NRL star Andrew Frew extorted postman

DRUG-addicted former NRL star threatened to "fix up" a postman he was trying to extort $100K from for sexually abusing his girlfriend.

A DRUG-addicted former NRL star threatened to "fix up" a postman he was trying to extort $100,000 from for sexually abusing his prostitute girlfriend.

Father-of-two Andrew Frew, 37, who played 86 games for seven clubs in Australia and the UK, faces a lengthy stretch behind bars after he pleaded guilty to two charges of blackmail in the Downing Centre Local Court yesterday.

The court heard Frew - once regarded as one of the game's most talented athletes - and his partner Louise Temple, 38, extorted $2000 from a 58-year-old Australia Post worker in August last year.

Frew confronted the man at a house in Lane Cove and accused him of sexually abusing Temple when she was a teenager. According to court documents, the victim had known the woman for more than 20 years when she was a prostitute in Kings Cross.

Frew demanded the money and showed the victim a tattoo on his arm, claiming he was a "biker" and had 100 friends who could "fix you up".

"I don't mind going to jail - I've been there before," he told the man.

Less than a week later the postman handed over another $1000, but 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 (then) you will still owe the $100,000," he said.

The postman went to the police after complaining he couldn't raising the money and asking for more time to pay.

Yesterday the court heard Frew was about to enter a drug rehabilitation program near his parents' home at Mount Pritchard, where he and Temple now lived with his young son and daughter.

In June he was caught with methamphetamine hidden inside his anal cavity during a drugs bust. Police had also stopped him the same month while driving, allegedly with a raft of prescription and illicit drugs in his system.

He and Temple, who pleaded guilty to one blackmail charge, will be sentenced next month.

Frew's last first grade game was for St George Illawarra in 2004, ending a career which included 44 matches and 23 tries for Manly and the Northern Eagles. A noted speedster, Frew placed second to Newcastle Knights Darren Albert in a rugby league sprint for The NRL Footy Show in 1999.