By Billie Eder and Dan Walsh
Dragons five-eighth Junior Amone is set to have his $500,000-a-year contract torn up after the NRL issued a notice proposing his deregistration for his role in a rooftop hammer attack on a tradie in Wollongong.
Amone was sentenced to a two-year intensive corrections order and 300 hours of community service in Wollongong Local Court earlier this month.
On Tuesday afternoon the NRL served the 21-year-old with a notice, proposing his deregistration. Amone has five business days to respond.
An NRL media release confirming the notice said the governing body’s wellbeing and counselling services had been made available to the player.
Amone had already been stood down from all club activities by the Dragons after being found guilty of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, stalking or intimidation and destroying or damaging property in court in October.
He was arrested late last year over the attack, after the court heard he and his father, Talatau Amone, armed themselves with hammers and attacked tradies near their home in Warrawong after a dispute over a vehicle parked on a nature strip.
Talatau Amone has five days to respond to the NRL’s notice.Credit: Getty
One of the tradesmen fell two metres and sustained injuries to his wrists, arms and hip after allegedly being pushed off a roof in an incident Magistrate Gabrielle Fleming described as “appalling”.
Amone’s father was jailed for two years and six months with a non-parole period of 12 months. The sentence was backdated to time already spent in custody before he was bailed, meaning he will be eligible for release in September. Amone was also ordered to pay compensation to the victim.
Amone had been considered one of the Dragons’ brightest prospects and is under contract until the end of 2024.
He has played 54 NRL games and has been capped by Tonga at international level.
St George Illawarra skipper Ben Hunt had hoped to form a long-term scrumbase combination with Amone at five-eighth given his progress over the past two seasons in the halves.
New coach Shane Flanagan is now expected to try son Kyle, who has signed a two-year deal with the Red V, alongside Hunt as the Dragons look to the market to fill their halves stocks.
Tom Dearden’s opting to ignore rival interest, led by the Dragons, to ink a long-term Cowboys extension until the end of 2029 takes another potential halves target off the market.
The Dragons had also enquired about rising St Helens star and English international Jack Welsby, though he is under contract until the end of 2025. Welsby is currently in extension talks with the Super League powerhouse as well about adding an extra two seasons to his tenure.