The cocaine scandal that has engulfed NRL club Gold Coast Titans spread to Super League on Friday when it was revealed that an arrest warrant has been issued for Hull’s new signing Steve Michaels.
The 28-year-old former Brisbane Broncos centre, who made his Super League debut against Warrington a fortnight ago, is the latest player to be implicated in an investigation by the Queensland Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC) into drugs trafficking.
The CCC charged retired Queensland State of Origin player Ashley Harrison, 33, with two counts of supplying a dangerous drug, issuing him with a notice to appear in court next month, and obtained an arrest warrant for his former Titans teammate Michaels.
Michaels will face 10 counts of supplying a dangerous drug and, according to the CCC, will be arrested on his return to Australia.
“The CCC will allege these two individuals were identified contacting the syndicate and allegedly arranging for the supply of cocaine for personal use or to on-supply cocaine to friends and colleagues between June 2014 and November 2014,” it said in a statement.
The news came as a shock to Hull, whose owner Adam Pearson told the Hull Daily Mail: “We are dealing with this matter in house and are currently trying to find out what the facts are.
“Until we know any more, at this point we will not be making any further comment on the matter.”
It is thought Michaels was absent from training on Friday and has been withdrawn from Doncaster’s game on Sunday, when he was set to make a second appearance for the Championship club on a dual-registration deal.
The investigation has now implicated ten players, including former Catalans Dragons captain and current Australian Test forward Greg Bird, although there is no suggestion that any are involved in trafficking.
They have all been charged with drug possession and supply charges.
The statement added: “The CCC has decided it is in the public interest to confirm that, based on evidence currently available to the CCC, it does not expect to make any further arrests of current or former sportspeople as a result of its ongoing investigation into the cocaine trafficking syndicate.”
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