NRL utility Asu Kepaoa pleads guilty to speeding more than 30km/h over limit
An NRL player from across the ditch has admitted to speeding 40km/h over the speed limit on a main thoroughfare in southwest Sydney without being allowed to be behind the wheel in Australia.
Dylan Arvela and
Kirsten Jelinek
Asu Kepaoa pleaded guilty to driving charges in Campbelltown Local Court. Picture: Matt King/Getty Images
An NRL player from across the ditch has admitted to speeding 40km/h over the speed limit on a main thoroughfare in southwest Sydney without being allowed to be behind the wheel in Australia.
Penrith recruit Asu Johnathan Kepaoa appeared in Campbelltown Local Court on Tuesday where he pleaded guilty to speeding more than 30km/h over the limit and driving after driver visiting privileges had been withdrawn.
Documents tendered in court state the 24-year-old, who is yet to make his debut for the four-time reigning premiers, was busted shortly after 10am on Thursday, September 19.
Kepaoa was behind the wheel of a Audi Q5 on the Hume Motorway at Woodbine when the cops detected him racing at 150km/h in a 110km/h zone.
Documents state Kepaoa was pulled over without incident and returned a negative roadside alcohol breath test.
All 44 of Asu Kepaoa’s NRL games have come for Wests Tigers. Picture: Hannah Peters/Getty Images
Kepaoa, who was born in Auckland, handed over his New Zealand driver’s licence with subsequent police checks revealing his driver privileges had been withdrawn on September 4 until he was issued a NSW or interstate licence.
Documents state Kepaoa acknowledged to police he was going 150km/h, but when asked about his driving privileges he claimed the “period has finished”.
Asu Kepaoa leaving the Panthers Rugby League Academy in October. Picture: Thomas Lisson
Kepaoa made his NRL debut in 2020 with Wests Tigers where he played 44 games, scoring 13 tries, across four and a half seasons.
The rugby league utility made a mid-season switch to Penrith in 2024 where he was a regular in the club’s NSW Cup side without breaching the top grade.
Kepaoa, who was represented by veteran legal practitioner and Panthers deputy chair Mark Mulock, will be sentenced later this month.
