signed’.
“But the damage had been done. They didn’t want them signed anymore because they had been hurt. And then to have them denying that it ever took place and stuff like that, it is just so upsetting.”
Gorman added: “From a club perspective we have absolutely no intent at all to demean the family or the young boys or anyone associated with our club. And if any of our actions in defending our captain and our club’s brand have been construed that way we apologise.”
