North Sydney Bears assistant coach Andy Alashooty spared jail time over cocaine bust at The Star
Police received an extraordinary explanation after they discovered 11g of cocaine inside a Sydney hotel room of an elite rugby league coach.
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An elite rugby league coach busted with nine bags of cocaine inside his plush Sydney hotel room bought the drugs for his players to help commiserate their recent grand final loss, a court has heard.
In an act described as an “extraordinary fall from grace”, celebrated North Sydney Bears assistant coach Andy Alashooty was caught on security cameras at The Star selling a bag of cocaine to an unknown person in the early hours of September 30 last year during the team’s Mad Monday celebrations.
Casino security reported the matter to police, who arrived at the venue a short time later and searched Alashooty’s 10th floor hotel room.
According to court documents, officers found 10 bags of coke weighing a combined 11 grams inside a North Sydney Bears-branded backpack, which had the initials ‘AA’ printed on it.
When questioned, Alashooty told police he had hired the hotel room for the team’s end-of-season bash and had purchased the coke as part of the celebrations.
“Yeah, I just got them [the bags of cocaine] for the boys after a long season and a grand final loss,” he told police in an explosive admission, which came less than 24 hours after the team’s 28-22 NSW Cup grand final loss to the Newtown Jets.
None of the players were charged with any offences relating to the seizure and The Daily Telegraph does not suggest any of them took any drugs or were even aware of the cocaine being in the room.
Alashooty was arrested and charged with supplying a prohibited drug and knowingly dealing with proceeds of crime.
He pleaded guilty to the charges but sought to have them dismissed under mental health legislation during a hearing in Sydney’s Downing Centre Local Court this week.
Defence lawyer Sam Karnib revealed in court that Alashooty had been a regular abuser of cocaine in his adult years, at one stage using up to two bags of the party drug three to four times a week.
However, he said Alashooty had completed multiple drug addiction programs since his arrest and had also been formally diagnosed with depression and anxiety after seeking professional help.
Magistrate Theo Tsavdaridis refused the mental health application, instead sentencing Alashooty to a two-year community correction order and imposing a $1500 fine.
He accepted Alashooty was a man of previous good character, who had been heavily involved in rugby league as a coach with the Parramatta Eels and Manly Warringah Sea Eagles before moving to the Bears, but said there was a strong need to deter others from committing similar offences.
“The facts do not paint a pleasant picture of what is said to have transpired,” Magistrate Tsavdaridis said.
“This has all the hallmarks of an insightful man who made a conscious decision to buy cocaine and supply it to others in his role as a coach.
“[It’s] an extraordinary fall from grace. I reject the submission that he wasn’t fully aware of the consequences of his actions due to his mental health impairment.”
A NSWRL spokesman confirmed at the time of Alashooty’s arrest that he had been stood down from the club pending the outcome of the police investigation.
It marked the second controversy for the Bears in a matter of months after head coach Pat Weisner was stood down and banned from coaching for 18 months in August 2024 over his alleged involvement in a league betting scandal.
The Telegraph contacted NSWRL today for further comment.
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