Canterbury Bulldogs’ Jayden Okunbor set for axe over schoolgirl sex scandal
This is the damning social media exchange between Canterbury star Jayden Okunbor and a student he met on a school visit that is likely to end the winger’s Bulldogs career. READ IT HERE.
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Canterbury winger Jayden Okunbor is set to be sacked by the Bulldogs for allegedly having sex with a school girl while in Port Macquarie for a pre-season trial game.
Okunbor planned to get together with the teenager after meeting her during a school visit, explosive now-deleted messages reveal.
The revelation comes following the release of an Instagram exchange between Okunbor, 23, and one of the girls in which she asks Okunbor if he is “having a good stalk?”
The Daily Telegraph has been told Okunbor is expected to be dumped by Canterbury, although teammate Corey Harawira-Naera will survive.
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The pair have been stood down from Thursday night’s season-opener against Parramatta at Bankwest Stadium after breaking the NRL and Canterbury’s code of conduct by having sex with two 17-year-olds at the team hotel.
Okunbor was at a Canterbury school visit to Newman Senior Technical College to promote rugby league.
He later connected with one of the students on Instagram.
Harawira-Naera met a girl at her after school job and they later connected on social media. It’s believed she also attends the same school.
Both females are believed to be 17 — one year above the age of consent. The sex was consensual. The two players have seven days to respond to show cause notices.
Canterbury officials are considering sacking Okunbor because he met the young female in a schoolyard – behaviour Bulldogs CEO Andrew Hill said wasn’t “reflective of this football club and the game’s code of conduct.”
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In a day of anger and frustration for the NRL and Canterbury, The Daily Telegraph can also reveal:
* The club has lost its new major sponsor — Rashays — over the drama. The mooted $2 million deal with the restaurant chain involved having the company’s logo splashed across the front of the club’s jumper starting from tonight. The deal was formally struck last week after Kia left Canterbury – the only NRL club without a major sponsor - for the Brisbane Broncos. The jersey was due to be unveiled on Tuesday;
* Both players have not only been stood down from playing but also training;
* The Bulldogs were only made aware of the incidents last Friday;
* A Bulldogs player is understood to have had sex on the Port Macquarie trip with a teacher, whom the player met during another school visit. She doesn’t teach at the same school as the two female students. The NRL Integrity Unit won’t take any action over two consenting adults engaging in sex.
* Hill has spoken with NSW Police who confirmed the sex was not illegal.
* The NRL will finalise a report on the matter and then invite Bulldogs management to discuss a possible sanction or punishment. That report won’t be completed until next week.
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It comes as a source confirmed to The Australian that one of the Bulldogs footballers also had a sexual encounter with a teacher. It is unclear whether the teacher was from the same school as the two students involved with the players.
In a screenshot of the exchange obtained by The Daily Telegraph, taken from the girl’s phone of her now-deleted Instagram account, she asks Okunbor “Having a good stalk?”
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The Bulldogs flyer replies “Yeah had to have a good look” before asking her “What are we doing tonight?”
The girl replies back with “You” and a wink emoji.
Two girls voluntarily went to the Bulldogs’ hotel that night and both of whom were over the age of consent. However it still constituted a breach of NRL rules.
On Wednesday, Bulldogs chief executive Andrew Hill confirmed the breach notices issued to Okunbor and Harawira-Naera “relate to players bringing young females of a consensual age back to the team hotel.”
In the Instagram message, Okunbor asks the girl: “we’re (sic) you at the school today”.
She then sends Okunbor a photo of who is believed to be herself, the Bulldogs winger and a teammate during the school visit.
The message thread ends with Okunbor writing “Okay” and including three emojis with heart-shaped eyes.
After posting the exchange she wrote on Instagram: “**gets invited to go back to bulldogs hotel room*** fine if I must.”
NRL management is preparing to hand down substantial penalties and punishment to the Bulldogs.
“We share with the Bulldogs extreme disappointment that we have individuals who have allegedly breached the expectations and behaviours that the NRL expects from our players,” said an NRL spokesman.
On the Big Sports Breakfast radio program, former NSW captain and coach Laurie Daley said: “You go to a school to represent the game and represent your club. It’s an extremely bad look. You’re well aware of your responsibilities as a football player.”
Hill and Canterbury coach Dean Pay held a 10-minute press conference inside Belmore Sports Ground on Wednesday morning.
“They have clearly breached the game’s and club’s code of conduct. The players are aware of their obligations,” Hill said.
“I appreciate there is a lot of interest in this but it is a sensitive matter. The club has acted swiftly and we have taken a strong stance against the two players,” Hill said.
“As you can appreciate, now that the investigation has commenced, the club is not in a position to make further comment at this stage but it is not behaviour or values reflective of this football club and the game’s code of conduct.”
Senior Bulldogs officials who accompanied the team to Port Macquarie will now be under pressure to explain how the drama was allowed to unfold.
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In a prepared statement Hill said: “We can further confirm the breaches do relate to players bringing young females of a consensual age back to the team hotel.
“The clubs want to reiterate that while neither player is the subject of a police investigation, these are very concerning matters that we are treating very seriously.
“We have been conscious through our review of these allegations over the past few days to do everything we could to protect the identity and welfare of the girls involved, that is why we have been careful with the information we have disclosed. To the extent possible we will continue to do that.
“After the past few months where our players received some deserved recognition for their charitable and community work, this is obviously a very disappointing situation.
“The conduct and behaviour not only breaches our club’s code of conduct, it is not reflective of the standards and values we have tried very hard to instil in our players.”