NRL clubs taking on government and ACC in lawsuit would be a waste of time, says defamation lawyer
By Paul Crawley
The Daily Telegraph
February 14, 2013 10:26AM
NRL clubs named in the drugs and corruption investigation would be wasting their time taking on the federal government and the Australian Crime Commission in court - even if they are cleared of wrongdoing.
That is the verdict from one of the country's top defamation lawyers after North Queensland Cowboys coach Neil Henry hinted on Wednesday at possible legal action.
Henry labelled the handling of the investigation a "disgrace" and said the NRL has been forced into an embarrassing situation.
Leading lawyer Justin Quill agreed it was "shocking and irresponsible" but said taking on the government or Crime Commission in court would be a tough case to win.
"They have basically thrown a hand grenade at the AFL and NRL and walked away," Quill said.
"The head of the ACC, John Lawler, said this was about intelligence gathering, not evidence gathering.
"In those circumstances it seems reprehensible that the ACC in concert with the government would make these allegations, tarnishing the names of clubs, codes and players and undermining peoples' confidence in Australian sport without any evidence.
"What should have happened was they should have passed on their intelligence to the appropriate authorities and told them to gather evidence and start knocking on doors once they were able to charge people.
"Having said all that I don't think (clubs or players) have a case in defamation. Nobody has been individually identified or identified as being a drug cheat or throwing a game."
Henry was furious at the damage done to his club's reputation without a "shred of evidence".
"I think the way the whole thing has been handled is a disgrace," Henry said.
"It is embarrassing really for the NRL to come out and mention that there are six teams. We are forced to defend ourselves against something we don't even know about.
"It has been a slight on this club, our fans but more importantly the individuals that work at this club. There has been no shred of evidence so far. To me it is farcical.
"The damage that it has done so far, who knows, I mean, I am a bush lawyer, is there defamation there?"
Quill said even if the investigation turned out to be a beat-up, the clubs would be flat-out winning the fight in court.
"Ultimately, it seems extraordinary that they would make these allegations public without going to the individuals to whom they are referring," he said.
"In circumstances where they went public it is probably both shocking and irresponsible.
"If all they had done was prepared the report and passed it on to the local authorities then I wouldn't have any problem at all with it. But it was the grandstanding without going through a full process I have a problem with."
