Troubled NRL star James Roberts has been accused of forcefully pulling a young woman by her hair at a Gold Coast nightclub.
The Brisbane centre was out early on Sunday morning after the Magic Millions horse racing event when he allegedly grabbed the woman from behind, causing pain to her neck, News Corp Australia reports.
He was pointed out by patrons to club security and removed from the premises.
The 23-year-old complainant is reportedly reluctant to make an official complaint and Queensland police confirmed none had been lodged.
The woman, who did not want to be named, told News Corp the pull was “forceful”.
“He came up from behind me and pulled my hair quite hard and yanked my head back,” she said.
“I had a sore neck all day yesterday.”
The Broncos and NRL have been contacted for comment.
The 23-year-old Roberts’ debut season with Brisbane was marred by a string of off-field incidents.
The Broncos fined him $20,000 following allegations he abused a female staff member in a drunken incident at the Normanby Hotel in Brisbane when he was refused service.
On the field, Roberts was suspended from the Broncos’ sudden-death semi-final against North Queensland for kicking an opposition player on the ground.
He checked into a rehabilitation facility in Thailand at the end of the NRL season.
Before arriving at Brisbane, Roberts was released by South Sydney in 2011 after contract breaches, including smashing a taxi window and he was sacked by Penrith in March 2014 for more misbehaviour.
He was thrown a lifeline by Gold Coast during the 2014 season and became one of the Titans’ best players.
HarryT
Guest
I was involved in a project to get young indigenous league players attending practice and games. Around the age of sixteen many of the prodigiously talented players seemed to implode and issues of law, alcohol, drugs and unwanted fatherhood took them away from the game. Of his cohort, Roberts was in a class of his own, and this talent earned the attention and mentoring that the other still very talented kids didn't receive. The life outcomes of most of the kids I was involved with was pretty grim. Almost all of them were great kids who worked hard at things they liked, but somehow they seemed predestined to end up in trouble. Roberts is just the public face of the difficulty facing many of his indigenous brothers.
kk
Roar Pro
Wow! Thank you eagleJack. The brutal truth.
Oingo Boingo
Guest
Maybe Bennet is a bit smarter than we give him credit for .
Squidward
Roar Rookie
Brisbane will continue the Sadie the Cleaning Lady act and sweep this. Even Mullen on the roids saved their butt yester. He should be sacked for the bender after the rehab stint let alone assaulting women
Jacko
Guest
the NRL integrity unit could take years to investigate if history tells us anything. He could have had a career and retired by then.
William Dalton Davis
Roar Rookie
From what I can tell from Brisbanes press release, they're going to leave it up to the NRL. Paraphrasing but it's basically "we haven't received a complaint and only found out through the media. We alerted the integrity unit and will cooperate and support the investigation. We will not comment further until the process has finished."
William Dalton Davis
Roar Rookie
Thailand doesn't seem like a great place to have a rehab centre. It'd be like going to Caxton street for an AA meeting
Albo
Guest
Yep ! That worked a treat !
eagleJack
Roar Guru
TB, I'd say with 100% certainty that the guy won't be playing in the NRL this year. He is a known pest around Brisbane and the Broncos will put him into the lost cause basket. A true alcoholic, incredibly aggressive, who causes trouble on a regular basis. I'm just shocked he has lasted this long.
The Barry
Roar Guru
Interesting to see what the NRL does if the lady doesn't want to make a formal complaint. In the past they've hidden behind 'no charges, no problem' approach. It wasn't that long ago we heard about Roberts getting choked out by security after abusing a female bartender. How do they handle this compared to Fifita? Grabbing a woman by the hair is infinitely worse than writing three letters on your strapping, regardless of what those letters stand for.
William Dalton Davis
Roar Rookie
My only hope as a Brisbane fan is that when they give him the punt they do it properly and we don't have to worry about the crap Nulla went through with Carney.
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
Provided said player is found guilty, bearing in mind his track record,it's plainly obvious fines do not work.Bringing the game into disrepute clause ,is good enough for a see you later. No more of these 9 lives 3rd and 4th chances,the likes of Carney received.Out the door pronto.Ditto G Bird. Sick to death of NRL ignoramuses behaving like out of control teens.Some never get the message, then complain they are badly done by. $3-400,000 pa on a 3 year contract.Poor poverty stricken pets.
kk
Roar Pro
Send him to the Sandow Clinic at Cherbourg.
AlanC
Guest
Rehab in Thailand - Now there's the ticket...
Boz
Guest
He's an over hyped centre, with an alcohol problem. He'll never change. Brisbane should shop him around ASAP.
Joe
Roar Rookie
Benjis chances of playing centre just shot up.
Casper
Guest
As a Broncos fan, just punt him and move on. Not worth the angst he causes for half a dozen bits of brilliance and can't tackle. Not what this club needs to build a positive culture, why would he be out on the turps after all of that so called rehabilitation, serial offender.
Brendan
Guest
Contract torn up. Off to ESL for you mate. Carney got the boot after being sacked from 3 clubs, same should apply to Roberts
William Dalton Davis
Roar Rookie
This is probably close to the silliest thing I've ever heard of a player doing. How daft do you need to be to go around pulling people's hair. At this point I'd say it doesn't matter if the girl doesn't make a complaint. The integrity unit will investigate and I'd be very surprised if he's still at Brisbane come round one.
morley101
Guest
12 match ban...