Opinion
There would not be an individual in Sydney, if not Australia, that hasn’t caught wind of the well documented disappearance of Lynette Dawson and the subsequent murder trial of her ex-husband Chris Dawson.
Last week Chris was found guilty of Lyn’s murder 30 years ago, in what was the most recognised missing persons case in recent memory.
The prosecution’s brief of evidence included Chris and twin brother Paul’s association with colourful Sydney underworld identities, many of which were linked to the pair through their association with the Newtown Jets Rugby League Club.
The brothers, rugby union converts from the Eastern Suburbs Club, signed with the Newtown Jets in the NSWRL in 1972. As a second rower, Chris made 51 appearances for the club between 1972 and 1975.
Dawson is just the latest in a long, undistinguished list, of rugby league players, who have experienced the heights of sporting glory, while also suffering the lows of custodial confinement.
Let’s take a look back on some of the more memorable individuals, who if an award on Dally M Medal night was given to the game’s biggest crook, would be right in the running.
Les Mara
Clubs – Balmain, South Sydney, Newtown
NRL Years – 1975 – 1982, 81 Games
Crime – Drug Importation
Sentence 20 years
Arrested in 2006 as the master mind of a syndicate responsible for the rumoured importation of over 200 kilograms of cocaine from South America, Mara is a more than worthy finalist in the race for the NRL’s top dog landing foul of the law.
The evasive skills that served Les well as a crafty five-eighth in his playing days, were equally as valuable in his criminal enterprise, when he fooled police to thinking his secret hideout to be in Ireland or a South American country. This could not be further from the reality of his refuge in Callala Bay a sleepy holiday town on the NSW South Coast.
Les led an elaborate operation involving crooked baggage handlers to assist in moving his produce. But even the bag of tricks that at one stage helped Mara gain selection over Bob Fulton in the NSW team, was no match against the 20 federal police officers who eventually got their man.
Gary Sullivan
Clubs – Newtown
NRL Years – 1970 – 1975, 107 games
Crime – Armed robbery
Sentence – 20 years
It goes without saying, that a player that represents their country on seven occasions, including being picked at lock forward for the 1972 World Cup Final, is an individual adept at their craft on a rugby league field.
However, after obtaining over $3 million via armed robberies between 1985 and 1991, it is fair to say that Garry Sullivan was just as handy at making a living via the threat of violence and deception.
At the time of arrest, Sullivan and his step father Bill Orchard were responsible for the six largest stick ups in Queensland history, which they committed in order to fund their extensive gambling habits. That’s a lot of bets on the horses!
John Elias
Clubs – Newtown, South Sydney, Canterbury-Bankstown, Western Suburbs, Eastern Suburbs, Balmain
NRL Years – 1983 – 1994, 150 games
Crime – Drug supply, fire arm possession, malicious wounding, assault
Sentence – Varied (5 months – 4 years)
John Elias’ rap sheet is as varied as the clubs he played for in the NRL. While rugby league occupied his life during daylight hours of the 80s and 90s, when the sun went down, John was busy running around with some of Sydney’s major crime figures.
As well as his main employer, crime boss Danny Karam, others known to be friendly with Elias include King Cross supremo John Ibrahim and stand over man Neddy Smith, making this Lebanese immigrant the most well connected player running around in the NRL.
As well as being found guilty of shooting an associate in the leg and threatening a confectionary salesman, John has successfully proved his innocence on numerous occasions, including an overturned conviction of attempted murder and match fixing allegations.
If it wasn’t for an unfortunate cancer diagnosis, there is no evidence that suggests John Elias would have ceased living life on the edge.
Craig Field
Clubs – South Sydney, Manly-Warringah, Balmain, Wests Tigers
NRL Years – 1990-2001, 183 Games
Crime – Manslaughter
Sentence – 10 years
Craig Field was known for his crafty, energetic and emotion charged style of play, that reached a pinnacle when in 1997 he started at half-back for Manly in their grand final loss to Newcastle. But it was these emotions, and inability to control them that finally found Field fall foul of the law, following a controversial NRL career that included a six-month drug ban for cocaine use.
(Photo by Albert Perez/Getty Images)
In 2012 while living in Northern NSW and coaching a local A Grade side, Field became caught up in an altercation with local man Kelvin Kane in the carpark a Kingscliff Hotel. During the disagreement Craig punched the 50 year-old in the head, knocking him unconscious.
Kane later died in hospital, resulting in a charge of murder to be laid against Field, which was later downgraded to manslaughter, of which he was found guilty.
Paul Hayward
Club – Newtown Jets
NRL Years – 1973-1978, 78 Games
Crime – Drug Trafficking
Sentence – 30 years
As good a boxer as he was a rugby league player, Paul Hayward possessed a hardness suited to the nature of the NRL in the 70s.
It is unsure whether this belligerent attitude pre-possessed Paul to underworld involvement that would lead to his ultimate downfall. The brother in-law of notorious Sydney gangster Neddy Smith, in 1978 Hayward and accomplice Warren Fellows, were arrested in a Bangkok hotel room in possession of a suitcase full of heroin.
Their plan to export the 8.4kgs of the drug from Thailand to Australia had been foiled. From that day until his release following a Royal Pardon in 1989, Hayward remained the ward of Thailand’s notoriously harsh prisons, becoming a heroin addict and contracting HIV in the process.
Sadly, Paul could never re-adjust to living in everyday society, and in 1992 passed away from a heroin overdose in his Sydney residence.
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