League date-rape claim hinges on drug result
Jacquelin Magnay
September 8, 2006
A WESTS TIGERS rugby league player has told teammates he was intimately involved with a 26-year-old woman who has made allegations of a possible drugged rape to police.
It now appears that any possible criminal case, and the severity of it, hinges on the presence, or otherwise, of any date rape drug in a urine sample provided by the woman.
The Herald understands that no one apart from the one player at the party - held at the home of Ryan O'Hara in Five Dock early on Monday morning and attended by about 20 other players and non-players - was involved with the woman.
The player's version of events has eased initial concerns of league officials that the alleged possible sexual assault may have involved more than one player.
The player - who is not O'Hara - has told teammates that he had sex with the woman but that it was consensual. It is understood others at the party may not have witnessed the two together, with others in the room saying they were asleep at the time.
The woman, who had met the player at a Kings Cross nightclub, had partied with the Wests Tigers group of players and then travelled to O'Hara's apartment separately in a taxi.
A NSW police spokeswoman said inquiries were continuing.
As yet no players have been interviewed by police, who are awaiting forensic results from evidence taken from the unit and from the woman. None of the players has yet engaged a lawyer. The Wests Tigers chief executive, Steve Noyce, said the police had told him that they would contact him in a couple of days. He said the club was trying to maintain normality, with scheduled weight training continuing three times a week.
"We are keeping a business-as-usual approach, they will continue to train," Mr Noyce said.
