Aaliyah Samson: Helensvale Hogs player admits bashing Zara Canfield after five-a-side game

A Helensvale Hogs rugby player has admitted to bashing an opponent – who formerly played for the Gold Coast Titans in the NRLW – after a game at a popular annual five-a-side beach tournament at Coolangatta.

Paradise Point woman Aaliyah Samson, 23. Picture: Instagram

A Helensvale Hogs rugby player has admitted to bashing an opponent – who formerly played for the Gold Coast Titans in the NRLW – after a game at a popular annual five-a-side beach tournament at Coolangatta.

Paradise Point woman Aaliyah Samson, 23, appeared in Southport District Court on Wednesday, June 18, where she pleaded guilty to two counts of common assault (one of the charges replaced an allegation of assault occasioning bodily harm, which was discontinued).

The court heard the offences occurred at Coolangatta on November 4, 2023, during a five-a-side rugby tournament, understood to be the popular annual event Gold Coast Beach 5’s Spring Festival at Greenmount Beach.

The complainant in the matter was Zara Canfield, who was formerly contracted to the Gold Coast Titans Women and played 24 games between her debut in round 1 of the 2022 season and her contract’s end at the conclusion of the 2024 season.

Zara Canfield makes her debut against the St George Illawarra Dragons at McDonald Jones Stadium, Newcastle, on February 27, 2022. (Photo by Ashley Feder/Getty Images)

Crown prosecutor Corey Roebuck-Eyles told the court the Hogs were playing Ms Canfield’s team at 6pm when the complainant made a tackle upon Samson that the defendant took issue with, although the tackle was ruled legal by the referee.

The pair exchanged words and the game progressed, but at its conclusion, the pair passed one another on the sideline.

Mr Roebuck Eyles said Samson asked Ms Canfield, “You good?” to which the complainant responded, “Yeah, you good?”

Samson then stopped and whirled around, leading Ms Canfield to say, “What, you can’t take a hit?”

Samson then seized Ms Canfield, who currently plays for the Burleigh Bears in the BMD Premiership, by the collar and punched her twice in the face, causing “immediate pain” but no lasting injuries, Mr Roebuck-Eyles said.

Paradise Point woman Aaliyah Samson, 23. Picture: Facebook

He told the court the assault ceased after bystanders intervened.

Defence counsel Russell Pearce, representing Samson on a pro bono basis, told the court the defence disputed aspects of the prosecution case, notwithstanding the guilty pleas.

He said Samson had “no objection to the tackle at all, it was within the spirit and rules of the game,” but claimed it was in fact words exchanged after the tackle that his client objected to.

Mr Pearce said it upset Samson so much she voluntarily subbed herself off for the second half.

He further disputed that the assault only ceased due to bystander intervention.

Mr Pearce claimed Samson’s punches in fact led to an “all-in melee” between players from both sides.

Zara Canfield of Australia in action during the International match between the Australian Women's PMs XIII and PNG Women's PMs XIII at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane on September 25, 2022. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

“She was immediately set upon by members of the other side and assaulted herself,” he said.

“She was then dragged from the melee by members of her own team.”

The argy-bargy “settled down,” Mr Pearce said, but he told the court Samson was then approached by a man claiming himself to be either the father, stepfather, or a man related in some way to Ms Canfield.

That man “identified himself as an off-duty cop and threatened to arrest her,” Mr Pearce claimed, at which point Samson’s coach then stepped in and told his player to make an exit.

Judge Dzenita Balić did not ultimately make a ruling regarding the competing versions of events, although she noted Samson was “clearly very upset” by what had occurred on the field of play.

She placed Samson, a mother-of-one who works full-time at a Gold Coast theme park, on a 12-month, $500 good-behaviour bond, with no convictions recorded.

Originally published as Aaliyah Samson: Helensvale Hogs player admits bashing Zara Canfield after five-a-side game