Former NRL star Andrew Frew admits trying to blackmail postman

FORMER NRL star Andrew Frew has admitted trying to blackmail a postman for $100,000 - all part of a spectacular fall from grace.

A FORMER NRL star has admitted trying to blackmail a postman for $100,000 - part of a spectacular fall from grace which included him allegedly being caught behind the wheel with a cocktail of drugs in his system last year.

Andrew Frew, 37, who played 86 first-grade rugby league games for six clubs, today pleaded guilty to two charges of demanding money from the 58-year-old Australia Post worker.

The blackmail began mid last year when Frew and his defacto partner, Louise Temple, 38, went to the house the postman shared with his elderly father at Lane Cove, in Sydney's north, according to court documents.

The victim had known Temple for more than 20 years through her work as a prostitute and Frew accused the postman of sexually abusing her when she was a teenager, the documents said.

He demanded $2000 and showed the victim a tattoo on his arm, claiming he was a "biker’’ and had friends who could "fix you up’’.

"I don't mind going to jail - I've been there before,’’ he told the man, who eventually handed over the money.

Lees than a week later the former NRL player called the postman and asked for $1000, which the victim handed over at a hotel meeting – after which Frew upped his demand to $100,000

"If you don't pay up, I will sort you out, break legs, proceed with charges and even after being convicted in prison you will still owe the $100,000,’’ he told the man.

The postman complained he wouldn't be able to raise the money and asked for more time to pay, before eventually going to the police.

Today the Downing Centre Local Court heard Frew was about to enter into a residential drug rehabilitation program near his parents' home at Mount Pritchard, where he and Temple now lived.

In June last year police stopped him while he was driving through Redfern in the early morning allegedly with a raft of prescription and illicit substances - including the drug ice - in his system.

Both he and Temple, who pleaded guilty to one blackmail charge, are due to be sentenced next month.

Frew's last first-grade game was for St George Illawarra in 2004, ending a career which included nearly 50 matches for Manly and the Northern Eagles.