Footy prodigy on brink of NRL deal becomes big-shot bikie before incredible transformation in jail

A feared bikie enforcer has traded the underworld for a career so unlikely that cops were certain it was a criminal front.

Owen Turnbull could have been an NRL star but he threw it all away for booze, cash and women.

The former Canberra Raiders and Parramatta Eels junior makes no bones about it — he was “a waste of talent”.

“I was on the cusp of the NRL and I threw it all away for the bikie life,” he said.

“There was a lot of pressure from my dad to play footy and I guess I just turned my back on it. I was young and naive, I got into that mindset of doing all the things like drinking and girls that I felt like I’d missed out on because of footy.”

That pivotal decision sent Turnbull down a dark path into a world of drug dealing, violence, and eventually a jail cell.

At the time he thought he’d found his people — bikie brothers who had his back.

“My first ever line of cocaine was with my president at the time. I was too scared to do it. I watched a doco back in the day and a guy had his first line and he died from it, so I was always too scared to do that.”

Budding footy star Owen Turnbull opted for a life of crime instead, jointing the Rebels and then the Nomads.

Owen Turnbull ended up in jail for drug trafficking before deciding to change his ways..

But four years after he joined the Rebels he became “really dependent”.

“I was a broke bum for a lot of years until I started hustling and making money with the pingas, all the cocaine, bottles of Valium. I was making a killing and then, yeah, we’re doing like an ounce a week of cocaine.”

Turnbull defected from the Rebels and became sergeant at arms of the Canberra chapter of the Nomads. He had his share of enemies.

“I was on social media back and forth and this guy was warning he was gonna come and shoot up my house and I was like ‘whatever’.

“I was laying in bed with my girlfriend and I looked out the door and there were flames. I opened the door and this kid with balaclava was standing there with a gun I opened the door and said ‘go on then c**t’ ad he did it.

“It’s funny to look back now, it was only pellets but it still stung and burned and he ran away and there I was putting out the fire with a shoe in my undies.”

Lifelong reminders of his underworld life, Owen Turbull’s gun shot wounds.

When the bullets hit his mum’s bedroom he knew he was a risk to those he loved.

What wasn’t so comical was the second time a gunman came after him.

“It was a real wake up call. They came with pistols and shot up the place. It went through my parents’ room and thankfully my mum was overseas at the time.

“For a couple of hours police did all the measurements of where the bullets went and one of the trajectory was that it would have hit my mum while she was sleeping. Yep, that was a big wakeup call.”

Turnbull said his time in jail for drug trafficking made him realise he didn’t belong there. He needed to find a way to turn things around.

Watching inmates shooting up ice, others behaving like grubs, he thought “this is not me, I grew up a nerd, playing videos and watching cartoons”.

That’s when he decided to keep his head down, get away from the bikies who never really had his back and just do his time.

“I was at the right place at the right time when I got out of prison,” he said. However someone must have seen the potential in him.

“One of the cops that arrested me asked if I wanted to do a gang exit thing with QLD police.”

The exit program - the first of its kind - was called Project Kairos.

It helped members of outlaw motorcycle gangs to leave their criminal lifestyle and reintegrate into society.

“I did that and the detective helped me so much. I then got invited to talk in Melbourne in front of American DEA agents and I’ve done other talks for police and NRL.”

Today Turnbull is making an honest living - but the road to being a clean skin isn’t always a smooth one.

“I’ve gone from a bikie to a nerd. I tried to get into certain jobs but I had trouble getting work places. So since August last year I have focused on my card business. Ive got thousands of Pokemon and sport cards and so I decided to really focus on turning that into a business. “The first one I sold was a very rare Lebron James rookie card.”

It seems police were not convinced Turnbull would stay on the straight and narrow.

In April 2023 police raided his home, believing he was selling drugs again.

Owen Turnbull was on the cusp of the NRL but opted for a life of crime he now regrets.

“I had a bedroom full of my cards, the business was registered so it all sorted out but they thought my text messages about rookie cards, Lebron James and things were some kind of code... it was mad.”

Turnbull has a message for anyone thinking gang life is glamorous, but also for young footy players about to come into money on their first contracts.

“A lot of the boys have just got their first contracts, like I can tell them what to watch out for, like don’t get used, be cautious of who you’re hanging around with.

“Be careful of who you are taking photos with, uploading on social media, like just basically stuff that what I went through.

“Be careful who you trust because it’s really easy to throw away your opportunity.”

Hear more of Turnbull’s colourful past and how he turned things around.

Originally published as Footy prodigy on brink of NRL deal becomes big-shot bikie before incredible transformation in jail