Drugs, sex, domestic violence: football’s cover-up

[kiwitiger]

Wow..you go shoe shopping for 1 day..

Funny!!?

How does a grown man spend the whole day shoe shopping? 1 hour max. So what where you really up to Geo?

 

[Geo]

Wow..you go shoe shopping for 1 day..

Funny!!?

How does a grown man spend the whole day shoe shopping? 1 hour max. So what where you really up to Geo?

I wasn't the one looking at shoes..that's why

 

[hobbo1]

Wow..you go shoe shopping for 1 day..

Funny!!?

How does a grown man spend the whole day shoe shopping? 1 hour max. So what where you really up to Geo?

I wasn't the one looking at shoes..that's why


These ?

 

[Spud_Murphy]

Well all I can say is thank God the negative media attention isn’t about us for once!

 

[Speed2burn]

Nothing like a scandal on the eve of the NRL Finals..

 

[Furious1]

If there is something positive to come out of this whole thing (besides it not involving WT) it's that it wasn't "lifted" from a forum somewhere. Four months worth of research tells me among all the spuds out there pretending to be journos there is actually still a few who take their job seriously.

 

[avocadoontoast]

If there is something positive to come out of this whole thing (besides it not involving WT) it's that it wasn't "lifted" from a forum somewhere. Four months worth of research tells me among all the spuds out there pretending to be journos there is actually still a few who take their job seriously.

100%. It was really good reporting.

 

[Blacknwhite]

If, and I mean IF this turns out to be true, the I hope Burgess and absolutely everybody involved in covering up any allegation regarding his wife, and alleged abuse, has their entire world torn down around them. I really hope every single offender is reemed litigiously to the n'th degree.

Thats all I can say to stay within forum guidelines.

 

[kiwitiger]

Well all I can say is thank God the negative media attention isn’t about us for once!

Maybe...maybe not. Lot of missing hours in Geos day if you ask me...could be a real scandal for the wtf.

 

[mike]


 

[Deleted member 3518]

The victims of infidelity ie wives, husbands, partners often suffer from PTSD as a consequence of the behaviour associated with this type of betrayal. Many consider infidelity to be a form of abuse. So I have every sympathy for Phoebe and the distress she is no doubt experiencing. It can take up to 5 years for a victim of infidelity to recover.

Wait what ? How is cheating on your partner abuse ? It’s morally wrong , and breaks your heart , but it’s hardly abuse. That’s ridiculous. It’s not abuse if your feelings are hurt . The world sux sometimes . People are the worst . But you can’t cry ABUSE because someone does something crappy.

There are behaviours associated with infidelity that are clearly forms of abuse. A cycle of behaviour, the so called rinse, wash, repeat is clearly a form of abuse. This type of behaviour impacts the foundations of a relationship and if you have heard of the term gaslighting this can undermine the victims reality and self worth. Gaslighting is often used by a perpetrator to get away with infidelity with 'you're crazy' or "you are making this up'. In a relationship, when your thoughts and feelings aren't validated, this can be incredibly damaging to your sense of reality and self esteem. Often those involved in this behaviour will blame the victim, often termed blame shifting. We often joke cheaters all operate off the same template and because of this their actions are predictable.. A victim needs to get space to see this behavioural pattern.

Yes I know was Gaslighting is . But to imply that cheating is abuse is massive stretch. The behaviours that can be associated for sure , CAN be. When you say things like “my partner abused me by cheating on me” , you start to build a picture that your some kind of victim , when in reality , your Just someone your partner didn’t care about enough to stay faithful , or , the person is zero idea how to be in a committed relationship. You’re not abused. You’re just clearly low on your partner’s priorities. It’s a bit dramatic and Slightly narcissistic to imply that it’s abuse. When in reality , for most people , it’s just flat out denying and aloofness . This obviously doesn’t apply to gaslighting , controlling abusive behaviours.

We need to chill with stuff like this as a society . Were all turning into soft drama queens, looking for our own little slice of victimisation. The partner is a dirtbag . The end. Leave them , or don’t . If you allow it to go on . Then Look in the mirror .

Not soft at all. Emotional trauma can be as damaging as physical trauma. Emasculation, humiliation, betrayal, loss of agency within a relationship, loss of trust and respect are very real. Relate some of the allegations in this article to their impact on Phoebe Burgess?

No , you said cheating was abuse . I’m saying it’s not . I’m saying cheating is a symptom of abuse. Just like all the other toxic behaviour you mentioned. I’m not being insensitive, and not even talking about Phoebe and people in her really bad situation . I’m saying we as a society have started calling what used to be crappy behaviour as abuse . But It’s not . It’s just crap behaviour. There’s nothing more to it . If your feelings get hurt by someone . Your feelings are hurt . That’s it . If someone offends you . They offended you . If your partner cheated , but wasn’t a toxic piece of crap in general , they just didn’t value your relationship , the. Get rid of them or don’t and live that situation.
When people use words like Abuse , it implies a danger , large degrees of trauma , and usually criminal behaviour. None of that applies to things like cheating by itself . Like I said being a douchebag and cheating is not abuse by itself . It’s a symptom amongst others of a more serious issue .

How do you explain victims of infidelity being diagnosed with PTSD? Abuse can be physical or emotional. How can you neatly quarantine infidelity from its impact on victims? It's not possible

What? So everyone who is cheated on is a victim and every person who cheats an abuser? Just because someone gets PTSD doesn’t mean that it’s abuse. It means that they had psychological trauma because it was traumatic for them. There’s a billion reasons why people cheat , not always is it nefarious or referencing a behaviour from a 1930s movie . Just off the top of my head , there’s addiction problems , women becoming asexual after child birth , sexual kinks , disability , staying together for the kids .
I’m not putting a bow on anything , I’m calling people out for thier bull crap. Everybody wants the violins playing for them , and many times it’s just simply causation . There was an action and therefore a reaction .

It's not cheating without deception mate, it's an open relationship. The deception is solely the choice of the person who cheats, not "causation."

I'll not saying cheating = abuse by definition, can see the link though especially in the aftereffects.

So how’s it deception if his missus knows about it , and his attitude is who gives a rats ? People still call him a cheat because that’s the general label for infidelity.
To me if you get cheated on it’s not abuse , it’s a story you tell about what happened to you to when your dating 2 years from then . It’s a life experience to improve your ability to read people. When you say things are abuse that word implies a whole thought process ,educAtion , workshops , seminars , ad campaigns etc .
Sorry but if you think that type of thing needs to happen, then I’m lost .
Been cheated on , been the cheater . At no point did I feel abused , and at no point was I accused of it. We parted ways , with each other under the understanding that we sucked , and needed to grow up .
You can’t control the world for gods sake . At some point bad stuff is going to happen . We don’t need to show awareness for bad behaviour . Take ownership for your actions , learn from it and grow as a person .
When you look for labels you look for excuses. It’s a huge problem within western society at the moment . There’s no accountability.

 

[diedpretty]

Can we get a comment from Souths on the article?

We'll just need to run through about 5 law firms first.

One implication from the allegations is that the medical retirement was used to get him out of the Club because of what was known. That it came with the added bonus of salary cap relief which allowed the purchase of .......

How widely was this kniwn?.

The cap cheating is inconsequential to me in regard to this.

Footy is secondary to the welfare of his ex-wife, kids and family.

100%. Can’t believe some are using this to kick Souths. If it’s true, the focus needs to be on the people hurt. Everything else comes later

The alleged presence of a Souths official at a residence at the time where domestic violence may have occurred and this has gone unreported to presumably the Integrity Unit is a significant matter. The same again for the alleged prescription issue and subsequent alleged drug testing. It is inextricably linked.

Not only that he was there when the violence was occurring and there was a child there as well. I think Drs are mandatory reporters of a child in danger. He did nothing.

 

[old_man_tiger]

The victims of infidelity ie wives, husbands, partners often suffer from PTSD as a consequence of the behaviour associated with this type of betrayal. Many consider infidelity to be a form of abuse. So I have every sympathy for Phoebe and the distress she is no doubt experiencing. It can take up to 5 years for a victim of infidelity to recover.

Wait what ? How is cheating on your partner abuse ? It’s morally wrong , and breaks your heart , but it’s hardly abuse. That’s ridiculous. It’s not abuse if your feelings are hurt . The world sux sometimes . People are the worst . But you can’t cry ABUSE because someone does something crappy.

There are behaviours associated with infidelity that are clearly forms of abuse. A cycle of behaviour, the so called rinse, wash, repeat is clearly a form of abuse. This type of behaviour impacts the foundations of a relationship and if you have heard of the term gaslighting this can undermine the victims reality and self worth. Gaslighting is often used by a perpetrator to get away with infidelity with 'you're crazy' or "you are making this up'. In a relationship, when your thoughts and feelings aren't validated, this can be incredibly damaging to your sense of reality and self esteem. Often those involved in this behaviour will blame the victim, often termed blame shifting. We often joke cheaters all operate off the same template and because of this their actions are predictable.. A victim needs to get space to see this behavioural pattern.

Yes I know was Gaslighting is . But to imply that cheating is abuse is massive stretch. The behaviours that can be associated for sure , CAN be. When you say things like “my partner abused me by cheating on me” , you start to build a picture that your some kind of victim , when in reality , your Just someone your partner didn’t care about enough to stay faithful , or , the person is zero idea how to be in a committed relationship. You’re not abused. You’re just clearly low on your partner’s priorities. It’s a bit dramatic and Slightly narcissistic to imply that it’s abuse. When in reality , for most people , it’s just flat out denying and aloofness . This obviously doesn’t apply to gaslighting , controlling abusive behaviours.

We need to chill with stuff like this as a society . Were all turning into soft drama queens, looking for our own little slice of victimisation. The partner is a dirtbag . The end. Leave them , or don’t . If you allow it to go on . Then Look in the mirror .

Not soft at all. Emotional trauma can be as damaging as physical trauma. Emasculation, humiliation, betrayal, loss of agency within a relationship, loss of trust and respect are very real. Relate some of the allegations in this article to their impact on Phoebe Burgess?

No , you said cheating was abuse . I’m saying it’s not . I’m saying cheating is a symptom of abuse. Just like all the other toxic behaviour you mentioned. I’m not being insensitive, and not even talking about Phoebe and people in her really bad situation . I’m saying we as a society have started calling what used to be crappy behaviour as abuse . But It’s not . It’s just crap behaviour. There’s nothing more to it . If your feelings get hurt by someone . Your feelings are hurt . That’s it . If someone offends you . They offended you . If your partner cheated , but wasn’t a toxic piece of crap in general , they just didn’t value your relationship , the. Get rid of them or don’t and live that situation.
When people use words like Abuse , it implies a danger , large degrees of trauma , and usually criminal behaviour. None of that applies to things like cheating by itself . Like I said being a douchebag and cheating is not abuse by itself . It’s a symptom amongst others of a more serious issue .

How do you explain victims of infidelity being diagnosed with PTSD? Abuse can be physical or emotional. How can you neatly quarantine infidelity from its impact on victims? It's not possible

What? So everyone who is cheated on is a victim and every person who cheats an abuser? Just because someone gets PTSD doesn’t mean that it’s abuse. It means that they had psychological trauma because it was traumatic for them. There’s a billion reasons why people cheat , not always is it nefarious or referencing a behaviour from a 1930s movie . Just off the top of my head , there’s addiction problems , women becoming asexual after child birth , sexual kinks , disability , staying together for the kids .
I’m not putting a bow on anything , I’m calling people out for thier bull crap. Everybody wants the violins playing for them , and many times it’s just simply causation . There was an action and therefore a reaction .

It's not cheating without deception mate, it's an open relationship. The deception is solely the choice of the person who cheats, not "causation."

I'll not saying cheating = abuse by definition, can see the link though especially in the aftereffects.

So how’s it deception if his missus knows about it , and his attitude is who gives a rats ? People still call him a cheat because that’s the general label for infidelity.
To me if you get cheated on it’s not abuse , it’s a story you tell about what happened to you to when your dating 2 years from then . It’s a life experience to improve your ability to read people. When you say things are abuse that word implies a whole thought process ,educAtion , workshops , seminars , ad campaigns etc .
Sorry but if you think that type of thing needs to happen, then I’m lost .
Been cheated on , been the cheater . At no point did I feel abused , and at no point was I accused of it. We parted ways , with each other under the understanding that we sucked , and needed to grow up .
You can’t control the world for gods sake . At some point bad stuff is going to happen . We don’t need to show awareness for bad behaviour . Take ownership for your actions , learn from it and grow as a person .
When you look for labels you look for excuses. It’s a huge problem within western society at the moment . There’s no accountability.

If we had this conversation over a beer I'm sure we find a lot of common ground. The smaller areas of disagreement become a long winded tiresome thing on a forum. Definitely agree with you on the social aspects of labels not necessarily the relationship stuff and happy to leave it there.

 

[the_third]

Notice the investigation was done by the { News} Australian journalists. They obviously couldn't trust the compromised cub scout reporters at their sister publication. They needed to keep Souths sycophants like Crawley out of the loop.

Claire Harvey is a quality journalist

 

[Blacknwhite]

The victims of infidelity ie wives, husbands, partners often suffer from PTSD as a consequence of the behaviour associated with this type of betrayal. Many consider infidelity to be a form of abuse. So I have every sympathy for Phoebe and the distress she is no doubt experiencing. It can take up to 5 years for a victim of infidelity to recover.

Wait what ? How is cheating on your partner abuse ? It’s morally wrong , and breaks your heart , but it’s hardly abuse. That’s ridiculous. It’s not abuse if your feelings are hurt . The world sux sometimes . People are the worst . But you can’t cry ABUSE because someone does something crappy.

There are behaviours associated with infidelity that are clearly forms of abuse. A cycle of behaviour, the so called rinse, wash, repeat is clearly a form of abuse. This type of behaviour impacts the foundations of a relationship and if you have heard of the term gaslighting this can undermine the victims reality and self worth. Gaslighting is often used by a perpetrator to get away with infidelity with 'you're crazy' or "you are making this up'. In a relationship, when your thoughts and feelings aren't validated, this can be incredibly damaging to your sense of reality and self esteem. Often those involved in this behaviour will blame the victim, often termed blame shifting. We often joke cheaters all operate off the same template and because of this their actions are predictable.. A victim needs to get space to see this behavioural pattern.

Yes I know was Gaslighting is . But to imply that cheating is abuse is massive stretch. The behaviours that can be associated for sure , CAN be. When you say things like “my partner abused me by cheating on me” , you start to build a picture that your some kind of victim , when in reality , your Just someone your partner didn’t care about enough to stay faithful , or , the person is zero idea how to be in a committed relationship. You’re not abused. You’re just clearly low on your partner’s priorities. It’s a bit dramatic and Slightly narcissistic to imply that it’s abuse. When in reality , for most people , it’s just flat out denying and aloofness . This obviously doesn’t apply to gaslighting , controlling abusive behaviours.

We need to chill with stuff like this as a society . Were all turning into soft drama queens, looking for our own little slice of victimisation. The partner is a dirtbag . The end. Leave them , or don’t . If you allow it to go on . Then Look in the mirror .

Not soft at all. Emotional trauma can be as damaging as physical trauma. Emasculation, humiliation, betrayal, loss of agency within a relationship, loss of trust and respect are very real. Relate some of the allegations in this article to their impact on Phoebe Burgess?

No , you said cheating was abuse . I’m saying it’s not . I’m saying cheating is a symptom of abuse. Just like all the other toxic behaviour you mentioned. I’m not being insensitive, and not even talking about Phoebe and people in her really bad situation . I’m saying we as a society have started calling what used to be crappy behaviour as abuse . But It’s not . It’s just crap behaviour. There’s nothing more to it . If your feelings get hurt by someone . Your feelings are hurt . That’s it . If someone offends you . They offended you . If your partner cheated , but wasn’t a toxic piece of crap in general , they just didn’t value your relationship , the. Get rid of them or don’t and live that situation.
When people use words like Abuse , it implies a danger , large degrees of trauma , and usually criminal behaviour. None of that applies to things like cheating by itself . Like I said being a douchebag and cheating is not abuse by itself . It’s a symptom amongst others of a more serious issue .

How do you explain victims of infidelity being diagnosed with PTSD? Abuse can be physical or emotional. How can you neatly quarantine infidelity from its impact on victims? It's not possible

What? So everyone who is cheated on is a victim and every person who cheats an abuser? Just because someone gets PTSD doesn’t mean that it’s abuse. It means that they had psychological trauma because it was traumatic for them. There’s a billion reasons why people cheat , not always is it nefarious or referencing a behaviour from a 1930s movie . Just off the top of my head , there’s addiction problems , women becoming asexual after child birth , sexual kinks , disability , staying together for the kids .
I’m not putting a bow on anything , I’m calling people out for thier bull crap. Everybody wants the violins playing for them , and many times it’s just simply causation . There was an action and therefore a reaction .

It's not cheating without deception mate, it's an open relationship. The deception is solely the choice of the person who cheats, not "causation."

I'll not saying cheating = abuse by definition, can see the link though especially in the aftereffects.

So how’s it deception if his missus knows about it , and his attitude is who gives a rats ? People still call him a cheat because that’s the general label for infidelity.
To me if you get cheated on it’s not abuse , it’s a story you tell about what happened to you to when your dating 2 years from then . It’s a life experience to improve your ability to read people. When you say things are abuse that word implies a whole thought process ,educAtion , workshops , seminars , ad campaigns etc .
Sorry but if you think that type of thing needs to happen, then I’m lost .
Been cheated on , been the cheater . At no point did I feel abused , and at no point was I accused of it. We parted ways , with each other under the understanding that we sucked , and needed to grow up .
You can’t control the world for gods sake . At some point bad stuff is going to happen . We don’t need to show awareness for bad behaviour . Take ownership for your actions , learn from it and grow as a person .
When you look for labels you look for excuses. It’s a huge problem within western society at the moment . There’s no accountability.

If we had this conversation over a beer I'm sure we find a lot of common ground. The smaller areas of disagreement become a long winded tiresome thing on a forum. Definitely agree with you on the social aspects of labels not necessarily the relationship stuff and happy to leave it there.

solid reply... I typed a reply, a few times, but could see the tone lost by the forum format. Kudos for putting it so well!

 

[old_man_tiger]

The victims of infidelity ie wives, husbands, partners often suffer from PTSD as a consequence of the behaviour associated with this type of betrayal. Many consider infidelity to be a form of abuse. So I have every sympathy for Phoebe and the distress she is no doubt experiencing. It can take up to 5 years for a victim of infidelity to recover.

Wait what ? How is cheating on your partner abuse ? It’s morally wrong , and breaks your heart , but it’s hardly abuse. That’s ridiculous. It’s not abuse if your feelings are hurt . The world sux sometimes . People are the worst . But you can’t cry ABUSE because someone does something crappy.

There are behaviours associated with infidelity that are clearly forms of abuse. A cycle of behaviour, the so called rinse, wash, repeat is clearly a form of abuse. This type of behaviour impacts the foundations of a relationship and if you have heard of the term gaslighting this can undermine the victims reality and self worth. Gaslighting is often used by a perpetrator to get away with infidelity with 'you're crazy' or "you are making this up'. In a relationship, when your thoughts and feelings aren't validated, this can be incredibly damaging to your sense of reality and self esteem. Often those involved in this behaviour will blame the victim, often termed blame shifting. We often joke cheaters all operate off the same template and because of this their actions are predictable.. A victim needs to get space to see this behavioural pattern.

Yes I know was Gaslighting is . But to imply that cheating is abuse is massive stretch. The behaviours that can be associated for sure , CAN be. When you say things like “my partner abused me by cheating on me” , you start to build a picture that your some kind of victim , when in reality , your Just someone your partner didn’t care about enough to stay faithful , or , the person is zero idea how to be in a committed relationship. You’re not abused. You’re just clearly low on your partner’s priorities. It’s a bit dramatic and Slightly narcissistic to imply that it’s abuse. When in reality , for most people , it’s just flat out denying and aloofness . This obviously doesn’t apply to gaslighting , controlling abusive behaviours.

We need to chill with stuff like this as a society . Were all turning into soft drama queens, looking for our own little slice of victimisation. The partner is a dirtbag . The end. Leave them , or don’t . If you allow it to go on . Then Look in the mirror .

Not soft at all. Emotional trauma can be as damaging as physical trauma. Emasculation, humiliation, betrayal, loss of agency within a relationship, loss of trust and respect are very real. Relate some of the allegations in this article to their impact on Phoebe Burgess?

No , you said cheating was abuse . I’m saying it’s not . I’m saying cheating is a symptom of abuse. Just like all the other toxic behaviour you mentioned. I’m not being insensitive, and not even talking about Phoebe and people in her really bad situation . I’m saying we as a society have started calling what used to be crappy behaviour as abuse . But It’s not . It’s just crap behaviour. There’s nothing more to it . If your feelings get hurt by someone . Your feelings are hurt . That’s it . If someone offends you . They offended you . If your partner cheated , but wasn’t a toxic piece of crap in general , they just didn’t value your relationship , the. Get rid of them or don’t and live that situation.
When people use words like Abuse , it implies a danger , large degrees of trauma , and usually criminal behaviour. None of that applies to things like cheating by itself . Like I said being a douchebag and cheating is not abuse by itself . It’s a symptom amongst others of a more serious issue .

How do you explain victims of infidelity being diagnosed with PTSD? Abuse can be physical or emotional. How can you neatly quarantine infidelity from its impact on victims? It's not possible

What? So everyone who is cheated on is a victim and every person who cheats an abuser? Just because someone gets PTSD doesn’t mean that it’s abuse. It means that they had psychological trauma because it was traumatic for them. There’s a billion reasons why people cheat , not always is it nefarious or referencing a behaviour from a 1930s movie . Just off the top of my head , there’s addiction problems , women becoming asexual after child birth , sexual kinks , disability , staying together for the kids .
I’m not putting a bow on anything , I’m calling people out for thier bull crap. Everybody wants the violins playing for them , and many times it’s just simply causation . There was an action and therefore a reaction .

It's not cheating without deception mate, it's an open relationship. The deception is solely the choice of the person who cheats, not "causation."

I'll not saying cheating = abuse by definition, can see the link though especially in the aftereffects.

So how’s it deception if his missus knows about it , and his attitude is who gives a rats ? People still call him a cheat because that’s the general label for infidelity.
To me if you get cheated on it’s not abuse , it’s a story you tell about what happened to you to when your dating 2 years from then . It’s a life experience to improve your ability to read people. When you say things are abuse that word implies a whole thought process ,educAtion , workshops , seminars , ad campaigns etc .
Sorry but if you think that type of thing needs to happen, then I’m lost .
Been cheated on , been the cheater . At no point did I feel abused , and at no point was I accused of it. We parted ways , with each other under the understanding that we sucked , and needed to grow up .
You can’t control the world for gods sake . At some point bad stuff is going to happen . We don’t need to show awareness for bad behaviour . Take ownership for your actions , learn from it and grow as a person .
When you look for labels you look for excuses. It’s a huge problem within western society at the moment . There’s no accountability.

If we had this conversation over a beer I'm sure we find a lot of common ground. The smaller areas of disagreement become a long winded tiresome thing on a forum. Definitely agree with you on the social aspects of labels not necessarily the relationship stuff and happy to leave it there.

solid reply... I typed a reply, a few times, but could see the tone lost by the forum format. Kudos for putting it so well!

Much calmer now that the tigers are done haha

 

[Bula]

Does any of this really come as a surprise? The family are all A1 vermin.

 

[NT_Tiger]

Does any of this really come as a surprise? The family are all A1 vermin.

Good word, vermin.

 

[Wombat]

"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."

So Sam was leaning his body weight onto her. Sam should be treating a pregnant woman more gently, but it hardly sounds like domestic violence to me. It Sounds like a father in law who had a gripe to settle

Sounds like an idiot with little care for anyone but himself! If you think that is OK, then you can go join him at Souffs

 

[Wombat]

Burgess stands down from Rabbitohs, Fox Sports over drug, domestic abuse allegations
By Laura Chung, Sarah Keoghan and Adrian Proszenko
Updated October 2, 2020 — 1.52pmfirst published at 9.48am

Former South Sydney star Sam Burgess has stood down from his roles as Rabbitohs coaching assistant and Fox Sports commentator following serious allegations of drug use and domestic violence.

NSW Police and the NRL integrity unit have launched separate investigations into allegations levelled against the former South Sydney skipper.

NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo said if the allegations were found to be true he would be taking the "strongest possible action" against Burgess and the club.

"The allegations that were made ... is new information to the NRL. We will conduct a thorough investigation and if information has been withheld by bodies we will take the appropriate action," he said. "These are really serious matters, these are serious allegations. We will put all of our resources into getting to the bottom of what occurred.

NSW Police said they had launched their own investigation.

"On Wednesday 30 September 2020, officers from The Hume Police District received a report outlining various allegations relating to the conduct of a 31-year-old man," a NSW Police Force spokesperson said.

"Police have commenced inquiries and as these inquiries are in their infancy, no further comment will be provided at this time."

Australia Rugby League Commission chairman Peter V'landys told 2GB on Friday that, as far as he was aware, the NRL had no prior knowledge of the claims.

"It would be totally inappropriate to comment on this specific case. I don't have sufficient facts. Like anyone else in the community, you have to provide due process and natural justice and Sam should be afforded that," he said.

"Let me stress that the NRL has a zero tolerance, and will always have a zero tolerance, for violence against women.

"But in this instance, I think that the appropriate action is to investigate it, get all the facts, and make a judgment after that.

"Once we have all that information, all the facts, and everybody's version, we will make the appropriate decisions."

The Australian newspaper reported Mr Burgess received medical attention during a drug-fuelled episode in 2018, and a club doctor allegedly injected him with liquid tranquilliser, obtained through a prescription written in someone else's name.

Abdo said the club doctor would still be allowed to work at the club until the investigation was complete.

"Because these are allegations, we don't have the facts before us we are not going to be taking any further action until such time as we have the information needed to do that," he said. "However I believe Sam Burgess has stood himself down from South Sydney Rabbitohs duties this weekend and I also believe he has stood down from Fox Sports."

Following an investigation, the publication revealed pharmaceutical records, statements to NSW Police, witness accounts, emails, text messages and bank records detailing the former South Sydney Rabbitohs captain’s behaviour.

Mr Burgess' lawyer Mark O’Brien declined to comment to the Herald.

Mr Burgess retired from the NRL at the end of the 2019 season after suffering a chronic shoulder injury. He is now an assistant coach with the club. The English import signed a four-year extension with the club in 2018 and was signed to play with the club until 2023.

He led the club to the premiership in 2014, after breaking his cheekbone in the opening tackle of the grand final against the Bulldogs.

The allegations come on the eve of the finals. The Rabbitohs finished in sixth place this season and face the seventh-placed Knights in a sudden-death play-off at ANZ Stadium on Sunday.

Appropriate... since they covered it up and profited from it for years.
Large cap reduction...
Say a nice round figure like one million a season