http://www.smh.com.au/news/league/australias--face-claims-shark-attack/2006/03/03/1141191849454.html
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By Jessica Halloran and Edmund Tadros
March 4, 2006
THE texts are "rude" and "crude" and model Lara Bingle has been shocked by the messages sent to her from the mobile phone of Sharks footballer Greg Bird.
Bingle, who is the face of Tourism Australia's controversial new $180 million "so where the bloody hell are you?" campaign, met Bird at Cronulla great Steve Rogers's funeral.
And it's since their first and only meeting in early January that the 18-year-old model has received "five or six" rude messages from Bird's phone.
Bingle would not elaborate on the content of the messages yesterday but has indicated they were unsavoury.
"They were just really, really crude messages," Bingle told journalist Michelle Kierghran.
Her brother who has viewed the text messages said they were very inappropriate.
Bingle thought if she did not respond to Bird's text messages they would stop.
She has not received any messages for four weeks.
Bird has, through his rugby league club, vigorously denied that he sent any harassing text messages. Sharks spokesman Rob Willis said Bird was now back with his "old girlfriend".
"Greg's thrown up his hands," Willis said. "He says he's done nothing inappropriate. There's been nothing obscene written. There's been no harassment."
The first message was an innocent greeting. Bingle then allegedly sent a reply, the only text she has ever sent Bird.
The Herald has been told that a third party may have sent the offensive text messages from Bird's mobile phone.
But it is unclear why a third party would send multiple allegedly abusive messages from his phone.
Bird's career has suffered recent setbacks.
In 2004, Bird was suspended for 10 matches and fined $15,000 by the Sharks for kneeing Souths winger Shane Marteene.
A year after the suspension Bird said: "I know that it's time to stop mucking around, to stop being that kid. It's my fourth year this year and it's time to really step up."
However, Bingle's career has been blossoming in recent weeks.
Last month, Tourism Australia announced that Bingle was the main face of the new $180 million campaign to entice international tourists to Australia.
There was a minor uproar about the line which includes "bloody" that Bingle says while standing on a beach in her bikini in the advertisement. The line is: "so where the bloody hell are you?".
Her modelling agency yesterday was trying to downplay the text message drama.
Priscilla Leighton-Clark, owner of Priscilla model management, told the Herald: "It's nothing … this is all just so unbelievably ridiculous - a storm in tea cup.
"Laura met the guy, only ever saw him once. That's it. End of story. There's no relationship, never [has] been. Never will be," she added.
The guy is trouble.
