AFL players who found themselves on wrong side of the law
These AFL stars dazzled fans on the field, but their illustrious careers didn’t stop their fall from grace and into the courtroom.
Police & Courts
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AFL footy stars are used to being in the spotlight, drawing attention and criticism from avid fans for their on-field antics.
But for some, it’s their behaviour when the guernsey is off that makes headlines.
Many past and present players have found themselves on the wrong side of the law, having to suit up and front courts across the state.
From traffic offences to more serious allegations, involving drugs and assaults, here are some of the cases involving elite footballers that have landed in a courtroom in the past year.
ANDREW LOVETT
Boredom during the pandemic’s lockdowns is what Andrew Lovett claimed drove him to alcohol and cocaine — and in turn, led to attacks on his former police officer girlfriend.
In March, the troubled ex-Essendon player was jailed for eight months over a 22-month domestic violence campaign against Melanie Rowe.
Lovett, who played 88 games for Essendon from 2005-09, pleaded guilty to 24 offences — including recklessly and intentionally causing injury — and eight counts of assault.
So terrifying were his crimes, Ms Rowe told the Herald Sun she feared she would be killed.
“I strongly believe if the cycle of family violence continued, I wouldn’t be here to tell my story,” Ms Rowe, 36, said.
His offending, aired in Dandenong Magistrates’ Court, included shocking assaults on Ms Rowe, where he had choked, punched, kicked, spat on and even poured a beer on her between February 2020 and his arrest on December 9 last year.
JORDAN DE GOEY
It has been a big 12 months of legal encounters for Collingwood star Jordan De Goey.
In August last year, he escaped a conviction in Melbourne Magistrates’ Court and was slapped with a $2075 fine after pleading guilty to seven charges, including driving while suspended, speeding and failing to display his P-plates, over three separate road incidents.
Three days after Christmas 2020, he was nabbed driving a black Maserati GranCabrio at 93km/h in an 80km/h zone on the Nepean Hwy in Brighton East.
On doing a licence check, police discovered he was a probationary driver who wasn’t permitted to be behind the wheel of a sports car.
He also didn’t have P-plates displayed.
“I’m literally just dropping it off, there’s no other reason I’d have this car,” De Goey told the officers, explaining the luxury top-down vehicle was not his, and that his P-plates were on his own car.
On February 13, 2020, De Goey was also found to have no P-plates displayed when stopped on a Harley-Davidson along Olympic Blvd, Melbourne.
He was earlier caught driving while suspended when an eagle-eyed cop spotted him texting on his mobile phone while waiting at traffic lights in his blue Lexus on Punt Rd, South Yarra, on July 6, 2019.
His licence had been suspended for three months on March 20, 2019 after he had racked up demerit points.
In the same month that he learnt his fate over the driving offences, police announced in court they would be dropping their case against the footballer over a 2015 sexual assault.
De Goey was set to contest the allegations, with the Chief Commissioner of Police ordered to pay his $15,000 legal fees.
In November, De Goey also found himself inside a courtroom on the other side of the world, after he was arrested and charged over a brawl at a swanky New York rooftop bar.
In January, he reappeared in the Manhattan court via videolink from Australia, where he pleaded guilty to a harassment violation and was ordered to attend anger management and alcohol therapy sessions.
ROBERT EDDY
Former St Kilda footballer Robert Eddy is set to fight allegations he “bashed” his lover in a drunken rage.
In May, the woman fought back tears as she told the Moorabbin Magistrates’ Court how she was scared for her life during the alleged attack at her Clarinda home on January 23, 2020.
She testified that he punched her to the face, before strangling her and threatening her with a screwdriver.
“I think it was a fist to my eye. The next thing I remember I was on the floor and he was sitting on top of me,” she said.
“He put his hands around my throat. He tried choking me. I couldn’t breathe.”
Eddy — who played 33 games for the Saints between 2007 and 2011, including the 2010 grand final and replay — has pleaded not guilty to recklessly causing injury and assault offences.
He vehemently denies the allegations and claims he was, in fact, the victim and trying to defend himself from the woman when she lashed out at him.
A two-day hearing is slated for November where a magistrate will determine if Eddy is guilty or not guilty of the charges.
MAJAK DAW
Majak Daw exchanged his red and blue Melbourne football guernsey for a black suit and tie to front Melbourne Magistrates Court on June 21 on driving offences.
The popular footballer — who inspired many when he became the first Sudanese-born AFL player — had failed to update his residential address on his licence, so claims he did not get a notice to say it had been suspended due to accrual of demerit points.
“As far as I’m aware, until you pulled me over, I thought (my licence) was fine,” he told the police who had stopped him on Chapel St, Windsor, on November 19 last year.
He pleaded guilty to driving an unregistered vehicle with a suspended licence, and was fined $1200 without a conviction or any further licence suspension.
Daw started his career with North Melbourne, who he played 54 AFL games with between 2013 and 2020.
Last year, he was picked up by the Demons, but never got a game due to injury.
Six days after his court appearance, he announced his retirement from his 12-year footy career, citing injuries and wanting to spend more time being a dad to his young son.
RON DE IULIO
Former Carlton footballer Ron De Iulio is on a six-month diversion program, issued in Melbourne Magistrates’ Court in April as his second chance over drug-related offences.
De Iulio, who played more than 100 games with the Blues during the 1990s, came to the attention of police when he started acting suspiciously in their presence as he walked along Swanston St, just north of Flinders Street Station, in Melbourne on June 18 last year.
When stopped, police found 4.6g of ice, $4350 cash and two mobile phones in a black bum bag.
He initially denied having anything illegal on him, but later claimed the ice was for his personal use and the cash was to buy a couch.
De Iulio, now 50, admitted possessing a drug of dependence and dealing in property suspected of being proceeds of crime.
The court heard he had struggled with life since hanging up his boots, and had turned to drugs during Covid lockdowns.
He was placed on diversion, meaning if he remains of good behaviour between April and October, then he will avoid a conviction.
He was also ordered to pay an $800 fine.
SAM FISHER
A police raid on Sam Fisher’s Sandringham home allegedly found an array of illegal drugs.
Officers seized 7.19g of methylamphetamine in an ensuite bathroom, along with syringes containing human growth hormones inside the fridge when searching the Bay St apartment in May.
Ecstasy tablets and a box of diazepam were also allegedly uncovered in his bedroom.
The search came as police suspected the ex-St Kilda defender of being involved in a cross-border drug ring, where drugs and cash were regularly being concealed in whitegoods and sent between Melbourne and Perth.
Fisher, who played 288 games for St Kilda from 2004 to 2016, is charged with trafficking a large commercial quantity of methylamphetamine, trafficking cocaine and possessing drugs of dependence.
The trafficking charges carry a maximum penalty of life in jail.
The two-time best and fairest player was bailed to receive treatment at a drug rehabilitation clinic, after revealing his daily drug addiction.
He has vehemently denied the trafficking allegations and will return to court on September 7.
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