Woman 'had row' with Bulldog
By Steve Barrett
March 19, 2004
ONE of six Canterbury Bulldogs players who allegedly pack-raped a 20-year-old woman at a Coffs Harbour resort last month argued with the girl and rejected her advances just before the alleged attack.
The row is said to have occured about 5.30am when the Plantation's Xtreme nightclub shut.
The Australian can reveal this information has been given to police investigators, the National Rugby League and the Canterbury Leagues Club by a doorman at the hotel where the players had been drinking in the early hours of February 22.
The statements provided by the doorman of the Plantation Hotel on the NSW mid-north coast add considerably to sketchy accounts of the hours leading up to the alleged assault.
The man, who did not wish to be identified, said the argument took place on the footpath outside the hotel about 5.30am when the bars were shut down. He said the alleged victim then approached him asking for him to intervene on her behalf.
Investigators have been told the woman became agitated and began slapping the doorman in the chest before being asked to leave.
The Australian understands the player, who was waiting for a taxi with other players to go to the Pacific Bay Resort, rejected the girl's advances and called her an insulting name.
The Australian also understands the young woman had consensual sex in a backpackers room, part of the multi-million-dollar Plantation Hotel complex, with another Canterbury player earlier in the night.
It is understood the alleged victim's girlfriend, who has the same Christian name, had booked one of the backpacker rooms because she lives more than 30km out of town.
The woman eventually left the hotel to travel by taxi to the Pacific Bay Resort with a third Bulldog player, who took her to the lap pool, which is now the focus of the police investigation.
Both the alleged victim and the taxi driver were reinterviewed by a different team of police on Wednesday, officers from the State Command's sexual crimes unit.
The investigation potentially has weeks to run, with this second police team planning to re-interview all witnesses in the case.
They could not say how many of the players would be asked to attend a second interview.
In a letter of support to the Bulldogs, published on the club's website, Plantation Hotel licensee Harry Barry has attacked inaccurate reports on the conduct of the players on the night of the alleged rape.
The letter says: "I can say categorically that, 1) the players were not drunk, disorderly or insulting while at the hotel, 2) there were no fights involving Bulldog players in the hotel that night, 3) no Bulldogs players were evicted from the hotel, 4) I did not see nor did anyone complain to me or a member of my staff about the behaviour of the Bulldogs while at the hotel, and 5) indeed, staff, regular customers and the Bulldogs had a most enjoyable night."
The Australian
![[furrycat]](/data/avatars/m/6/6602.jpg?1213416722){kind=avatar}
