Rugby league legend Jason Smith charged with trafficking cocaine
TOM SNOWDON
THE COURIER-MAIL
JANUARY 06, 2015 6:37PM
RUGBY league great Jason Smith has been charged with trafficking cocaine following a six-month investigation involving the Crime and Corruption Commission.
The former Origin and Australian rugby league champion stands accused of moving about 280g of the drug between June and December last year.
The charges were a result of a six-month joint investigation between the Crime and Corruption Commission and the Darling Downs Tactical Crime Squad.
His co-accused is Toowoomba restaurant owner Jason Matthew Wood, 34.
Smith enjoyed a glittering career during his 18 years in the game, playing for a host of clubs and even returning to the NRL after a stint playing overseas.
During his time he pulled on the jersey for the Canterbury Bulldogs, Parramatta Eels, Canberra Raiders and the North Queensland Cowboys.
He also ran onto the field at State of Origin level 16 times – including with Queensland’s legendary 1995 team – and donned the green and gold for Australia on 15 occasions.
He was widely considered one of the greats.
After quitting the sport seven years ago when he was 35 – then the oldest player in the league – he bought the Mill St Tavern in Toowoomba.
Smith and Wood were charged with trafficking dangerous drugs and released on bail on Monday.
They are both due to appear in the Toowoomba Magistrates Court on February 11.
Former NRL star Matt Seers charged with supplying cocaine on Gold Coast
JAMES HOOPER
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH
JANUARY 15, 2015 10:36AM
EX-NRL player Matt Seers has been arrested and charged with supplying cocaine on the Gold Coast.
Seers, who played fullback for the North Sydney Bears and Wests Tigers during the 1990s and early 2000s, has been granted bail and will appear in the Southport Magistrates Court on February 10.
Queensland police said a 40-year-old male from Chinderah had been arrested and charged with “15 counts of supplying a dangerous drug and one count of trafficking a dangerous drug”.
The Seers arrest is part of a joint investigation between Queensland police, the Crime and Corruption Commission and NSW police.
The development comes one week after retired Queensland and Australian legend Jason Smith was arrested and charged with allegedly trafficking 280 grams of cocaine between June and December last year.
Seers was selected on the NSW State of Origin reserves bench during Super League war on four occasions.
Seers is the cousin of ex-NRL player Craig Field, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison after being found guilty of the manslaughter of NSW north-coast farmer Kelvin Kane last December.
Jason Smith and Matt Seers accused of being part of major cocaine cartel
JEREMY PIERCE, RHIAN DEUTROM
THE COURIER-MAIL
FEBRUARY 11, 2015 6:18PM
FORMER football stars Jason Smith and Matt Seers were part of a multi-million-dollar cocaine cartel, police will allege.
Smith, a Queensland State of Origin rugby league hero and former Australian player, and Seers, a one-time NSW Origin representative, were arrested on different days in different cities but both have been charged with trafficking cocaine in what police and the Crime and Corruption Commission will allege was a major drug operation.
Attending Toowoomba Magistrates Court to sign bail documents yesterday, Smith wore a T-shirt marked “Rehab Island” and refused to answer questions from the media outside.
A day earlier, Seers’ case was mentioned briefly at Southport Magistrates Court, on the Gold Coast.
Little was said in court during both appearances, but police documents reveal the duo, who between them racked up more than 400 NRL games and 20 Origin clashes, are banned from contacting each other during their respective cases.
Smith, who runs a pub in Toowoomba, was arrested in the Garden City on January 5 and charged with trafficking cocaine.
He faces a second charge after police allegedly found a set of scales and two spoons used in connection with drug trafficking.
Seers has also been accused of drug trafficking and taking part in more than a dozen drug deals on the Gold Coast and in Toowoomba between August and December last year.
Smith is a Queensland Origin legend who played for the state 16 times through the 1990s and early 2000s and played 15 Test matches for Australia.He finished his NRL career at the North Queensland Cowboys in 2007.
Seers did not reach the same lofty heights but still played for NSW four times and represented Country Origin in a career featuring 187 NRL games for North Sydney and Wests Tigers.
Both men were also banned from contacting several others, including co-accused Toowoomba man Jason Matthew Wood, who are connected to the case.
Seers will front Southport Magistrates Court on April 15 while Smith will face court in Toowoomba again on May 6.
QUEENSLAND sports star Karmichael Hunt has been charged for supplying cocaine, after a sting involving the state’s Crime and Corruption Commission.
The Queensland Reds fullback and vice-captain, 28, met with detectives last night where he was issued a notice to appear in court over four counts of supplying the drug.
Hunt’s charges follows that of former rugby league stars Jason Smith and Matt Seers who police and CCC allege were part of a multimillion-dollar cocaine cartel.
The CCC this morning released a statement that said the charges stemmed from an investigation into a cocaine trafficking syndicate in southeast Queensland.
Hunt and two men and a woman were last night issued their notices to appear in court, with the CCC alleging they “arranged for the supply of cocaine for personal use or to on-supply cocaine to friends and colleagues between June and December last year”.
Hunt has been listed in the start up side against the Western Force at Suncorp Stadium tomorrow.Highly-decorated and known for his successful “code-hopping”, he previously played for AFL team Gold Coast Suns and rugby league team Brisbane Broncos.
He won the Dally M Rookie of the year for the Broncos in 2004, later playing in the Queensland and Australian league teams.
Smith, also a former Queensland and Australian league representative, was charged with trafficking cocaine in Toowoomba between June and December last year after the six-month CCC investigation.
Seers, who played league for NSW, is also charged with trafficking and supplying the drug on the Gold Coast and Toowoomba last year and has been banned from contacting Smith.
Two years ago Hunt said the AFL and NRL’s drug testing policies were similar and thorough.
“Mate, they are pretty much the same,” he said at the time.
“All I know is I get tested a lot and always have.
“Ever since my second year in league, I couldn’t count how many times I’ve had to do it.”
Hunt is due to appear in the Southport Magistrates Court on March 5.
Big black eye for footy codes with two Gold Coast Titans players hit with cocaine charges
JAMES HOOPER
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH
FEBRUARY 21, 2015 12:00AM
THE NRL’s worst public relations nightmare has materialised on the cusp of a new season with two Gold Coast Titans players hit with cocaine charges as part of a widespread Queensland Crime and Corruption Commission investigation.
At least five Titans players have been directly or indirectly caught up in a covert QCCC investigation into a multi-million-dollar cocaine trafficking syndicate in southeast Queensland, which has also seen ex-NRL stars Jason Smith and Matt Seers arrested and charged.
Titans hooker Beau Falloon, the Gold Coast’s player of the year last season, has been charged with four counts of supplying cocaine and issued a notice to appear in Southport Magistrates Court on March 5.
The drama forced Titans CEO Graeme Annesley to announce the club was moving its makeshift training base from the prestigious The Southport School to an alternative venue owned by the Gold Coast Council.
The Daily Telegraph can confirm police have contacted at least one other Titans player who is currently in camp with the club’s NRL squad in Cairns preparing for tonight’s trial against North Queensland and are expected to speak to him next week.
In a worst-case scenario for the NRL, Falloon is due to appear in court on the same day premiers South Sydney will launch the new season by travelling to Brisbane to meet the Broncos at Suncorp Stadium.
Falloon’s charges coincided with Queensland Reds rugby union star Karmichael Hunt being charged with four counts of supplying cocaine by the QCCC and issued with a notice to appear in court on March 5.
Titans rookie Jamie Dowling, who has played only 10 NRL matches, has also been charged with seven counts of possession of cocaine and two counts of supply by the QCCC.
The Titans have stood down both players from all NRL-related duties until their cases are due for mention in Southport Magistrates Court.
A QCCC media release yesterday stated:
“The CCC will allege that during an investigation focused on a cocaine trafficking syndicate operating in southeast Queensland, these four individuals were identified contacting the syndicate and arranging for the supply of cocaine.
“The CCC will allege the three men and one woman arranged for the supply of cocaine for personal use or to on-supply cocaine to friends and colleagues between June and December 2014.”
Annesley, the highly-respected former NSW Minister for Sport, was left ashen-faced and fuming.
“We made it very clear to all of our players if they get in any sort of trouble they should advise the club.
“The fact it has taken a long time today to verify these matters is very disappointing,” Annesley said.
“I had no idea these matters were going to be made public today.
“What I do know is there are a lot of good people associated with this club. It is not fair to them they get dragged through these type of scandals on a consistent basis.”
Police intend to allege ex-Australian and Queensland star Smith, 42, was involved in a cocaine-supplying network in the southeast of Queensland, which allegedly included distributing drugs to some current NRL players.
The QCCC timeframe of when Smith was charged with 280 counts of trafficking, between June and December last year, also fits the same time frame as when Falloon, Hunt and Dowling have been charged.
Titans in crisis: Salary cap rort, No major sponsor and Drug charges; is this the end of the road?
PHIL ROTHFIELD
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH
FEBRUARY 21, 2015 1:10AM
THE Gold Coast has long been a sporting graveyard for national competition franchises.
One by one, code by code, just about everything has failed, flopped and eventually folded.
The only exception being the Suns, propped up by $20 million-a-year in cash from the AFL and the presence of superstar Gary Ablett.
Now another club is on life support and the question has to be asked …How long can the NRL keep propping up the Titans and will they become the next fallen franchise?
Certainly they are on death row right now.
The salary cap rort, the player misbehaviour, no major sponsor, falling crowds and the stench over Michael Searle’s previous management.
Plus the multi-million dollar loans from the NRL just to stay afloat while every Sydney based club is left to struggle to make ends meet.
It was hoped the appointment of former NSW minister for sport and NRL second-in-charge Graham Annesley 18 months ago would save the club.
If anyone could turnaround the club it was Annesley. He hasn’t.
Nor has Rebecca Frizelle, the highly successful businesswoman, who last year became chairman of the club on a restructured board.
In fact this club has gone from bad to worse to woeful.
The revelations of players being allegedly involved in a cocaine scandal should be the final straw for a club that has lost the support of the local community.
Crowds last year slumped to an average of below 13,000, almost a 70 per cent decline on their early years in the competition.
A relocation to Brisbane or Ipswich is the obvious answer.
Not that you can predict the NRL’s next move or try to guess how the hapless integrity unit will handle it.
Do they stand the players down immediately because of the seriousness of the charges?
Do they wait to give them their day in court like they waited with Kirisome Auva’a last year after he’d pleaded guilty to serious domestic violence charges?
Whatever happens, the Titans image has been battered beyond repair.
Young hooker Paul Carter was sacked after twice being caught drink driving.
Then Greg Bird was caught urinating on a police car in Byron Bay the day after his wedding.One by one franchises have come and gone on the Coast.
Rugby league had the Chargers, the Seagulls and the Giants who all eventually folded in a volatile economic climate.
Even big Clive Palmer and his billion-dollar bank account couldn’t sustain a soccer team in the A League.
Basketball tried and failed with the Cougars, the Rollers and then the Blaze.
Even the once world renowned Indy car race fell over.
Sadly the Titans appear to be heading for the scrapheap as well.
More than 10 footballers involved in Queensland drug probe
PETER BADEL, JEREMY PIERCE, CHRIS GARRY
THE COURIER-MAIL
FEBRUARY 20, 2015 11:46PM
MORE than 10 footballers are embroiled in the Queensland Crime and Corruption Commission probe that on Friday netted Reds star Karmichael Hunt and Titans duo Beau Falloon and Jamie Dowling.
In Queensland sport’s darkest day, the CCC yesterday dropped a bombshell, levelling charges against tri-code athlete Hunt, Falloon and Dowling for allegedly supplying cocaine.
The series of busts are part of a sweeping, six-month police sting that saw former Origin league stars Jason Smith and Matt Seers charged last month for cocaine trafficking.
Hunt, Falloon and Dowling were immediately stood down by their clubs.
And well-placed sources told The Courier-Mail on Friday night more big names are under surveillance at three leading Queensland teams – NRL’s Titans, rugby’s Reds and AFL’s Suns.
It can be revealed drug investigators have personally contacted a fourth Queensland sporting star, while as many as seven Titans players are in the crosshairs of the probe.
More charges are expected to be laid on Saturday, following Saturday night’s trial between North Queensland and the Titans in Cairns.
The CCC will allege the players were supplying cocaine for personal use or to on-supply cocaine to friends and colleagues between June and December last year.
The first ruction hit on Friday morning, when 28-year-old Hunt – the Reds’ marquee off-season recruit – was charged with four counts of supplying cocaine.
Queensland sport was then rocked by revelations Falloon, 27, and Dowling, 24, had also been served with notices to appear in court on four and two counts of supply respectively.
The trio will appear in Southport Magistrates Court on March 5 – the day of the NRL’s premiership opener between the Broncos and Souths at Suncorp Stadium.
Officials at the Gold Coast Suns said last night they had not been contacted by authorities.
But the Titans are facing a nervous wait, with top-liners other than Falloon and Dowling also on the CCC’s drugs radar.
Shattered Titans boss Graham Annesley admitted on Friday night it was a “black day” for the club, with Dowling and Falloon failing to advise the club of their arrests.
“Unfortunately, I was placed in a situation where I learned about these matters through the media,” he said.
Asked if there would be more arrests, he said:
“I simply don’t know. I didn’t know these matters were being made public today.
“We have to see what unfolds.
“We have spent the vast part of the day trying to get the veracity of what were rumours but are now facts.
“The playing group has been addressed this afternoon to advise them of what is going on.
“The fact it has taken us a long time today to verify these matters is very disappointing.
“There are a lot of very good people associated with this club. It is not fair to them that get dragged through these scandals.”
The Titans have now been forced out of their Southport School training facility and are currently homeless.
The Titans decided it was in the school’s and their best interest to not train in the vicinity of children while two of their players are facing cocaine supply charges.
Titans chief executive Graham Annesley said the club had no contingency plans and would have to rush to find a new place to train.
The Titans had only been at the venue this pre-season after their lease ran out at the much-maligned Centre of Excellence.
Criminal lawyer Chris Nyst confirmed he would be representing Falloon, saying:
“We’re given to understand it relates to alleged relatively minor drug use unrelated to Mr Falloon’s football activities.”
Dowling also intends to contest the charges.QRU CEO Jim Carmichael said:
“It has been determined by QRU, ARU and the Rugby Union Players’ Association and after discussion with Karmichael that it would be best for his welfare that he is not available for selection this weekend.”
Meanwhile, former Brisbane CEO Bruno Cullen insists Hunt was not involved with drugs during his Broncos career.
Cullen was chief of the Broncos from 2003 until 2010, Hunt’s entire career at the club.
Cullen said there were no issues presented to him regarding Hunt that involved drugs.
“I’m totally shocked,” Cullen said
“We had no indication of any of that activity when he was at the Broncos.
“Definitely not. There was no suggestion of anything to do with that (drugs).”
He could link up with Jason smith and Matt seers after this blows over and they could start there own business, how many icing sugers with your coffee?
NRL CEO Dave Smith said on Saturday he was angry and fed up with the minority of players who brought the game into disrepute.
He said the ARL Commission expected a tough stance to be taken against players who brought the game into disrepute – and that would happen.
Mr Smith stressed that the players served with notices to appear in court as part of the Queensland Crime and Corruption Commission investigation into drug supply were entitled to the presumption of innocence in relation to any criminal charges.
But he said players were on notice that anyone engaging in criminal conduct could expect harsh punishment.
"The overwhelming majority of players do the right thing… youngsters look up to them and they do so much good work in the community," Mr Smith said.
"But we continue to have a small group of irresponsible players who engage in conduct which brings down our game.
"The message to those players is clear… if you bring the game into disrepute there will be consequences.
"We are not going to let a few players wreck our image and brand."
Mr Smith said there was no place for illicit and illegal drugs in the NRL.
"We know that Rugby League is a reflection of the rest of society so there will be people who stray from time to time but we will not tolerate serious misconduct which damages the game."
Mr Smith said the NRL remained committed to Rugby League on the Gold Coast.
"This is a key area for our game and we are determined to ensure our fans continue to have their own team on the Gold Coast," he said.
Six Gold Coast Titans, including Greg Bird and Dave Taylor charged over drugs crisis
JEREMY PIERCE
THE COURIER-MAIL
FEBRUARY 22, 2015 5:01PM
STATE of Origin stars Greg Bird and Dave Taylor are the latest Gold Coast Titans charged in the cocaine crisis rocking the NRL club.
Bird and Taylor were this afternoon served with notices to front court, just hours after the Titans arrived back on the Glitter Strip from a trial match in Cairns.
Six past and current players have now been charged over the scandal.
Winger Kalifa Faifai Loa and former squad member Joe Vickery were charged today, while hooker Beau Falloon and fringe first grader Jamie Dowling were charged on Friday.
High-profile Queensland Reds star Karmichael Hunt has also been charged.
Bird has been one of the club’s best players for the past five years and was co-captain until he was busted urinating in public in Byron Bay the day after his wedding late last year.
Taylor is one of the most damaging ball runners in the game, racking up eight Origin matches for Queensland and a Test for Australia.
Titans players arrived back on the Gold Coast from Cairns this morning, with most refusing to comment as they left the airport.
Vickery, 25, is a former Titans squad member who spent the last two seasons playing in the British Super League, including stints at Leeds and Wakefield.
He has since returned to the Gold Coast but is not an active member on the Titans roster.
Faifai Loa, also 25, joined the Titans last year after playing stints with St George Illawarra and North Queensland Cowboys.
He has played Test football for the Kiwis and Samoa.Falloon was named Titans player of the year last season, while Dowling has played 12 first grade games.
Titans players will attend a series of crisis meetings with their managers, club officials and lawyers on the Gold Coast on Sunday night with some managers planning to meet their players at Gold Coast Airport on Sunday afternoon in case police are present to serve them on site.
Should be interesting to see what penalties come of this.
The part I am looking forward to the most is the consistency or lack of.
It's interesting because you have players of different value Aus rep etc to fringe first graders and even consistent first graders.
If Dowling is done on his own he would be axed - Look at Paul Carter who just got the boot not to long from the Titans - an exceed zero alcohol limit and a misdemeanour not to long after that and he is given the boot.
Now you have Bird - who has a poor rep as it is - guessing that Bird is just on a possess charge as a result of the other's having the supply charges etc.
History shows they are more serious about drug charges then dv etc
I reckon if they're found guilty, there's no way the Titans will keep them. They have to start with a clean slate & would look very bad if they were to keep any guilty players.
Sun 22nd February, 04:34PM
Gold Coast Titans CEO, Graham Annesley, has confirmed that players Greg Bird, David Taylor, and Kalifa Faifai Loa have today been issued with notices to appear in court in relation to drug offences.
“As a result, and consistent with the actions taken by the club on Friday, the three players charged today have also been stood down from all playing and training responsibilities pending their appearance in court on March 9”, Mr Annesley said.
“Further, although the players are entitled to a presumption of innocence during the legal process ahead, given the serious nature of the charges against the players and the reputational damage caused to the club, we will require all of the charged players to appear before the Titans board to explain why action should not be taken by the club under the provisions of their playing contracts.
“This will occur when further factual information becomes available”, Mr Annesley concluded.
The club continues to liaise closely with the NRL Integrity Unit regarding the progress of these matters.
