Kurtley Beale’s rugby future hanging by a thread after allegations of distributing ‘deeply offensive’ text messages

KURTLEY Beale’s future in Australian rugby is hanging by a thread as he faces a disciplinary tribunal for allegedly distributing “deeply offensive” texts.

Kurtley Beale after being chosen in the team for the Wallabies team to take on New Zealand at ANZ Stadium on Saturday night. Picture Gregg Porteous

​KURTLEY Beale’s future in Australian rugby is hanging by a thread after the ARU announced he must face a disciplinary tribunal for allegedly distributing “deeply offensive” text messages about an ARU staffer.

The “texts and images” distributed to teammates in June came to light during the ARU’s investigation into an argument between Beale and Wallabies business manager Di Patston on a flight to Argentina last week.

In an intriguing twist to the investigation, The Daily Telegraph has learned of a series of explosive emails exchanged between Beale and Patston over the past week.

The electronic trail details how Patston initially warned Beale away from attempting to broker a peace deal before a dramatic change of heart 48 hours later.

The Daily Telegraph understands Patston’s most recent email to Beale suggested the two of them should catch up together to try and resolve the incident.

Wallabies coach Ewen McKenzie and other ARU officials were copied into the email exchanges.

Beale received an official warning on Wednesday with the ARU outlining how they have obtained a series of text messages from the Wallabies star and an image denigrating Patston.

Kurtley Beale has again found himself in hot water.

ARU boss Bill Pulver said the plane matter had become secondary to the serious new allegations, and Beale will appear before a three-person conduct committee next week led by District Court judge Mark Williams.

“I don’t want to go into detail, however they are deeply offensive. I think that’s probably sufficient to say,” Pulver said.

Pulver said he believed they were inadvertently sent to the staffer but The Daily Telegraph understands Patston was shown the images by a player.

Several Wallabies were asked to give statements this week.

Beale will face a charge of allegedly breaching section 7 of the ARU’s Member Protection policy, which includes cyber bullying and harassment.

“It is appropriate for the allegations to be assessed independently due to the serious nature involved. This also presents Kurtley an opportunity to present his response to the matter through an impartial process,” Pulver said.

“In many ways this is a very silly thing to have happened in an environment where it’s well established inside society that this is unacceptable behaviour and that’s why we’ve taken it to a code of conduct tribunal.”

The in-flight argument will be addressed after the tribunal hearing, Pulver said.

Beale is off-contract with the ARU next season. With a long history of off-field problems, any adverse finding could see him cut adrift in a similar manner to James O’Connor last year.

Whether the ARU would endorse the Waratahs to still sign Beale on their own is uncertain.

His desire to play rugby league may also be hurt by the latest allegations, with NRL clubs wary of extra controversy.

Beale will not be considered for Wallabies selection until after the hearing, which is scheduled for early next week. It would be highly unlikely he’d be picked to play against the All Blacks on Saturday week in Brisbane.

Pulver said he would not entertain what might happen to Beale before the hearing.

“I am not going to prejudge any of it. It would inappropriate to form any conclusions in advance of the Code of Conduct tribunal, so let’s let due process run its course,” he said.

Kurtley Beale has found himself in hot water again.

The strength of language used by Pulver allegations appeared to point one way, however.

Beale’s manager did not return calls on Thursday night.

Pulver said he only found out about the alleged texts on Wednesday morning, and believed McKenzie had only learned of them at a similar time.

It is understood McKenzie’s position as coach was raised in talks between board members in recent days but he was backed unanimously to remain as coach to take the team to the World Cup.

Email and social media rumours of disharmony in the Wallabies’ camp have spread like wildfire in recent days but Pulver shot down suggestion of a crisis and said he and the players backed McKenzie.