NRL 2021: Anthony Mundine tells Dragons players to sue NRL and St George Illawarra over Covid sanctions

Anthony Mundine has launched an extraordinary defence of the sanctioned Dragons players, claiming celebrating a win is part of Australian culture.

Anthny Mundine says sacked Dragon Paul Vaughan and the other sanctioned St George Illawarra players should take legal action against the club and the NRL.

Former St George Illawarra champion Anthony Mundine has urged the 13 Dragons players sacked, fined and sanctioned for Covid breaches to initiate immediate legal action against the club and NRL.

Mundine’s shock revelation comes as ex-Saints stars Ted Goodwin and Michael Weyman criticised the offending players for breaching government and NRL Covid rules by attending a BBQ on Saturday night at the south coast home of prop Paul Vaughan.

The players were fined a total of $305,000 with Vaughan sacked after a club board meeting on Tuesday.

Mundine, who played for St George Illawarra in the 1999 NRL grand final, has launched a number of anti-vax tirades on social media this year and also bought into conspiracy theories regarding Covid’s legitimacy.

Watch The 2021 NRL Telstra Premiership Live & On-Demand on Kayo. New to Kayo? Try 14-Days Free Now >

Former St George Illawarra star Anthony Mundine has slammed the treatment of the Dragons’ Covid breakers. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Jenny Evans

In an expletive-laden post on Facebook just this past Saturday, Mundine urged his fans not to get the Covid-19 vaccine – “Do your research it’s a death wish!” – and urged that “now we fight that shit in court it’s all fear mongering.”

In relation to the Dragons who gathered at Vaughan’s home, Mundine told The Daily Telegraph the players “did nothing wrong” and should fight their punishment in court.

“The players should fight this shit in court and beat it. They should take legal action and get onto the right lawyers. If I was backed into a corner I would fight it,” Mundine said.

“These boys are being hard done by for no reason. Those rules (the players broke) shouldn’t be there.

“I’m not being a smart arse or a dickhead. They are using Covid to take people’s freedom away, bro. It’s wrong and sad. They are taking away their rights.

“The players are living their lives and they can’t do it because of this so-called virus. It’s ridiculous. This is getting out of hand. I don’t have a problem with (what the players did). People need to start standing up.

“If it wasn’t for (Covid restrictions) then these players wouldn’t be in this position – Vaughan wouldn’t be sacked. This could end him.

Mundine says the players were just celebrating a win. Picture: Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images

“(Celebrating a win), that’s what we do. As football players, I don’t drink, but that is part of the Australian culture. Getting together after a win, they didn’t do anything wrong. This is now affecting one of our beloved games – rugby league.

“People die – heart attacks, car accidents, whatever it may be. We are all guaranteed one thing in life and that’s death. We all have to face that.”

Vaughan had his $800,000 a season contract terminated as St George Illawarra officials reacted angrily to the Covid dramas.

Other players will be told to make public apologises.

“This has hurt the club immensely,” St George legend Goodwin said.

“It really has. It’s the club and supporters that will pay because they won’t see their best team out there. It’s not a good look.

“They made a huge mistake. You’ve just got to go by the rules and what the Government says and they broke the rules.

“They are sportsmen and people look up to them but, geez, you’ve got to abide by the rules. I’m all for the penalties they get. They did the wrong thing and they’ll be penalised for it.”

Weyman, part of the 2010 premiership-winning side, was also surprised at the players’ behaviour.

Paul Vaughan walks his dog at Shellharbour Beach on Tuesday. Picture: Simon Bullard

“I feel for the club and supporters. They have had everything go against them and this is another setback. This is a kick in the teeth. I feel sorry for ‘Hook’ (coach Anthony Griffin), he must be pulling his hair out,” Weyman said.

“This will really hurt us towards the back-end of the year. It’s very disappointing. They all knew what the rules were. To keep the game going the NRL has strict protocols. If you or I did it, we’d get in strife. What can you say? I do not get it.

“I know Paul Vaughan pretty well. He’s a good bloke who has been around a long time. I thought he might lead from the front. It’s unfortunate.”

Goodwin added: “I wasn’t a choir boy when I was playing, I did some things where today I’d get thrown out of rugby league. But I learnt from those mistakes and I moved on. Let’s hope they can learn as well.

“I thought I was special because of what I achieved in rugby league but it’s not like that.”

Originally published as NRL 2021: Anthony Mundine tells Dragons players to sue NRL and St George Illawarra over Covid sanctions