‘Blown out of proportion’: Star hits back at Las Vegas scandal coverage

Brisbane Lions star Cam Rayner has slammed the coverage of the Las Vegas scandal which put the club under the spotlight last month.

Brisbane Lions players on their end-of-season trip to the USA in late 2023, Lachie Neale and Cameron Rayner, Picture Instagram @lachieneale,

Brisbane Lions star Cameron Rayner has hit back at the coverage of the off-season trip that overshadowed the club last month.

Rayner was one of 10 players on the post-season holiday to the United States which made headlines after a WhatsApp group chat was seen by one player’s partner.

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The Herald Sun reported one of the players accidentally uploaded the group chat to iCloud on his Apple phone, before it was accessed on a shared device by his partner back home.

The player’s partner is then said to have shared the messages with other partners who became enraged with what was unfolding on the trip in November.

Some players reportedly went home early as a result, with one player and his partner breaking up.

It reportedly led to a rift within the playing group and with the club starting the season 0-3, saw an intense spotlight put on the 2023 Grand Final runner up.

The club has responded emphatically since by defeating North Melbourne and Melbourne and Rayner said the coverage had been way over the top.

Brisbane Lions players on the US trip

“There’s been a little bit of mayo put on the whole thing,” Rayner said on Brisbane’s B105 Breakfast show, Stav, Abby & Matt.

“It’s been blown out of proportion. As a group … it’s brought us closer if anything and you know, I feel like we’ve responded really well.

“Everything goes quiet when you’re playing good footy, so we just need to keep doing that.

“We get to do whatever we want in our off time so we shouldn’t have to respond to critics or respond to anyone over there.”

Rayner speaking out on the saga comes after Jules Neale spoke publicly about the fallout from the end of season scandal.

Players on a private plane. Picture Instagram @lachieneale.

Brisbane Lions players on their end-of-season trip to the USA in late 2023, Hugh McCluggage and Cameron Rayner. Picture Instagram @lachieneale.

Neale, whose husband is Lions co-captain Lachie Neale, described her marriage as “solid”.

Lachie Neale, a two-time Brownlow Medal winner, was among the players involved in the off-season trip.

She told The Sunday Mail: “Every relationship has different pressures, it’s important to keep the outside noise out, in any relationship regardless of it being in the public eye, unfortunately, it’s inevitable that people are going to have their own opinion.

“I think Lachie and I have a really solid relationship, which is all that really matters.”

Jules also addressed the team spirit across the Brisbane Lions group of so-called WAGs, describing the group as “close”.

“We all have great relationships, however a lot of people forget that the club is just a fraction of our lives, so we all have great friendships and lives outside of this as well,” she said.

Originally published as ‘Blown out of proportion’: Star hits back at Las Vegas scandal coverage