Bulldogs gather for talks as NRL weighs up club sanctions
DRUG testers descended on the Bulldogs headquarters on Wednesday in the wake of the side’s Mad Monday scandal as news emerged that the club will issue $40,000 in fines to the worst offenders at the end-of-season booze-up.
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DRUG testers descended on the Bulldogs headquarters yesterday in the wake of the side’s Mad Monday scandal as news emerged that the club will issue $40,000 in fines to its worst offenders at the end-of-season booze-up.
The Daily Telegraph can also reveal Bulldogs players will be formally banned from celebrating Mad Monday again as chief executive Andrew Hill moves to condemn the actions of his players involved in the out-of-control partying at the Harbour View Hotel at The Rocks.
Laverty Pathology drug testers, contracted by the NRL, were spotted leaving the club’s Belmore headquarters yesterday afternoon holding sealed testing satchels.
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A senior NRL source confirmed players had been tested as part of the internal investigation but declined to reveal names.
Forwards Adam Elliott and Asipeli Fine will each need to cough up $15,000 after stripping naked and dancing on tabletops to Neil Diamond’s Sweet Caroline in a closed-off area on the hotel’s balcony.
The pair is also under investigation by NSW Police, who are considering whether to lay charges against the pair for public nudity.
Winger Marcelo Montoya faces a potential $10,000 fine for vomiting in public before passing out the side of the road.
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However, the financial punishment might not stop there, with the NRL poised to hand down a bigger penalty to the club for bringing the game into disrepute in the first week of the rugby league finals.
NRL sanctions will focus on the club — not the players — citing the damage it has bought to the game’s reputation.
It can also be revealed that the event was formally organised by the Bulldogs club itself, which is why the NRL will target the organisation rather than individual players.
Chief executive Todd Greenberg and integrity unit boss Nick Weeks were in discussions with the Bulldogs on Wednesday before finalising the sanctions.
This is an about-face on previous disciplinary action against players who have attracted such a negative media coverage from off-field dramas.
In 2016 former Roosters halfback Mitchell Pearce was fined $125,000 and suspended for eight games after leaked video showed him simulating sex with a dog while partying in a private abode.
Bulldogs coach Dean Pay and general manager Gareth Holmes are also facing a rebuke for their failure to ensure that players behaved on the day.
Revelations of impending fines and the public backlash against the Mad Monday antics marred the Bulldogs’ traditionally positive end-of-season talks at their headquarters.
One by one, players were seen filing into the Belmore facility.
Montoya wore a grey hoodie and kept his head down has he raced to join his teammates.
Fine, last photographed waving his private parts around the Harbour View Hotel on Monday afternoon, was spotted attending the end of season debriefing.
However, Adam Elliot or coach Dean Pay were nowhere to be seen.
It was revealed yesterday that Pay was present at the Mad Monday event and NRL sources say he got a dressing-down from bosses.
Yesterday he declined to return multiple calls from The Daily Telegraph.
Mr Greenberg said the behaviour, which included one player grabbing Elliot’s private parts, had given the game a “black eye” at a time when clubs had been given a directive to clean up their images.
“It’s embarrassing for the players first of all, it’s embarrassing for their club and it’s embarrassing for the game,” he said.
Drug-testing players after Mad Monday became an NRL priority in 2016 after premiership winning Cronulla fullback Ben Barba tested positive to cocaine days after the celebrations. There is no evidence the Bulldogs used cocaine or other recreational drugs on Monday.
The program involving Laverty Pathology was then ramped up by the NRL Integrity Unit in 2017 to target players who had previously tested positive to recreational drug abuse.
The decision was triggered by revelations Wests Tigers star Tim Simona tested positive to cocaine use after Mad Monday celebrations.
The NRL conducts more than 2000 drug tests each year and has the power to target specific players.
Last year up to 20 players contracted to the NRL and the under-20s competition were given first strike warnings for drug offences.
It also understood the NRL has a confidential list of “first time” positive players which was handed to the pathology lab.
These players are often targeted during their eight-week break when officials fear they are more likely to act up.
NSW Police declined to comment on the ongoing investigation but it is understood they are weighing up the public interest of taking the public nudity matters to court considering the players have been reprimanded publicly by their own club and are expected to be fined thousands of dollars.
TIMELINE OF A PR DISASTER
FRIDAY
Bulldogs play their last game of the season against the Cronulla Sharks, going down 30-18. The loss cemented the team’s 12th place position on the ladder with 16 losses and only eight wins through the season.
MONDAY
1PM: Players arrive at The Harbour View Hotel at The Rocks to attend a club-sanctioned Mad Monday celebration.
2PM: Canterbury stars flanked by Bulldogs coach Dean Pay begin festivities on the bar’s terrace in view of the public.
5.15PM: Neil Diamond’s Sweet Caroline starts up and Adam Elliott (below) and Asipeli Fine remove their clothes and dance on the table.
5.16PM: A player goes to grab Elliott’s private parts before club officials drag both naked men down.
8.57PM: Marcelo Montoya passes out on a table outside the bar.
TUESDAY
8.30AM: Police attend the Harbour View Hotel and also open investigations into whether players breached public nudity laws.
10AM: The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs release a statement describing the behaviour as unacceptable. NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg says the incident was “embarrassing” and reveals he had warned clubs not to cause trouble on Mad Monday.
WEDNESDAY
4.30PM: Players attend the club’s Belmore headquarters where they are debriefed. Drug testers are seen leaving the facility.
The Daily Telegraph can reveal the Bulldogs will issue $40,000 in fines to the worst offending players.