NRL fines Dragons players combined $305k for Covid breach, Vaughan suspended eight games
The NRL has hit St George Illawarra players with a combined 20 games in bans and $305,000 in fines for a team barbecue that broke stay-at-home orders. As part of a long list of heavy of sanctions, Paul Vaughan’s regular NRL season is over after he was handed an eight-game ban and a $50,000 fine for hosting the party.
All other players involved have been issued with one-game suspensions and varying fines, with the bans to be served over the next month. The NRL said the punishment also took into account that information was withheld
from the sport’s governing body after it emerged only on Monday that Jack de Belin also attended the party.
De Belin was one of the hardest players hit as he copped a $42,000 fine from the league, while Corey Norman’s financial penalty sat at $50,000.
“In our view the actions of the players were deliberate and some of the players withheld key information from the Integrity Unit,” NRL boss Andrew Abdo said. “On the information we have, the players understood the protocols and deliberately chose to ignore them.
“They chose to risk the continuity of our competition. The sanctions handed down today puts every player in the game on notice, particularly repeat offenders - this sort of conduct will not be tolerated.”
A Dragons board meeting on Tuesday will determine any potential further punishments, with St George-Illawarra boss, Ryan Webb, furious at the players.
“The 13 players’ arrogance and ignorance to both the NRL biosecurity protocols and the state government’s public health order is upsetting and infuriating,” Webb said.
“Every member of the club’s Apollo register were communicated their responsibilities … on numerous occasions.
“All 13 players have let the rest of their teammates, the entirety of our hard-working staff, their families, the wider community, and most importantly our Red V members, partners and fans, down.
“The entire club and our stakeholders will now be punished as a result of the combined 20-week suspension.”
In a bid to save the club from fielding a reserve grade team, each of the players’ one-game bans will be split between up to four rounds.
Nevertheless, it is likely to have a significant impact on their finals run with Josh McGuire, Jack Bird, Matt Dufty and Zac Lomax among other the high-profile players caught up in the scandal.
NSW Police issued $1,000 fines to each of the players. It comes as NRL bosses are attempting to keep the game going despite coronavirus outbreaks across the country closing state borders. The criticism of the playing group reached their own union on Monday. Rugby League Players’ Association’ chief executive Clint Newton says they have let their fellow players down.
“This incident doesn’t meet our expectations given what is at stake,” Newton said. “It is disappointing for the clear majority of players who have done, and are continuing to do, a tremendous job adhering to strict biosecurity protocols.
“We saw those sacrifices last year from the playing group, including the players involved, to keep the competition alive and we are seeing them again from the vast majority. Mistakes have been made by this group and there’s no shying away from that.”
List of NRL fines for St George Illawarra players: Paul Vaughan ($50,000), Corey Norman ($50,000), Jack de Belin ($42,000), Zac Lomax ($31,000), Jack Bird ($25,000), Matt Dufty ($23,000), Blake Lawry ($20,000), Josh Kerry ($18,000), Daniel Alvaro ($15,000), Josh McGuire ($12,000), Tyrell Fuimaono ($12,000), Kaide Ellis ($5000), Gerard Beale ($2000)