Melbourne Storm star Greg Inglis arrested over assault over girlfriend
Article from: Herald Sun
Mark Buttler
August 11, 2009 06:21pm
EXCLUSIVE: MELBOURNE Storm rugby league player Greg Inglis has been arrested over an alleged assault of his girlfriend.
Inglis was arrested at his western suburbs home today and questioned by police over an attack on his partner, which left her with a black eye.
Inglis, who is a fixture in Australian and Queensland representative teams, is regarded as one of the best players in the world.
But his glittering career may have hit a major hurdle with allegations that led to police arresting him at his Altona Meadows home today.
Inglis was later questioned by police and charged with recklessly causing injury and unlawful assault before being bailed to appear in Sunshine Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday.
The mercurial Inglis was recently awarded the Wally Lewis Medal for being best player in this year's State-of-Origin series against New South Wales.
The arrest could have massive ramifications for the Storm, which sits third on the ladder in the shadows of the finals and is another episode in a wretched off-field year for his sport.
Clubs and the code's administrator's have become increasingly intolerant of the bad off-field behaviour of players.
In May last year, Storm officials cleared Inglis of any wrong-doing after allegations he was involved in a drunken Good Friday brawl were aired on radio.
The club's chief executive Brian Waldron said at the time that the star's girlfriend Sally Robinson had been verbally insulted by a patron at the Icebergs venue in Williamstown.
``Greg took offence at the manner in which his partner was spoken to and a brief verbal exchange took place. After nothing more than a few heated words, Greg and his girlfriend left the establishment,'' Mr Waldron said.
Icebergs management later said they had no problem with the conduct of Inglis.
The Inglis drama is yet another bitter blow for the National Rugby League in a year of continuous off-field controversies.
The code chose Inglis and Manly star Brett Stewart as the faces of the code to feature in a $1.5 million advertising campaign.
But it took a major hit when sexual assault allegations were levelled against Stewart shorty before the season was due to start.
Inglis is studying to be a social worker and recently visited his old home town of Bowraville in NSW to talk to high school kids about not going down the wrong track.
He was in July voted the NRL's Good Guy of the Month for his efforts to help the young.
