Bulldogs investigate fight claims
By Todd Balym
July 21, 2008 BULLDOGS chief executive Todd Greenberg has appointed an independent investigator to look into allegations one of his players was involved in a nightclub fight on Sunday night.
Greenberg received an email complaint, forwarded by radio broadcaster Ray Hadley, that his players were drinking at the Sting Bar in Cronulla at 11pm when the fight broke out.
Channel Seven has reported that Bulldog forward Lee Te Maari was involved but Greenberg said he would wait until he received a full report from his independent investigators before commenting publicly on the alleged incident.
"We are waiting to establish the facts before we make any further comment," said Greenberg.
"Should it prove to be correct we are concerned about the nature of the complaint."
But Pasquali Traino, the owner of the Sting Bar, said the
incident had been blown completely out of proportion.
He said a group of Bulldogs players had
come in for dinner when an argument broke out between two guys "over some girl" which developed into a push and shove before security intervened.
Both parties apologised for causing a scene, with a group of nuns in the room following World Youth Day festivities, and quietly left the premises without complaint.
"
It's a storm in a tea cup," said Traino.
"There was a push and shove. We stepped in and they stopped and apologised and left the building quietly.
"They (the players) come here regularly and always give me the utmost respect.
"Nothing happened for me to say you're no allowed back in here. There were no punches thrown at all."
The Bulldogs have a troubled history with off field behaviour of their players with superstars Sonny Bill Williams and Reni Maitua two of the club's more frequent offenders in recent years.
Greenberg's decision to call upon professional outside assistance to investigate the matter reflects the club's desire to rid itself of the reputation for having poor off field behaviour.
"We like to have someone independent from the club prepare a report and assess the information so we can deal with it accordingly," said Greenberg.
It is believed the Bulldogs were not the only NRL players at the Sting Bar on Sunday evening, but no allegations have been made against any other footballers.
The club has no issue with the players going out and drinking late on Sunday evening as they had been given the following day off training with a long nine-day turnaround before next Monday's clash with St George Illawarra.
The NRL has been made aware of the situation and are awaiting a report from the club before making any comment.
The incident comes just days after the Rugby League Week magazine players' poll revealed 80 per cent of the respondents said they had been provoked or hassled by a member of the public while out on the town.
AAP
http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,24055135-23214,00.html
. They have five levels now. Downstairs is ok, it's a pub type joint with two levels. The other three are pretty much gathering places for the people mentioned in my previous post. Kingo's is still there too, I don't think they have cook your own steak nights but they do have pints of Boddingtons on tap so they can't be all bad...
