Tevita Pangai Jr to be sacked by Brisbane Broncos over COVID-19 breach

Tevita Pangai Jr is set to pay the ultimate price after becoming embroiled in a police raid on a Mongols bikie barber shop.

Tevita Pangai Jr has been hit with a breach-of-contract notice. Picture: Ian Hitchcock/Getty

Broncos star Tevita Pangai Jr is set to be sacked for his brazen COVID breach as club bosses draw a line in the sand for the underperforming playing group.

The Broncos board will hit Pangai Jr with a breach-of-contract notice for his COVID offence after becoming embroiled in a police raid on a Mongols bikie barber shop last Saturday.

Tevita Pangai Jr at his house in Brisbane.

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Pangai Jr is also facing a potential $40,000 fine from the NRL for his brazen breach of the biosecurity protocols which have seen him rubbed out of Brisbane’s next two matches against Canberra and the Dragons. The Broncos board convened on Tuesday to discuss Pangai Jr’s indiscretion and want his $650,000 contract torn up immediately.

The Tongan international will have five days to respond to the breach notice, but unless he can provide a compelling defence, it appears Pangai Jr has played his last game for the Broncos.

Broncos powerbrokers are fed up with Pangai Jr’s attitude – on and off the field – and discussed a zero-tolerance stance.

The Broncos are the richest club in the NRL and the board has decreed it will not have their $52m empire tainted by the type of behaviour that saw Pangai Jr go rogue in violation of the NRL’s strict COVID guidelines.

The Broncos released a statement saying Pangai Jr’s future had yet to be decided, but confirmed a probe into his conduct was taking place.

“The club is still finalising its investigation into Tevita Pangai Jr’s breach of Project Apollo protocols,” a Broncos spokesman said.

“The final determination of any sanction has not been made at this stage.”

But the Broncos board will argue Pangai Jr’s contract breaches are multifaceted.

Not only has he defied the NRL’s COVID guidelines, putting the entire code at risk, but brought the Broncos’ image into disrepute by associating with members of the Mongols bikie organisation.

The Broncos executive is also concerned at Pangai Jr’s phone call to Roosters chairman Nick Politis last week amid allegations the forward was shopping himself around to rival clubs.

Pangai Jr has been a problem child for the Broncos on the field. He has missed 12 games due to four suspensions in 14 months, a rap sheet that has not helped his cause with Broncos hierarchy. Broncos teammate Joe Ofahengaue accepts the entire playing group is on notice in the wake of Pangai Jr’s moment of madness.

“It’s very disappointing not just for our club but for the whole NRL,” he said. “We know the pressure is going to be on us.

“We just have to keep doing the right thing because we don’t want to be the ones to stop the NRL.

“We were told how strict it was especially after the Paul Vaughan and Wayne (Bennett) incidents.

“I can’t speak for Tevita. I can’t speak for his thoughts or his actions. He’s let the club down and he knows that but we’ve just got to learn off his decision.”

In June, Pangai Jr told The Australian he owed the club for standing by him during his constant suspensions.

“I have to change my ways,” he said. “I have been looking at myself and my game and trying to get better. I want to have a big year. I feel like I owe that to the boys.

“I am only 24 and the penny has dropped. This is my fifth season now and it’s time for me to deliver. The Broncos have given me a big contract and I have to start paying them back.”

Just 48 hours before Pangai Jr’s breach, Broncos board member Darren Lockyer said the forward had worked hard to improve himself in Brisbane’s leadership group.

But Pangai Jr’s 81-game career at the Broncos now appears to be over.

The Courier-Mail