Police and NRL investigate whether St George Dragons players breached Covid lockdown
New South Wales police and the NRL integrity unit are investigating a number of St George Illawarra Dragons players for potentially breaching lockdown orders and bursting the league’s strict biosecurity bubble.
A group of Dragons players is under investigation after a party at the house of aveteran player, Nine News reports.
A NSW police spokesperson confirmed officers were called to a Shellharbour home about 9.40pm on Saturday night “following reports of visitors at the home”.
“Police spoke to the residents, a 30year-old man and a 29-year-old woman,” they said. “Four men, aged 21, 24, 25 and 29, were also spoken to and it was determined they were not residents. They were all given directions to leave and return to their homes. Inquiries are continuing into breaches of the public health order.”
Police confirmed the four men were the only guests at the home when officers arrived but other media outlets reported the exact number of people involved remained unclear.
The Dragons did not confirm details but said multiple players were caught up in a “biosecurity breach”.
“St George Illawarra are aware of a New South Wales state government stay-at-home order and NRL biosecurity breach involving a number of players,” the club said in a statement. “The Dragons will not make comment at this time, while the investigation into the matter with the NRL integrity unit and NSW police continues.”
An NRL spokesman said the league’s integrity unit was “speaking with the club and the players involved”.
“The NRL is aware of an alleged breach of biosecurity protocols involving members of the St George Illawarra Dragons,” the spokesman said. “The NRL will follow the advice of the game’s biosecurity experts.”
Current lockdown restrictions across greater Sydney, the Central Coast, Shellharbour and Wollongong allow people to have up to five guests per day, but the NRL has placed players are under stricter “stage four” conditions meaning all visitors to the home are prohibited.
It’s unclear how many players were involved and therefore if the gathering contravened NSW law or only the NRL biosecurity rules.
A number of NRL biosecurity sanctions have already been handed down to teams and players including a $50,000 fine issued to the Canterbury Bulldogs for failing to properly inform its squad of new Covid-19 restrictions before five players visited a Bondi pub.
The players have also been slapped with almost $10,000 in fines between them, with Dylan Napa hit the heaviest with a $5,000 sanction. The group will miss Saturday’s game against Manly after becoming close contacts of a known case and being ordered to selfisolate for 14 days by NSW Health.
Cronulla centre Josh Dugan was fined $25,000 for a breach last Friday and ordered to stay away from the Sharks squad for a fortnight.