NRL: Bulldogs stars tarnish new season with schoolgirl sex scandal
The messages a Bulldogs player sent to a schoolgirl demonstrate a footballer blind to the immoral, predatory move he was making.
The Instagram messages Bulldogs player Jayden Okunbor sent to a Port Macquarie schoolgirl demonstrate a footballer blind to the immoral, predatory move he was making. “Having a good stalk?” writes the schoolgirl.
Okunbor replies: “Yeah had to have a good look, what we doing tonight?”
“You ;)” replies the schoolgirl.
“Okay okay, we’re (sic) you at the school today?” Okunbor writes.
“Sure was” and the teen sends a picture of herself with the player.
Okunbor replies with “okay” and three emoji faces with love heart eyes — and the rest is now another shameful chapter in the Bulldogs’ history.
Okunbor, 23, and his teammate Corey Harawira-Naera, 24, both had sex with teenage schoolgirls at the team hotel on the trip to Port Macquarie — incidents that have again pushed the mistreatment of women by some footballers into the spotlight.
Okunbor is expected to be sacked by the club; Harawira-Naera is expected to survive because the girl he encountered was at her after-school job when they met rather than on school grounds.
Okunbor was on a Canterbury school visit to Newman Senior Technical College to promote rugby league, and he and the girl later connected on social media.
It’s astonishing that Okunbor clearly thought it was OK to “pick up” a teenage girl with whom he had interacted on a school visit, invite her back to the team hotel and have sex with her.
The power imbalance between the rugby league star and the girl is quite simply enormous.
Okunbor was at the school in the capacity of being a “role model”. He was there as a guest to “spread initiatives” — not to connect and have sex with someone’s daughter.
The Bulldogs visited 12 schools in the Port Macquarie area on the team’s trip for a trial game against Canberra last month — and it is understood one Bulldogs player also had sexual relations with a teacher.
Okunbor, was, as we now know, not alone in his thinking that “hooking up” with a teenage schoolgirl was completely fine on that Bulldogs team trip.
Their rugby league football contracts are rightfully on the line. The players have been given show-cause notices by the NRL and they have been provisionally stood down.
NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg, in a statement to The Australian last night, said the players were facing sanctions that would “send a message to every single player in our game”.
“Our players have no greater social responsibility than promoting respect for women,” Mr Greenberg said.
“Part of being a first-grade player is being a role model. Respect for women is a fundamental aspect of our training courses from rookies to elite players.”
Meanwhile, the teenage girls who had sexual relations with Okunbor and Harawira-Naera are being trolled mercilessly on social media.
After a summer of hell last year, including multiple allegations of sexual assault and domestic violence levelled at their players, the NRL enforced a no-fault stand-down policy for those footballers up on serious police charges.
The world-leading policy (in sport) made a firm stand against misbehaviour and kept sponsors in the game.
The latest incident comes at a time when Megan Davis, an Australian Rugby League commissioner, is also conducting a forensic cultural review into the game that should be delivered in coming months.
Professor Davis was a leading voice on the no-fault stand-down policy. Her report will come with recommendations to help improve the game’s culture.
This latest Bulldogs incident tarnishes an entire code, made up of footballers who mostly avoid scandal and act respectfully.
The State of Origin remains sponsor-less after Holden’s close down.
Meanwhile, the footballers’ actions have seen a $2m jumper sponsor, Rashays, quickly sever ties with the club.
The Bulldogs are the only club without a brand/company on their jersey.
Hard questions, again, are being asked of why the Dogs can’t get their club culture right.
Bulldogs chief executive Andrew Hill and chair Lynne Anderson have been in repair mode since Mad Monday in 2018, when lewd and drunken behaviour of players exposing themselves was caught on camera.
In a statement to The Australian yesterday, Ms Anderson defended her club’s culture but also said she had been in regular contact with the girls’ school and their family members.
“I can say we have been in regular contact with the school and family members of the girls involved, and we will keep supporting them the best way we can,” Ms Anderson said.
“We have not swept this matter under the carpet, we have acted swiftly and decisively after finding out about these events and shown strong leadership.”
Ms Anderson said the incidents in Port Macquarie weren’t an accurate representation of her club’s culture.
“We have worked tirelessly over the past 12 months to develop the type of culture we want here at the club,” she said.
“That has meant some great outcomes in terms of the charitable and community programs we run, with our recent visit to Papua New Guinea to promote the game and visit a local hospital a good example.”
In a statement, a spokeswoman for the diocese of Lismore said the Catholic schools office was aware of concerns regarding two of the region’s secondary students.
Additional reporting: Kieran Gair
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