Brett Finch: The rise and fall of former NRL player
Brett Finch’s NRL career had it all but it’s his fall from grace that is most shocking. RISE AND FALL OF FINCH
NSW
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From sand boy to Origin winner, Brett Finch rose to achieve it all in rugby league — but his fall has been far more confronting.
The disgraced 42-year-old former NRL player in August 2022 pleaded guilty of one child abuse material charge.
At his initial sentencing hearing on October 17, 2022 a court heard Finch left vile child abuse messages in a desperate attempt to obtain drugs and blamed the “horrendous” offending on his addiction.
On November 23, 2022 Finch avoided jail after sending a series of vile child abuse messages via a sex chat service.
At Sydney’s Downing Centre District Court, Judge Phillip Mahony handed Finch a two-year sentence to be served in the community.
The sentencing capped a stunning fall from grace for a player whose career ebbed and flowed endlessly.
In January 2024 Finch started a new life post-child abuse material conviction, getting himself “back on track” by rising early each morning to work at a forklift training centre.
In a green work polo, shorts and carrying a lunch box, Finch looked every bit the seasoned tradie as he left his beachside Sydney rental unit.
This is the story of his rise and fall.
EARLY YEARS
Finch was destined for a life in footy.
Born in Maitland NSW, he is the son of former player and referees’ boss Robert Finch.
Finch attended Erindale College and represented Australian Schoolboys in 1998 — but it was his father’s connections that delivered him his first stint in the spotlight.
With Robert coaching the Newcastle Knights’ reserve grade side in the mid-1990s, Finch became the loud-mouthed sand boy for the first grade team and its stars, including NRL Immortal Andrew Johns.
‘‘I’ve got great memories of my time there,’’ Finch told the Newcastle Herald in 2013.
Johns in 2020 revealed the sledging he copped from Finch.
“Finchy would run on with these little bucked teeth, and he’d give me the sand and go, ‘You won’t kick this’,” Johns told Wide World of Sports’ Story Time
“I said ‘what?’ and he said,’ You won’t kick this, fat a***’.”
PLAYING CAREER
Forced to switch to Canberra to get a start thanks to Johns’ presence at the Knights, Finch debuted against Melbourne as a 17-year-old in Round 14 of the 1999 season.
The playmaker joined the Sydney Roosters in 2003, beginning a successful stint that culminated in his career highlight.
Having made his Blues debut in 2004, Finch was recalled to the NSW squad for Game 1 of the 2006 State of Origin series, proving to be the hero by scoring a try and kicking the winning field goal in a 17-16 success.
“I could’ve kicked it from f***ing Moore Park, I hit it that well,” he told Wide World of Sports in 2021.
His follow-up in Game 2 wasn’t as successful and he was dropped for the deciding match, which NSW lost.
By the end of 2006 Finch and the Roosters agreed to part ways, with the Eels swooping on a two-year deal.
However in April 2009, Parramatta confirmed Finch would be released from his contract following a reported feud with coach Daniel Anderson.
A mid-season switch to the Storm proved fateful, with Melbourne — aided by Finch’s two try assists — edging Parramatta 22-16 in the grand final.
“I just want to thank my parents, all my close friends for sticking by me through the tough times. This is unbelievable,” Finch said at the time.
That premiership would ultimately be stripped as part of the Storm’s salary cap scandal.
Ahead of his 250th NRL match Finch alluded to his love of a good time.
“I’ll probably do the same special thing I’ve done after every game and that’s to have a few beers,” said Finch when asked how he would mark the occasion.
After Finch earned a surprise recall during the 2010 season even Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy spoke of the player’s weakness.
“He didn’t train all week, I told him to go and enjoy himself and he’d been having a few durries and a few schooners,” Bellamy said after one game.
Finch added: “Not for all the four days (was there drinking), I had an hour or so off here and there. You know me, I don’t go for one.”
Finch found a fifth club in 2011 when he linked with Super League champions Wigan.
After a two-year stint he returned for a swansong at the Storm, finishing with 270 NRL matches.
FOOTY DRAMAS
Often maligned as a player, Finch had no shortage of incidents on and off the field.
In 2004 he threw a bottle into the crowd after he was pelted by a Canterbury fan during a match against the Roosters.
There was also a publicised bust-up with then coach Ricky Stuart over concerns about Finch’s training attitude and inconsistent displays.
“There were certain things that me and Ricky discussed which would have been nice to be kept private,” Finch said in an interview for the NRL website.
Roosters chief executive Brian Canavan in 2006 declared his NRL club wouldn’t take any action over Finch’s comments that Roosters critics and fans could “kiss our a***” after a victory over North Queensland.
In 2007 Finch insisted he was a changed man since his wild days.
“ … from a personal point of view it is maturing and knowing your game, but definitely during stages of my career I felt I needed to do more than I had to,” he said.
In 2009 Finch and Melbourne teammate Cooper Cronk were both fined $5000 for urinating in public during a mid-season break in Byron Bay.
Later in 2009 Finch told troubled mate Willie Mason, seeking a release from the Roosters, to follow his lead at the Storm.
“Not only does the club make you a better player, it makes you a better person as well,” he said.
LIFE AWAY FROM FOOTY
Finch in 2013 told The Matty Johns Podcast of his struggles after retiring.
“It took a few years, it took three trips to rehab facilities,” he said.
“I learned a lot about myself and the things that I’m dealing with. I had to realise I’m not going to get the highs I had in footy and for so long I was chasing that.
“One day I was a football player, the next day no one cares. It’s over. I struggled to get any satisfaction in life.”
Finch worked as a sideline commentator with Channel 9 between 2014 and 2016, often appearing in The NRL Footy Show, as well as with radio station 2GB.
He admitted to hitting “rock bottom” and left the roles at the end of 2016, citing mental health issues, and in 2017 joined Fox Sports.
“(I) pretend to wake up, put my radio shirt on because I was working for 2GB Continuous Call at the time … I’ve already called Ray (Hadley) to tell him I was sick,” Finch said on Turn Up The Talk podcast.
“Get in the car, go straight to my dealer’s house.”
In 2019 Finch joined YKTR Sports and also launched the Brett Finch Uncensored podcast; days before being charged he admitted he burned through “hundreds of thousands of dollars” in 18 months on drugs.
“It’s ridiculous, I’ve just lost everything. I sat there … and not that I ever contemplated suicide but I sat there and said ‘this is not living, this is existing’. I don’t have a dollar to my name, not one. I’ve got no job now, my missus has left,” Finch told Turn Up The Talk Podcast.
He continued to make headlines for his forthright views as a Fox Sports commentator, calling out Canberra forward Hudson Young in 2019 for “absolute garbage” and a “disgraceful act” after a hands-in-the-face incident against Warriors winger Adam Pompey.
Finch later worked for online bookmaker PointsBet, fronting TV ads alongside NBA star Allen Iverson as well as appearing in Seven’s horseracing coverage.
PERSONAL LIFE
In 2018 he married his partner of five years Elli Johnston. NSW Origin coach Brad Fittler, NRL greats Cameron Smith and Billy Slater, and one-time Blues halfback Mitchell Pearce were among the wedding attendees.
Finch, ever the larrikin, didn’t even have a buck’s party.
“I’ve done enough of them. Times have changed for me,” he told The Daily Telegraph at the time.
“I’ve had a fair run and I’m ready to settle down.
“ … I struggled without footy. I was lost, got stuck in a rut and made some really poor decisions. Lucky I had great people around me who helped me get the right treatment.
“To have Elli in my life is a blessing.”
The couple have since had a daughter together. However the good times didn’t last.
A year later Finch checked in to a mental health facility following a medical incident on board a flight from Gold Coast to Sydney.
“(He) looked like he couldn’t bring himself to get off the plane. White as a ghost, couldn’t control his runny nose and (appeared) paranoid,” a fellow passenger said.
“He wasn’t abusive. He just didn’t want to get off the plane, like he was scared about something.”
It was revealed Finch was preparing to coach junior rugby league team Coogee Wombats before he was arrested.
ARREST AND CHARGES
Finch, 41, was arrested when police raided his Sans Souci home around 6.50am on December 14, 2021.
He was charged with five counts of using a carriage service to make available child abuse material.
He had an additional two charges laid earlier that year.
However, police in August dropped six of the charges and his lawyer Paul McGirr entered a guilty plea to one count of using a carriage service to make available child abuse material.
On November 23 in Sydney’s Downing Centre District Court, Judge Phillip Mahony handed Finch a two-year sentence to be served in the community.
According to a statement of agreed facts signed by Finch, between November 2020 and January 2021, he used the “FastMeet” chat service to talk to other users about wanting to have sex with pubescent and teenage boys.
Many of the shocking messages are too graphic to print.
His dramatic downfall was put in motion when Victorian Police arrested Robert Bray, a convicted child sex offender, and began investigating his use of “FastMeet” to exchange child abuse material with other users.
Police identified other users who had used the chat and voice service to exchange child abuse material and NSW Police launched Strike Force Hank.
In January 2024 Finch started a new life post-child abuse material conviction, getting himself “back on track” by rising early each morning to work at a forklift training centre.
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