Former Bulldogs player Craig Garvey caught driving with cocaine in his system

A former Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs player has been caught driving in the eastern suburbs with cocaine in his system, but this is not the first time he has “gone off the rails”. Here’s what happened.

The former Glebe Dirty Reds club captain Craig Garvey pleaded guilty to driving with cocaine in his system. Picture: Glebe Dirty Reds Facebook

A former Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs player was caught driving in the eastern suburbs with cocaine in his system.

Craig Garvey, of Malabar, faced Downing Centre Local Court sitting at John Maddison Tower for sentence on Friday. He pleaded guilty to driving with an illegal drug in his system.

Magistrate Clare Farnan convicted Garvey and disqualified him from driving for six months, he also must pay a $600 fine.

Garvey played 23 first grade games for St George Illawarra Dragons and Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs before he became the captain of the Glebe Dirty Reds, with his career coming to a halt this year.

Court documents state the 32-year-old was driving a Toyota down Foreshore Rd, Botany about 10.15am on February 28.

Garvey (right) with his barrister Ben Fogarty (left).

Officers pulled Garvey’s car over for random roadside testing and he returned a positive reading to having cocaine in his system.

Garvey was arrested and taken to Mascot Police Station where he told officers he had consumed cocaine about six days ago, facts state.

Police checks confirmed this is the second time Garvey has been caught driving with an illegal drug in his system which led to his licence being suspended from May 2022 to August 2023, documents state.

At his court appearance, Garvey’s barrister Ben Fogarty said his client “went off the rails previously” and he has done a lot of rehabilitation work but his recovery has been “nonlinear”.

Garvey outside court.

“There had been a death and he and some others did some coke,” he said in relation to the incident.

Mr Fogarty said Garvey used painkillers during his early football career and had to stop playing for the Dirty Reds because of an injury after an off-season mishap.

Ms Farnan said Garvey had a relatively normal driving record and took significant rehabilitation steps to recover from his drug addiction.

Garvey had several highlights throughout his career, including winning the NSWRL Ron Massey Cup Player of the Year and the Frank Burge Player of the Year Award.

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Originally published as Former Bulldogs player Craig Garvey caught driving with cocaine in his system