Ex-Rooster denies Napa blackmail plot
Reformed rugby league bad boy Paul Carter has vehemently denied he has been leaking the Dylan Napa sex tapes as part of a campaign to extort money from his former Roosters team-mate.
As Napa and his lawyers met with the NRL integrity unit on Tuesday to discuss the embarrassing drip-feed of explicit videos into the public domain, Carter found himself dragged into the scandal when a message from an unknown source alleging he was responsible for the leaked messages went viral.
It cites a ‘‘senior Roosters staff member’’ who claims Carter was a past member of a WhatsApp player group and had access to ‘‘all the videos’’. It says Carter fell out with Napa 18 months ago and he wanted money in exchange for keeping the videos private.
The message reads in part: ‘‘Each day or two that he doesn’t get paid his asking money he is then releasing a new video, and has deliberately started with the tame ones and threatening to build up to some pretty nasty ones.’’
The Roosters slammed that suggestion and so did Carter, who told the Sydney Morning Herald that Napa had messaged him to confirm there was ‘‘no bad blood’’ between them and he didn’t believe the claims.
‘‘I heard the allegations from people close to me, who messaged me in disbelief asking, ‘What’s going on here?’ I was in shock,’’ Carter said. ‘‘Then I started getting a lot of follower requests on social media. I found that a bit strange. A friend, an ex-player I played with, gave me the headsup. ‘I want to let you know that I’ve heard this . . .’ I got on the front foot and called my manager, who also manages Dylan, and I wanted to clear it up straight away.
‘‘When I was at the Roosters, I had a great relationship with Dylan and still do to this day. He sent me a message [on Tuesday] confirming the exact same thing: that we have a good relationship and there’s no bad blood. I left the Roosters but there’s no bad blood with the club or any of the players.’’
Asked specifically about the blackmailing claims, Carter said: ‘‘I haven’t read the message and probably won’t. I’ve got bigger and better things to worry about than people playing games and making up stories. It’s sad that they don’t have anything better to do with their lives.’’
Similar accusations have been levelled at former Roosters players as speculation continues about who is the source of the video leaks. In Carter’s case, it doesn’t add up because he was only at the club for less than half a season in early 2017 before being cut after a string of alcoholrelated offences. The leaked videos showing Napa are said to be ‘‘four to five’’ years old.
Three videos showing Napa engaged in sex acts have surfaced on social media since last Friday. In two of them, he is having consensual sex with an unknown woman while referring to himself as ‘‘Big Papi’’.
A fourth video of Napa has also emerged, although it is innocent in comparison to the others. ‘‘Do you know Dylan Napa?’’ the Queensland Origin prop asks while looking into the camera before being hammered in a tackle involving an unknown man twice his size.
A furious NRL hauled Napa before the integrity unit on Tuesday, although it was held away from League Central to avoid media attention.
Incredibly, head office refuses to make comment on the matter because NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg, chief operating officer Nick Weeks and chairman Peter Beattie are on holiday.
Napa is said to be struggling as the videos are slowly leaked. He hasn’t trained for the Bulldogs, the club he joined from the Roosters during the off-season, for the past two days.
His mother, Karen, flew down from Brisbane to be by his side. Privately, the family do not believe a current player is responsible for the leak.
But who is?
Carter insists it’s not him. He has for the past year been quietly rebuilding his life in the Hunter Valley and is about to play his second season in the Newcastle league with the famous Cessnock Goannas.
‘‘I’ve gone away and worked on what I’ve needed to work on and I’m proud of where I am today,’’ he said. ‘‘To have all this come to light, it’s just sad where the game is going. People are out to make someone the villain.
‘‘Football is a small part of my life now. The rest of my life is much better. I have a daughter, a partner and I work in the mines. I’ve been more comfortable in that part of my life than I have ever been and for this to come along is just a shock and a dampener on where I am at.
‘‘I left the Roosters and had problems at the time. But there was no bad blood. I feel for all those players I used to play with. I really feel for them and I hope they come through it.’’