NRL 2021: Bulldogs star Adam Elliott fighting to save career after he was kicked out of restaurant

Adam Elliott’s camp has questioned why he’s still under investigation by the Bulldogs when the NRL has already handed down its own punishment.

With Adam Elliott now facing the sack at Canterbury, his agent has slammed the NRL player punishment system that allows the governing body and clubs to dish out separate penalties for the same offence, claiming “it just feels like double jeopardy”.

It comes as Canterbury issued Elliott with a breach notice on Friday night for bringing the game and the club into disrepute for hooking up with NRLW player Millie Boyle in a Gold Coast restaurant toilet.

After already being slapped with a $10,000 breach notice by the NRL and stood down by the Bulldogs for the rest of the season, there is a very real threat that Elliott now faces having the final two years of his $500,000-a-season contract torn up.

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Elliott has been given five days to respond to the breach notice but is expected to front a club hearing on Monday week to plead his case.

While Boyle has publicly claimed it was nothing more than “a kiss in the bathroom”, the Bulldogs board is not ready to put the issue to bed.

Adam Elliott could face further disciplinary action from his club.

Canterbury chief executive Aaron Warburton did not want to comment publicly when contacted on Friday night.

But Elliott’s agent David Riolo had earlier questioned why Elliott was even being investigated by the Bulldogs given the NRL integrity unit had already completed its own investigation and determined that a $10,000 breach notice was sufficient punishment.

“For me it is a bit like going to the Supreme Court for whatever your misdemeanour is and you go through the process and you have a finding against you,” Riolo said.

“And then on the way out you have to go back to Local Court for the same (misdemeanour).

“It just feels like double jeopardy.

“Adam Elliott has gone through a full hearing with the NRL.

“The Bulldogs have seen the NRL’s findings and recommendations.

“But now they are conducting their own thing.

“And it is like, hold on, I don’t get this.

“I just don’t know how the process works anymore.

“I don’t think it is fair on players to be tried in different jurisdictions for the same crime for want of a better term.

“That is not just about Adam Elliott.

“That is just in general.”

Adam Elliott attempts a tackle for the Bulldogs.

Riolo pointed out the same thing has happened recently to players at other clubs, noting Paul Vaughan’s Covid-breaking barbecue that resulted in St George Illawarra players copping separate penalties off the NRL and the Dragons as another prime example.

“In terms of procedural fairness I don’t think it is right that players are tried by both the game and their clubs for the same incident and are sanctioned separately by both the game and their clubs for the same incident,” Riolo added.

“It doesn’t make sense.

“There should be a common (decision).”

Riolo also questioned why Elliott won’t be allowed to return for Canterbury’s final round clash next weekend given the NRL investigation has been finalised.

The Bulldogs initially decided to stand Elliott down for the rest of the season pending the integrity unit investigation.

But Elliott remains in camp with the Bulldogs in Queensland.

“To be honest with you I was surprised when he got stood down for the rest of the year before the investigation had even been undertaken,” Riolo added.

“I understand if they decided to stand Adam down until the NRL had completed its investigation which would have meant he would have been stood down for this week.

“But in my mind I don’t know why he is not available for next week. But they have chosen to do that.”

RLPA chief executive Clint Newton said Riolo’s concerns were justified.

“We have made our position clear with the NRL in regards to our desire for a review of the integrity system and framework,” Newton said.

“And we don’t believe in a system that allows multiple employers to penalise players.”

GOULD REVEALS WHY DOGS DIDN’T BOOT ELLIOTT

Bulldogs general manager Phil Gould has admitted terminating Adam Elliott’s contract at the club is an option.

Gould has also revealed Elliott was kept with the Canterbury team in Queensland despite being stood down for the remainder of the season due to concerns for the footballer’s welfare.

Elliott is at the centre of NRL Integrity Unit investigation after he was ejected from a Gold Coast restaurant for entering the bathroom with NRLW star Millie Boyle.

Boyle has since given an interview to explain her side of the story, saying “all we did was have a kiss in the bathroom” and claiming it’s “a big kerfuffle about nothing”.

Gould told Wide World of Sports the issue would normally not be a major issue, but for Elliott, who has repeatedly inflicted damaging headlines on the club, it was a decision that could prove costly.

“In Adam’s case, and what I tried to explain to Adam, while you think this might not be a major issue, it is actually because it allows the media to regurgitate all that stuff, and that’s apart from ‘what the hell were you thinking anyway’ and ‘why did you put yourself and get yourself into this position’,” Gould said.

“You may think that it’s only a minor issue but it’s actually not and they’ve got to learn to understand why that happens.

“In isolation sometimes they’re not major issues but they accumulate over time and sponsors and members and fans and, as I say, staff, everyone starts to get worn by it and tired by it and when it’s the same culprits all the time, that’s when they start to get intolerant of it, to be honest.”

Gould suggested that tearing up Elliott’s contract would depend on the Integrity Unit’s findings — and if, the club were willing to hand him a third chance, having also previously been reprimanded for his role in the club’s 2018 Mad Monday fiasco.

“We see it happen from time to time with players and clubs and they bounce around and try to start something somewhere else,” Gould said.

“I don’t know whether that will be the case with Adam or not, but that will be a decision we make once the NRL Integrity Unit has done its job.”

Gould added that he had made the decision to keep Elliott in Queensland with the NRL side rather than allowing him to go to Darwin to visit his family or come back to Sydney.

Bulldogs general manager of football Phil Gould. Picture: AAP Image/Darren England

“I’ve been doing this a long time and you feel for them but there are two parts to this, there’s the welfare of the player and with Adam Elliott we made the decision to stand him down for the last two games of the season, and then what do we do?” Gould said.

“Do we keep him in camp or do we send him home?

“He wanted to go to Darwin to visit his former partner and child and I didn’t want to send him there on his own and I didn’t want him to come back to Sydney on his own so we’ve kept him with the team because there’s a welfare issue with this now.

“There’s a mental health issue and we’ve got to be very guarded with how he deals with this because as the reasoning comes to hand, he’s sort of realising now what’s happened and the ramifications for that, not only football-wise but in his personal life.

“As I say, this will resolve itself in one way or another, his relationship with the Bulldogs, in the next week or so I suppose, but there are other personal issues that are going to go on beyond that outside of football and we’ve got to be mindful of the mental health and the welfare of the player also.”

Adam Elliott has been stood down for the final two games of the season. Picture: Richard Dobson

‘KISS’ THAT ENDED BULLDOG’S SEASON

NRLW star Millie Boyle says she was simply having a “kiss in the bathroom’’ with Canterbury’s Adam Elliott before they were kicked out of a Surfers Paradise restaurant by security.

That kiss will now sideline Elliott for the rest of the season after he was stood down by the Bulldogs. He is now fighting to save his $1 million, two-year deal with the Bulldogs as club officials grow tired of Elliott’s off-field behaviour.

“I’d been at the Burleigh Pavilion having a few drinks,” Boyle told The Daily Telegraph.

“Then we went to a restaurant and I bumped into Adam. I haven’t seen him for ages. We grew up together on the far south coast. I’m from Bega, he’s from Tathra but we went to the same high school before he moved up to Sydney.

Adam Elliott in action for the Bulldogs. Picture: NRL Photos

“I’ve known his family for a long time. I’d had a few too many drinks, as you do from time to time.

“Look, all we did was have a kiss in the bathroom. It’s been taken way out of context. It’s a big kerfuffle about nothing. We’re both single and mates from way back.

“It was stupid and more embarrassing than anything else. Seriously, we did nothing wrong but had a few too many.”

It is understood Elliott has separated from his long-term partner – who has relocated to Darwin - following an incident with the wife of ex-teammate Michael Lichaa earlier this year. The pair have a young child together.

Boyle was with Broncos teammate Lauren Brown and Rugby Sevens star Charlotte Caslick on Sunday.

Elliott was asked to leave the restaurant about 10pm.

Broncos and NSW Origin star Millie Boyle. Picture: Josh Woning

“When we were walking out, I spoke to the manager and everything was fine,” Boyle said. “They apologised for the fact there was any drama. This worries me because there’s a certain reputation out there with footy players. Something stupid and small happens and it’s out there in the public.

“It looks worse than what it was. I’m mindful, as the women’s game grows, we want to have a good image.”

The Daily Telegraph has learnt Elliott had not touched alcohol before Sunday since the highly publicised incident with Lichaa.

He had been drinking with teammates before some decided to head to Surfers Paradise.

The players did not breach NRL’s strict biosecurity protocols by going to White Rhino Bar and Eats. Calls to the restaurant went unanswered.

Elliott spoke with the NRL’s integrity unit on Monday afternoon.

Bulldogs players held crisis talks on Monday.

A planned video session was cancelled and replaced with a meeting. The NRL and the club were made aware of the incident on Monday morning.

Canterbury cancelled training on Monday. Picture: Chris Hyde/Getty

The players who were with Elliott were quizzed separately.

Elliott, who only recently played his 100th top grade game for the club, said earlier this year he would take “professional help in regards to issues with alcohol” after a string of boozed-related off-field incidents.

He was front and centre during the club’s mad Monday incident in 2018.

The club confirmed he would not play again this year.

“The club are currently working with the NRL integrity unit regarding the matter,” a Bulldogs statement read. “As a result the Bulldogs have stood Elliott down from the final two matches of the season, until that process has been completed.

“The club is not in a position to comment further at this stage.”

Originally published as NRL 2021: Bulldogs star Adam Elliott fighting to save career after he was kicked out of restaurant