NRL 2020
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NRL powerhouse club South Sydney Rabbitohs covered up alleged drug use, domestic violence and harassment to protect a star player, and is accused of using fake identities to hide positive tests for illegal substances.
Officials from the Russell Crowe-owned club were aware of the destructive lifestyle of superstar Sam Burgess, and promoted him to captain despite knowing of his behaviour.
Burgess, 31, is now employed in a coaching role at the club.
A four-month investigation by The Australian has uncovered pharmaceutical records, sworn statements to NSW Police, statutory declarations, witness accounts, call logs, emails, text messages, bank records, WhatsApp exchanges and Uber receipts detailing Burgess’s alleged episodes of drug use, domestic violence and abusive behaviour.
Souths chief medical officer Andrew McDonald treated Burgess during a drug-fuelled episode on November 6, 2018, and injected him with liquid tranquilliser — but wrote the prescription in another person’s name, according to pharmacy records obtained by The Australian.
In the wake of this incident, Burgess underwent a secret drug test with a different doctor on November 7, 2018, in the underground car park of South Sydney Juniors club, where he allegedly tested positive for MDMA and ketamine.
The drug tests were allegedly recorded under a fake name, according to sworn statements provided to NSW Police.
Dr McDonald was present — along with a nurse recommended by the club and another Rabbitohs player — when Burgess allegedly assaulted a heavily pregnant Phoebe Burgess in November 2018. “I don’t have any comment at this stage,” Dr McDonald said in response to questions submitted by The Australian.
Officials at the highest levels of the club were also notified about Burgess’s use of drugs in the months prior to his promotion to club captain in April 2019.
Lawyer Mark O’Brien, acting for Burgess, last night strongly denied all allegations. “The allegations are false and constitute an indefensible defamation against my client,” Mr O’Brien said.
“It is apparent sources of the false allegations are those currently in dispute with my client over various issues.”
Souths’ handling of its superstar athlete goes to the heart of elite football’s cultural problem: individual clubs suppressing scandals while failing to address the welfare of athletes and their families.
NRL rules require clubs to report to the NRL Integrity Unit any potential incident where a registered player has engaged in conduct that could bring the game into disrepute.
Burgess’s father-in-law, high-profile businessman Mitch Hooke, has for the first time revealed he witnessed Burgess assaulting his heavily pregnant daughter Phoebe during the November 2018 bender by crushing his 116kg body onto her as she screamed. Mr Hooke also said he heard Burgess harangue his wife with verbal abuse, including “you weak c...”.
“I was worried she was going to lose the baby,” Mr Hooke said when contacted by The Australian about the incident.
“You could tell she was in pain. She was inconsolable, she was crying. There was this wail, you can’t describe it. As a father, I can’t think of anything that was more traumatic in my life. If anyone who is a father or mother and hears their child let out that wail, it was deep and came out from right down inside, it was utter fear and traumatised like nothing I’ve ever heard. I will never, ever forget.”
Sam Burgess is currently facing a charge of intimidation (DV related) against Mr Hooke, relating to an October 2019 argument at Mr Hooke’s home.
Police also took an apprehended violence order against Burgess on Mr Hooke’s behalf. The AVO is still in place and Burgess has pleaded not guilty and denied any wrongdoing.
In a statement to NSW Police in the AVO proceedings, obtained by The Australian, Phoebe Burgess, 31, wrote: “There have been a lot of issues in my relationship with Sam, including physical violence as well as emotional and psychological abuse. Sam during our relationship has made me feel intimidated and scared. I am fearful that his behaviour will continue and he will not stop intimidating me and making threats against me.”
Approached for comment by The Australian on Thursday, Phoebe Burgess would only say: “This is an extremely painful, difficult time and I am trying to care for my two toddlers while we move on from an extremely traumatic chapter of our lives.”
‘Culture review’
The NRL is in the midst of a “culture review” under new chairman Peter V’landys after a string of incidents involving individual players being accused of domestic violence and mistreatment of women.
Since Burgess’s retirement in October 2019 he has been employed as a development coach at Souths and mentored by veteran coach Wayne Bennett, positioning Burgess as a leader within the club and league.
Bennett insisted Burgess join him in the NRL’s Project Apollo meetings during the COVID-19 crisis and Burgess on Thursday trained with the Rabbitohs ahead of their elimination final against Newcastle on Sunday.
The Australian can reveal Burgess claimed in private messages in September 2018 that then-NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg told him he would not be suspended over a sexting scandal while it was still being investigated by the NRL and Souths.
That scandal had blown up when a woman complained to the club she had been subjected to sexual harassment by Burgess and other players during a video call in which Burgess allegedly showed her his penis.
She went to the media after the club failed to act on her complaint and the story was published in The Daily Telegraph in September 2018. The newspaper did not name her.
In text messages obtained by The Australian, Burgess refers to the woman’s name possibly being leaked to the media.
“Todd Greenberg confirmed to me that I’m not suspended. It’s a joke, it’s all going to turn in our favour. Her name is getting leaked, going to get leaked her tits were shown. Also leaked they’re roosters fans. The tide will turn soon. Honest be patient. People are catching on,” Burgess said in a text message to his wife on September 17, 2018, that was forwarded to a friend and obtained by The Australian.
Sources close to Greenberg said, despite immense pressure from the Rabbitohs, he had only told Burgess he could continue playing until the investigation was complete, which is consistent with his public comments at the time.
It can also be revealed Phoebe Burgess told Rabbitohs co-owner Russell Crowe about Burgess’s alleged use of “heavy drugs” as well as “booze” and “girls on social media” in a text message on November 26, 2018 at 5.43am. The messages were annexed to Phoebe Burgess’s statement to police as part of her father’s AVO case.
The concerned Hollywood legend then contacted Burgess, with Burgess complaining in a text message the same day at 7.35am: “Phoebe why did you message RC saying everything … I am at work today fixing the club and now they think I’m a drug addict. What are you trying to solve here. Such lies.”
Phoebe Burgess also sent Crowe a message on September 24, 2018, about another incident when Burgess went missing from his family for 48 hours after the September 22 preliminary final against the Roosters, asking if Crowe knew where Burgess was. Crowe said he had not heard from him since the game.
A second senior Souths official was also told of Burgess’s alleged abuse of prescription medications including Xanax and Kalma (both anti-anxiety benzodiazepines) and Imovane (a sleep-inducer) in text messages from Phoebe Burgess on February 20, 2019.At 12.03pm on February 21 the official texted her: “Totally get it. Let’s get him off them.”
Club complaint
The Australian has also interviewed a Melbourne woman who declined to be named but has signed a statutory declaration alleging the club mishandled her complaint about Burgess in September 2018.
The woman claims South Sydney CEO Blake Solly called her in September 2018 after she rang the club to make a complaint about Burgess, with whom she “unknowingly” had an affair in late 2017 during the Rugby League World Cup, when he was married with a baby at home.
The woman, who said Burgess told her he was separated from his wife, claims she became angry when she saw him on television denying a sexting scandal.
The woman claims she told Mr Solly she wanted a written apology from Burgess.
“I wanted to have no verbal contact with Sam but wanted to make it clear that he needed apologise for his actions,” she said. “Mr Solly said he would speak with Sam urgently and get back to me with a plan of attack.”
The woman claims she then started receiving numerous calls and a text message from Burgess to her old number — and when she didn’t answer it Burgess started calling her new private number. She claims — and later told police — Burgess used phrases including: “Shut your f..king mouth you pig. You are f..king dead. You are a moll. Shut your mouth slag.”
The text message from Burgess on September 19, 2018, at 4.31pm, states: “It’s Sam. Can you call when you get a chance. Thanks.”
She wrote to Mr Solly in a message on September 19, 2018, at 4.56pm: “Hi Blake, I don’t want to speak to Sam nor do I want him calling me.
“I have decided for all parties involved and to clear my conscience of any wrongdoing to just come out and tell the truth to the media on how the players treat women. Thank you again for your time today.”
Mr Solly texted back: “I’m very sorry. I am just on a conference call. I will call you ASAP. Thanks.”
Mr Solly told The Australian on Thursday: “I did not provide (the woman’s) number to Sam Burgess. I was not aware that she spoke or referred the matter to the police. In any event, the matter was referred to the NRL Integrity Unit. The complaint was treated seriously and expeditiously.”
The woman never heard from the NRL Integrity Unit.
In a statement on Thursday night the NRL said: “The club informed the Integrity Unit of information it had received from a woman regarding a personal relationship she had with former NRL player Sam Burgess. The information the Integrity Unit received did not include any allegations of threatening behaviour or other conduct which would breach NRL rules.”
The woman said she never received an apology. She said she left a voicemail on Mr Solly’s mobile phone on October 4, 2018, stating she had just left the police station having made a formal complaint because of Burgess’s “ongoing threats”.
The family man
Burgess was 21 when he arrived in Australia in 2010 to play for Russell Crowe’s Rabbitohs.
The loveable English rogue shone on the field, soon becoming a gladiator of the game. In 2014 he wrote himself into NRL folklore after he fractured his eye socket and cheekbone in the opening tackle of the grand final, and still shouldered the Rabbitohs to victory. Burgess was hailed as a god by fans and he had grown extremely close to Hollywood legend Crowe, who treated him “like a son”.
He built up a polished social media image as a devoted husband and family man, marrying Phoebe Hooke at a lavish ceremony at her parents’ property in Bowral, in the NSW Southern Highlands in 2015. Four years later, the marriage was effectively over.
According to Phoebe Burgess’s statement to police, Sam Burgess went from adoring husband to sharp-tongued critic, regularly calling her a “weak c …” to her face, telling her to “get the f … out” of his house while she breastfed their newborn son Billy and referring to her as “a c …” to his teammates in the South Sydney locker room.
In her statement to police Phoebe Burgess writes of another incident shortly after Billy’s birth in December 2018: “I was bathing the kids when Sam heard me sniffling and crying quietly. He walked into the bathroom and told me to ‘get the f..k up, you piece of shit’, ‘why are you f..king crying in front of my children, you weak c.... Get the f..k out of my house. You’re pathetic.’ I couldn’t move as I had my newborn son lying on my arm in the bath.”
Drug warning
Crowe and another senior Souths official were made aware of Burgess’s multi-day benders and alleged drug use in the months before he was promoted to captain in April 2019.
Sam Burgess went on a two-day partying spree after his team lost the crucial preliminary final against the Roosters on September 22, 2018.
After the defeat, Burgess hit that Mad Monday hard and didn’t come home for two days, despite his wife’s pleas. On September 23, Phoebe was admitted to North Shore Private Hospital, 28 weeks pregnant.
“Phoebe was paralysed. She wasn’t eating or drinking and the baby stopped moving,” a close friend said.
She was prescribed an anti-anxiety medication safe for pregnancy. A close family member of Phoebe’s managed to get in contact with Burgess, told him his wife was in hospital and to sober up.
But Burgess allegedly refused, saying: “F … off. You can’t tell me what to do.”
Two days after the game, at 9.55pm on September 24, Phoebe Burgess texted Crowe asking if he was concerned about Burgess, in a text exchange provided to NSW Police in relation to Burgess’s pattern of behaviour.
“Are you concerned about him? Last I knew he was out partying with his teammates,” she wrote.
Crowe replied: “I haven’t heard from him since the game.”
Phoebe Burgess texted back: “He didn’t come home after the game, he called me immediately after the game in an emotional state, we were fine. Then went out with the boys without seeing us first. Then I was admitted to hospital and he sent me a message this morning but I was in ultrasound with baby. And he has just gone off the grid. I’m worried.”
Crowe was then told again about Burgess’s partying and use of drugs in another message from Phoebe Burgess two months later, on November 26, 2018.
“He is now being led by his elder brother on a trail of booze, heavy drugs and girls on social media,” Phoebe texted.
“He might need a good friend, bc he is just not our Sam. And definitely not the beautiful man I married for life.”
On November 26, Burgess hit the roof, saying “I’ve seen what you wrote to RC”. Burgess admonished Phoebe and complained that the “club” now thought he was a “drug addict”, and texted her at 7.35am: “What are you trying to solve here? Such lies.”
Drug-fuelled bender
As the Burgess family tried to recover from the sexting scandal, and Burgess’s private revelation he’d been having an affair, they eagerly awaited the birth of their second child.
On November 4, 2018, Sam and Phoebe Burgess attended a farewell barbecue at Randwick Golf Club for departing Souths player Jason Clark.
Phoebe Burgess left the party in the afternoon and says in her statement Sam Burgess promised to be home at 7.30pm with dinner. But after briefly returning home at midnight, left again. An Uber receipt from 1.03am on November 5 records him heading out.
Burgess called at 7am and admitted he had been using cocaine, according to the statement Phoebe Burgess provided to NSW Police.
“He sounded high to me. I asked him if he had done drugs. He admitted to using cocaine,” she said in the statement.
Burgess did not return home the entire day of November 5, as he continued partying with his brother Luke and others.
After a trip to Baby Bunting on her own, Phoebe Burgess grew increasingly anxious as the day unfolded and she had not heard from her husband, with his phone turned off.
Meanwhile, Luke Burgess’s ex-partner, Yolanda Hodgson, was also desperately trying to reach Luke. Ms Hodgson had been trying to call Luke Burgess since 9am, ringing about “100 times”, according to text messages obtained by The Australian.
With Ms Hodgson and Phoebe Burgess becoming increasingly panicked, both spoke to Sam’s mother Julie Burgess, who set out at 7.30pm to try to find her sons.
Text messages from the night, along with detailed accounts of what unfolded, have been provided to NSW Police as part of the upcoming AVO proceedings involving Sam Burgess and Mitch Hooke, and obtained by The Australian.
“Give me an hour,” Julie Burgess texted, “Am starting at Chifley.”
Julie Burgess managed to track down the brothers at Justin Hemmes’ swanky bar, The Establishment, in the city.
Phoebe Burgess’ statement to police alleges when Julie Burgess dropped the brothers at Sam and Phoebe’s family home, both Sam and Luke were abusive and angry.
Phoebe Burgess claims Luke started shouting at Phoebe it was not her “f..king house” and ordered her to “sit down”.
In the morning, when the pair had continued partying overnight and with yelling coming from the basement, Julie Burgess called in sick from work to try and look after her sons. It was clear they had not slept, according to Phoebe Burgess’s statement to police.
Sam was red-eyed and looked scared and confused.
According to the statement to police, Luke followed Phoebe, who had Poppy on her hip, up the stairs yelling at her: “You’re a weak c.... Sam needs a strong partner. A strong woman. You’re weak. A weak c….” This isn’t your house, you f… piece of shit, you f… bitch.”
He started moving towards Phoebe Burgess, pointing his finger and screaming.
Julie stepped in physically between Mrs Burgess and Luke, shocked, and sent Phoebe upstairs with Poppy and put Luke in a cab to go home.
In her statement to police, Phoebe Burgess described her husband’s state. She said Sam was shirtless, his veins popping out of his arms, he was overheating, his skin was burning hot and his eyes dark.
“He looked wild like a caged animal, he was out of his tree and scared. His eyes at this point were scared, not aggressive, they kept darting between Julie and I,” she wrote.
As the day progressed, Burgess allegedly grabbed hold of his daughter, Poppy, and refused to give her back to Phoebe or Julie.
The statement to police alleges Burgess’ condition escalated, with Sam starting to scream and bang on the windows. Phoebe Burgess locked herself in her bedroom with her child and called fellow player, Jason Clark. “Please come and help me, I’m so scared,” Phoebe said on the phone, according to her statement to police.
Clark, who had just woken up, said he would stay on the phone while he came over, talking to her while he put his shoes on, got his keys, spoke to his wife and drove over, even describing the streets he was passing.
When Clark arrived, he and Julie took Sam back into the basement to reduce the risk of neighbours hearing the commotion.
Sam was running around, repeatedly yelling, “Where’s Biffa (Luke)? Get Biffa in the house.” One person present took a short video recording of this, which has been seen by The Australian.
Rabbitohs chief medical officer Andrew McDonald was called over to help. He also recommended calling in a psychiatric nurse, Jan Earl, who had experience with situations like this.
“Doc” Andrew McDonald promised Phoebe that if he felt Burgess’ condition was seriously deteriorating, he would take her husband to hospital, prioritising his health above his career.
“I looked Andrew McDonald in the eye and asked him to swear to me that he would tell me when it was time for me to call an ambulance and let the paramedics do their jobs. He nodded slowly and thoughtfully,” Phoebe Burgess said in her statement to police.
The statement also includes the allegation that Sam Burgess told Phoebe he had taken MDMA but later admitted to Earl he had taken six pills at once.
What unfolded was a cycle of screaming and incoherence, with episodes of violence, tears and aggression.
Prescription drugs
Witnessing much of the episode were Phoebe’s parents, Mitch and Sarah Hooke.
Mr Hooke, the former chief executive of the Minerals Council, has built a reputation over four decades as a tough negotiator.
Mr Hooke, 64, has not given a media interview since his retirement in 2013, but when asked about the events that unfolded on November 6 and 7, 2018, decided to answer questions, saying he was not prepared to be part of any cover-up. His voice quivered while describing the episode.
“We walked into a household that was in absolute turmoil,” Mr Hooke said.
“Phoebe was doing her best to guard Poppy upstairs. Sam was absolutely going bananas downstairs. There was yelling and screaming, there were other people there. People were trying to console him.”
Mr Hooke said his son-in-law’s behaviour was “beyond recognition”. “I could hear him when I arrived screaming and he was almost incoherent,” he said.
“He was loud and aggressive and just like nothing I’d ever seen or heard in anybody, and clearly a very, very different persona to anything that we had known in Phoebe’s time with him.”
Mr Hooke said Dr McDonald approached him on the stairwell to speak about Burgess’s condition.
“When the doctor came halfway up the stairs, I said: ‘You have to put this guy in hospital’,” Mr Hooke recalled.
“And he said: ‘Well he can’t go into a private hospital, he has to go to a public hospital.’ He said words to the effect: ‘If this gets out in the public arena this will impact his career or earning capacity.’
“I said: ‘I don’t give a f..k about that, I’m worried about his health.”
According to Mr Hooke, Dr McDonald then started writing out a script. He handed it to Mr Hooke. “I looked at it and I said: ‘What’s the script for?’ He said: ‘Liquid valium.’ I said: ‘This is in my name.’
“He said: ‘Yep’.”
Mr Hooke said he questioned Dr McDonald, telling him this was not right.
“He’s basically putting me in the position where I was going off to get a script made out in my name for a drug he was going to administer Sam,” he said.
“I had no alternative. Even my faint knowledge of the law knows that that’s not right but I had a doctor telling me there’s no other way. He wouldn’t put the script in Sam’s name.”
Documents obtained by The Australian confirm the prescription was issued by Mr McDonald for Burgess in Mr Hooke’s name.
The pharmacy has a prescription record of Diazepam AMP 10mg, in a quantity of 5, being issued on 6th November, 2018 to Mr Hooke, prescribed by Dr Andrew McDonald, which The Australian has obtained.
Mr Hooke’s Visa credit card statement also has a record of $18.50 for Walsh’s Village Pharmacy in Maroubra on November 6, 2018.
In her statement to police, Phoebe Burgess wrote: “Andrew McDonald administered small amounts of liquid diazepam AMP (10mg) via injections into Sam’s bicep, to slowly bring his pulse and heart rate down — if this was done too quickly, it could have been fatal. If this had not been done at all, it could also have been fatal.”
‘He’s out of control’
Mitch and Sarah Hooke said Burgess was violent towards others in the room.
At one point, Burgess was being restrained on one side by Clarke and on the other by Dr McDonald.
Witnesses recount how he kicked Ms Earl in the stomach, screamed at her: “Who is this fat slut, get out of my f … house, f … off you ugly c …, you don’t know me.”
Mr Hooke said he was aware of Burgess’ violence towards the others.
“I was aware of it, because Julie and Jan told me,” Mr Hooke said.
“Jan told me, ‘He’s out of control but I’ve done this before’, he’s kicked me, and Julie said, ‘He’s even hitting out at me.’ And you could see the red marks on Julie’s throat.
But Mr Hooke said the worst act of violence he had ever experienced first hand was directed at his pregnant daughter.
“He started calling for Phoebe. He was calling for Phoebe, Phoebe, Phoebe, and she said, ‘I’ll go to you’ and I said ‘No darling, he’s out of control’,” Mr Hooke recalled.
“Julie was down there, the doctor was down there and the nurse was down there. Phoebe went down.”
Mr Hooke said Burgess started apologising to Phoebe quietly. She walked towards him and he gently touched her stomach but within a second his demeanour changed.
Mr Hooke said he saw Burgess, who still had no shirt on, only jeans, aggressively collapse his entire 116kg weight on top of Phoebe, falling on her, grabbing her and aggressively squeezing her heavily pregnant stomach.
“He grabbed her. She was eight months pregnant. It was a really aggressive grab. Phoebe was struggling to get out of what was a very aggressive embrace,” Mr Hooke said.
“She struggled to get out. Someone pulled him from behind, she broke free and ran up the stairs into my arms.”
Phoebe screamed out as she fled into her father’s arms.
“I do remember Phoebe falling into my arms and her wailing was nothing I’d ever heard before. She was saying: ‘Somebody help him, help him.’ You could tell she was in pain. She was inconsolable, she was crying. There was this wail, you can’t describe it. As a father, I can’t think of anything that was more traumatic in my life,” he said.
“Here was his wife, eight months pregnant, and he was jeopardising her, his child, he had a daughter upstairs. She (Poppy) was screaming and crying and knew there was stuff going on. My wife was trying to protect her.
“His abuse of Phoebe was unprintable. He called her an effing c.... Who calls their wife that? I’ve never heard of this kind of stuff.
“I will never, ever forget. If anyone who is a father or mother, and hears their child let out that wail, it was deep and came out from right down inside, it was utter fear and traumatised like nothing I’ve ever heard.
“What really struck me at the time was despite his abuse of Phoebe she was more concerned about him than herself. When Phoebe came into my arms, she was wailing more for him than herself, she was saying: ‘Somebody help him, somebody help him, screaming at the top of her lungs.’
“She was still caring for this, this, this monster, this aggressive uncontrolled monster, she’s carrying his child and she’s still saying somebody help him and yet she’s just come from what was a terrifying experience. He was out of control and abusing her and physically attacked her. As a father, you can’t comprehend that kind of stuff. Looking back now, I can’t comprehend it let alone being stuck in the middle of it.”
Mr Hooke said he was worried for Phoebe’s unborn child.
“Massively. Massively. I was worried for Phoebe’s health. I was worried she was going to lose the baby,” he said.
“I got to tell you I’ve seen some heart-wrenching things in my time but that just about ripped my heart out.
“Here was my eight months pregnant daughter struggling up these steps to get away from her husband … It was probably the most confronting thing I can recall in my life.”
Phoebe Burgess’s mother, Sarah Hooke, said Julie Burgess was concerned the incident would be made public.
Mrs Hooke told The Australian she heard Julie Burgess say: “The media can’t get hold of this, they can’t get hold of this.”
Mrs Hooke said the entire incident was “horrendous”.
“It was heartbreaking,” Mr Hooke said.
“The whole episode was from another world. It was bizarre, the man we tried to love and became part of our family was suddenly a monster.”
Burgess finally came through the drug-fuelled bender in the early hours of November 7.
Julie Burgess let Dr McDonald out the house at 11pm on November 6 and slept beside her sons, according to text messages seen by The Australian. In the messages Mrs Burgess said at 3am, Burgess woke and was coherent, having juice and crumpets to his mother’s relief. Julie Burgess and Jan Earl did not respond to requests for comment.
Drug test in car park
The morning after this episode concluded, November 7, 2018, Phoebe Burgess drove her husband to an underground carpark at Souths Juniors club on Anzac Parade, Kingsford.
Phoebe Burgess says in her police statement: “It was decided Sam would have a blood test. Somehow between them all it was decided we would take him to a private location and have a GP take the blood and urine samples.
“The car park was tight, narrow and winding. Sam kept growling at me over my driving.
“I was instructed to park in a specific part of the lowest level of the carpark.”
This was when a GP showed up — just appearing in the shadows — carrying testing kits. He opened the back door and greeted Sam warmly. He spoke lightly, almost in a jovial manner.
“Had a bit of trouble, have you Sammy mate? It’s OK, can’t see us down here, cameras don’t reach this spot. It’s the only blind spot in the place.
“Sam got out of the car to provide the urine — but he sat back in the car to allow the doctor to take a blood sample — in the dankest, darkest corner of the underground carpark.
“This was the point when it was clear the episode was over and the clean-up had begun.
“The test was taken. (The doctor) wrapped it all up and I heard them speak briefly about what name the pathology would be submitted under.
“The GP would call as soon as he received the results. It was imperative (to know) what was in the pills Sam took to ascertain how to treat him. Was it an overdose? Was it a bad batch of pills? Was it the mix? Or was it Sam’s brain, emotional condition, pressure, stress, concussions etc it was the first step in his recovery.
“(A nurse) explained that the GP who took Sam’s blood and urine samples would not be sending them to pathology under Sam Burgess. She explained that they would go under ‘Ben Smith’.
“The tests eventually came back (in a week or two). The pills were apparently a ‘bad batch’ of MDMA. They contained traces of rat poison, ketamine and other toxic chemicals.”
Court proceedings
In October 2019, police took an apprehended violence order against Sam Burgess for the protection of his father-in-law, Mr Hooke.
This arose from an encounter at the Hookes’ family property at Glenquarry in the NSW Southern Highlands – the scene of the glittering 2015 wedding.
Sam Burgess arrived at the property to spend time with his children on October 19 and a confrontation ensued with Mr Hooke asking Sam to leave, which he did.
Arriving home to see her father terrified, Phoebe rang the police who then applied for the AVO on Mr Hooke’s behalf, as well as charging Burgess with one count of ‘intimidation (DV related)’. Burgess pleaded not guilty to the charge.
Burgess’s lawyer, Bryan Wrench, told the court in November 2019 the AVO was based on “false allegations … There was no violence, no intimidation and no threats.
“So far as an interim order is in place, we make no admissions and make denials.”
The matter is due to be heard in November.
While it was Phoebe who rang the police to protect her father, Mr Hooke told The Australian he had been deeply concerned about his daughter and worried how he could best protect her as her husband unravelled.
“We watched this outward, gregarious, bubbly personality just degenerate into this almost traumatised, cautious, anxious person – just so not our Phoebe,” he said.
“She was desperately trying to stay the course in the hope as she said to me that he would get help and that her children would have a father … trying to work through his problems and encourage him to get help.
“Good Sam was exceptional. That’s what we all experienced when they first met and subsequently married.
“We didn’t see the bad Sam then. And unbeknown to us she was covering up so much.
“It wasn’t until we were confronted with the full reality of what this girl had been suffering for the sake of her children and family I have got to tell you I bawled my eyes out for almost two days straight when confronted with the full knowledge of the systematic abuse she suffered and I’m not the sort of bloke that’s easily given to tears.
“We saw our second daughter, a huge part of our life’s work as parents and a family, unravelling before our eyes and we were paralysed to do anything about it.”
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@mariner4life yep. It’s a long story too. Posted above for those that had trouble with link.
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@ACT-Crusader said in NRL 2020:
@mariner4life yep. It’s a long story too. Posted above for those that had trouble with link.
That doctor is in a lot of trouble isn’t he
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That's pretty fucking bad. What a complete stain.
If this is true, then a lot of people are very fucked. And rightfully so.
Being good at sport gets you away with far too much in our society. Until you retire.
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@mariner4life said in NRL 2020:
That's pretty fucking bad. What a complete stain.
If this is true, then a lot of people are very fucked. And rightfully so.
Being good at sport gets you away with far too much in our society. Until you retire.
It’s up there with sportsmen who get off serious crimes and convictions because it might impact their future prospects overseas.
Wasn’t Todd Greenberg pushed out unexpectedly?
Maybe this had something to do with it -
@ACT-Crusader said in NRL 2020:
“(A nurse) explained that the GP who took Sam’s blood and urine samples would not be sending them to pathology under Sam Burgess. She explained that they would go under ‘Ben Smith’.
Bit of a stitch up for poor Bender.
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@mariner4life said in NRL 2020:
That's pretty fucking bad. What a complete stain.
If this is true, then a lot of people are very fucked. And rightfully so.
Being good at sport gets you away with far too much in our society. Until you retire.
It’s up there with sportsmen who get off serious crimes and convictions because it might impact their future prospects overseas.
Wasn’t Todd Greenberg pushed out unexpectedly?
Maybe this had something to do with itWow... a lot to process there, beats the normal copy and paste journalism. He was crucial to the clubs success and keeping his other brothers at the club while they were performing. Looks like Souths bought that theory hook, line and sinker and if proven true have a lot to answer for. Assuming they can actually put real names to events. If the patient was fake, do they even know who the doctor in the shadows was.. Dr Nick Riviera?
If proven true a lot of people are gone.
@Virgil Todd set up and presided over an organization with too many levels and no accountability leading to a blow out of the books. (among other things) V'landys had to cut the fat and that was the main reason portrayed. However given what we know now, could make a great scapecoat even if it stretched to the CEO in the NRL in that era. I would find it hard to believe it went that high up, but anyone involved is well and truly f**ked and if true Sam is lowlife fluffybunny who deserves everything thrown at him . -
I'm picking Dad has pulled some strings to get their side of the story out there.
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I'm picking Dad has pulled some strings to get their side of the story out there.
Seems to me they just leaked the AVO submission, then worked with the journo to corroborate some of their allegations.
Given the nature of the allegations I'm not sure any strings needed to be pulled. Any media org would crawl over broken glass to get this sort of story.
There's a chance it's all a beat up, and elements of the story have been fabricated to help with an upcoming court case. But given some of the stuff Burgess has been involved with the allegations do have a ring of truth to them I reckon.
The doctor stands to be in the most trouble of anyone.
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@bayimports said in NRL 2020:
He was crucial to the clubs success and keeping his other brothers at the club while they were performing.
Actually you need to look to management to understand why the brothers were kept. Certainly the coach didn't want the donkeys.
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How good is Viliame Kikau. He’s quick and makes metres on the edge, he runs hard and it takes 2-3 to bring him down.
Panthers have the best halves combo by far.
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Cleary nails the droppie with just over 2 minutes to go and you would think going up 7 that would be it. But in 40 seconds Roosters score a converted try.
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Panthers win. Good win.
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Roosters showing that they're still a threeat depite the loss. Still think it's anyone's game tbh.
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Another front pager tomorrow on the Burgess saga
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Rugby league superstar Sam Burgess waited outside the home of a rival footballer who he blamed for exposing a sex scandal and discussed wanting to assault him, boasting: “I will get him when I retire.”
The Weekend Australian can reveal Burgess claimed he had sat outside the home of young Roosters player Billy Smith for an hour, waiting for him to emerge, as revenge for the misguided belief he exposed a sexting scandal to the media in yet another example of the destructive world of the South Sydney superstar, first exposed by The Australian on Friday.
Revelations that South Sydney covered up Burgess’s alleged drug use, domestic violence and harassment has now led to him standing down from his Fox Sports role and assistant coaching job at the Rabbitohs.
NSW police and the NRL have also launched separate investigations into the allegations published by The Australian relating to Burgess and South Sydney, which include that Burgess physically assaulted his wife, Phoebe, when she was eight months pregnant and that club doctor, Andrew McDonald, injected him with liquid tranquilliser during a drug-fuelled bender but had prescribed the medication in another name.
South Sydney on Friday had a three-hour board meeting about The Australian’s report. The club released a statement: “The allegations in today’s The Australian are very concerning and the club is treating them with the utmost seriousness.” South Sydney said it welcomed the NRL Integrity Unit’s investigation into the club and Burgess standing down from his role.
Burgess and McDonald have declined to comment.
In further revelations, Burgess allegedly threatened Smith after a game in the tunnel and subsequently discussed wanting to physically assault him, saying 10 years ago he would have “knocked him out cold”.
Burgess made the remarks in text messages sent the day after he pulled Smith’s hair during a game, on September 5, 2019. Earlier this year, Phoebe Burgess provided NSW police with the text messages in relation to intimidation charges police had laid against Burgess after an altercation with her father, Mitch Hooke.
“I told him after the game I know he was involved and I will get him when I retire. He was a scared little boy,” Burgess texted his then wife about Smith at 3.59pm on September 6, 2019.
“To be fair I was happy I didn’t do any more ha. In my mind I wanted to stand a n (sic) his head.”
Burgess continued to speak about what had happened on the field with Smith: “He squealed so I twisted and pulled. More then (sic) he whimpered like a little Pussy. Such a soft f..k.”
Phoebe Burgess texted back: “you’re twisted sometimes.”
And Burgess replied: “Arghh it frustrates me. 10 years ago I would have knocked him out cold.”
Phoebe Burgess replied: “You’re a better example to your son this way. So I’m proud you held back — even slightly.” Burgess texted back: “Slightly — understatement” and said: “You know I’ve been to his house before and parked outside for an hour just wishing I would see him.”
Phoebe replied: “Yes. I know.”
Burgess texted back: “Dats Dewsbury Sam” and said “Haha dad would have waited until we did see him.”
Roosters sources told The Weekend Australian Burgess had approached Smith with an expletive-filled tirade in the tunnel after the September 5 game against the Roosters, saying he would “get him”. The hair-pulling incident was captured in dramatic footage, with the matter going to the judiciary and leading to a one-week ban for Burgess.
Burgess felt it was too harsh.
“In the context of the game, there were four or five blokes knocked out, 50 stitches put into people’s heads after a game,’’ Burgess said of the punishment. “Then someone sits in front of the computer on Friday and that’s what they pick up?
“It says it all. I’m disappointed.”
Spark for hate
The sexting scandal of 2018 — where a woman complained to Souths that Burgess had exposed himself to her in a video call — was the genesis of Burgess’ hatred of Smith. Smith had a connection to the woman, who lodged a complaint to the Rabbitohs.
The NRL Integrity Unit investigated Burgess and exonerated him of one of the many scandals that ultimately contributed to his destructive lifestyle.
But NRL investigators examining the complaint entertained Burgess’s allegations that Smith may have been behind the media leak. He was called into the NRL Integrity Unit for an interrogation, with investigators even examining his mobile phone.
The meeting took place in the Roosters’ office and Smith was accompanied by his father, along with the all-powerful Roosters boss Nick Politis, in a show of support. In the meeting, Smith told the NRL Integrity Unit boss Karyn Murphy of his innocence.
“Here’s my phone, take it … if you think I’ve done something,” Smith said in the meeting.
As one highly ranked Roosters club man observed; “It was a set-up to deflect away from his (Burgess’s) behaviour … and he walked away looking lilywhite in the end.”
While Smith was entirely exonerated of any involvement in the leaking of the scandal, Burgess still appeared to blame him, holding onto his resentment for a full year.
The events that sparked the sexting scandal began on May 26, 2018, when Burgess was partying with his teammates in Auckland, New Zealand, after beating the Warriors 30 to 10 at Mount Smart stadium. A 23-year old Sydney student and wellness advocate, whom The Weekend Australian has chosen not to name, sent Burgess a message over Instagram.
According to her account to the club later, she was not looking for attention but was alerting him to a fake account of his that had been set up. The correspondence led to a group video call, with several players flashing their buttocks at her. After the group call ended, Burgess had another personal call with the woman from his hotel bed. During this call, the woman took a screenshot of an image of the married Burgess, the father-of-one with another on the way, exposing his penis.
She would later say she felt violated and disgusted by the online interaction. She lodged a written complaint with South Sydney about Burgess’s behaviour.
The club’s football operations manager, Brock Schafer, received the email on June 1, with the assurance it would be treated seriously.
Subsequent follow-up emails sent by the young woman were then directed to a junk folder as the email address was not recognised and the IT system tagged them as spam. When her complaint had not been addressed four months later, she contacted The Daily Telegraph about the club’s cover-up of the sexual harassment, with the story running on the front page on September 14.
The newspaper named Burgess as the player at the centre of the scandal a day later.
Burgess had in early September signed a multi-million-dollar deal with the Rabbitohs until 2023.
The scandal rocked the Rabbitohs on the eve of their preliminary final and damaged Burgess’s reputation as a devoted family man.
The club and the NRL launched a joint “independent” investigation into the episode, run by a panel including Souths CEO, Blake Solly and chair Nick Pappas.
Behind the scenes, the Burgess PR machine, led by lawyer Chris Murphy, appeared confident the NRL would not pursue Burgess over the matter. In documents obtained by The Australian dated September 20, 2018, Mr Murphy assures the Burgess family the scandal will soon go away, saying his interpretation was that there would be no adverse finding.
Mr Murphy describes the woman’s behaviour as “slutty honeypotting” and claims Burgess was “hunted” by fans.
“It is obvious the NRL is letting it die this way,” he said.
“The woman won’t speak to them and somehow I think they are having trouble tracking down the Scots boys, Smith … whoever.
“(Todd) Greenberg was very firm about not saying anything adverse about anyone and I read that as his way of softening up for saying they can’t resolve anything adverse on what they have ie the interviewed footballers’ version of her slutty honeypotting. These camp following twisted fans are a real nuisance. I get them with all celebrities and Sam as a sportsman is hunted just the same way.”
Revelation of the affair
The Roosters galvanised internally in the wake of the scandal, despite Burgess and Souths trying and failing to draw them into the sexting saga. The Rabbitohs lost the preliminary final on September 22 against the Roosters.
Phoebe Burgess put on a brave face to support her husband by attending that crucial preliminary final, just a day after Burgess had been cleared of wrongdoing by the NRL. Accompanied by her parents and daughter Poppy, Mrs Burgess was invited to sit in Russell Crowe’s box, alongside Chris Murphy and celebrity accountant Anthony Bell, a member of the Souths board.
Witnesses recalled observing a heavily pregnant Phoebe being heckled by crowd members, saying things like: “Do you want to FaceTime Mrs Burgess?”
After the defeat, Sam Burgess didn’t come home for two days.
With the pressure of the sexting scandal weighing on her, Phoebe was admitted to North Shore Private Hospital on September 23, 28 weeks pregnant, when her baby appeared to stop moving.
Burgess was still out partying. Phoebe Burgess texted Crowe as to her husband’s whereabouts on September 24.
Phoebe Burgess was still reeling from the public humiliation of her husband’s involvement in the sexting scandal, and her pregnancy scare, when a far more devastating revelation emerged.
On September 27, just four days after she was admitted to hospital, Phoebe Burgess learnt her husband had engaged in an extramarital affair with a Melbourne woman.
Chris Murphy rang Burgess to say Herald Sun journalist Stephen Drill had interviewed the woman and planned to publish a story that would divulge the details of their affair that had begun around November, 2017.
Burgess was left with no option but to confess to his wife at their family home that he had had a sexual affair while in Melbourne captaining England in the Rugby League World Cup.
All the while, Phoebe was solo-parenting their eight-month old daughter, Poppy, and flying around the country with her parents to support Burgess’s World Cup campaign. Apologising through tears, Burgess described the affair to her as “pure filth” and reiterated how much he loved her and their family.
A close friend recalled how a distraught Phoebe battled to fight back tears because Poppy was in the room: “She was hyperventilating. She didn’t want her daughter to see her breakdown. She was lying on the bed wailing. It broke her. She was in pain.”
Again, the Rabbitohs machine swung into action.
The following day, September 28, Crowe organised a plane to fly Burgess, Phoebe and Poppy from Bankstown Airport to his farm in Nana Glen in northern NSW, in an attempt to help Burgess keep his family together.
A friend of Burgess’s said Crowe was supportive of Phoebe and tried to help Burgess understand what he stood to lose.
Burgess made the decision not to take up playing opportunities for the off-season in England, although he publicly blamed a shoulder injury on the decision.
Saving his marriage and dealing with the multiple crises in his private life was a large part of the reason. The story about Burgess’ infidelity never made it to print and the affair remained a secret to all but those closest to Phoebe and Sam.
It was yet another buried scandal, with Burgess managing to maintain the outward appearance that his life was in order.
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@African-Monkey said in NRL 2020:
Roosters showing that they're still a threeat depite the loss. Still think it's anyone's game tbh.
I agree with this, both sides could take it further, I just think Roosters still have a couple of key players to come back
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@antipodean said in NRL 2020:
@bayimports said in NRL 2020:
He was crucial to the clubs success and keeping his other brothers at the club while they were performing.
Actually you need to look to management to understand why the brothers were kept. Certainly the coach didn't want the donkeys.
At the time George had a significant impact on their grand final win, Tom and Luke were clearly part of a "keep Sam at the club" deal. Then George also lost form as well and coaches were scrambling to get them off the books. Overpaid behemoths who were not versatile enough for faster forward game
