2024-04-24 04:08:00
- Māori All Star’s claim says he was forced to wrestle 30 teammates
- Alleged punishment caused psychiatric injury, court documents allege
Wed 24 Apr 2024 06.08 CEST
NRL player Jackson Topine claims he was forced to wrestle 30 to 35 teammates as punishment for being late Canterbury Bulldogs training last year, causing him psychiatric injury, humiliation and fear, court documents show.
The 22-year-old was released from the club in November and remains out of the NRL. He played his last game for the Bulldogs in July last year, three days before the training session at the center of the allegations.
According to the statement of claim filed in the New South Wales Supreme Court, Topine claims that, in response to being “regarding eight to 10 minutes” late, he was singled out for an additional, unscheduled session following the conclusion of the wrestling as detailed in the players’ practice schedule.
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Each player was reportedly instructed to wrestle Topine one following the other, with the young forward’s strength and ability to defend himself deteriorating with each bout.
Topine claims a Bulldogs coach told the players, “Don’t let him get up when he’s down, jump on him right away,” and, “No, don’t congratulate him or help him. He’s earned it. He was fucking late.”
The session represented a “deprivation of liberty” and caused Topine’s “continued inability to play the game,” it is alleged. Topine is seeking aggravated and exemplary damages estimated in the millions of dollars.
The club declined to address the specific allegations in the statement of claim, only that “there are a number of allegations that we categorically deny”.
A Bulldogs spokesman said the issues related to employees, which were “strictly confidential in nature”, but the club did have “internal policies and procedures in place for employee conduct and a very good review process that we stand by”.
“We also take player welfare very seriously and place the best interests and welfare of our players and staff as our number one priority,” they said.
“As we take mental health concerns very seriously and given the appropriate sensitivities to be applied in matters relating to mental health, the club will not be making any comment at this time regarding any of the individuals at the center of the allegations below.”
According to the statement of claim, Topine did not know he was late, and misinterpreted the schedule listing “Arrive/strapping 8am” and “Wrestle 8.30am”.
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He claims he was ready at 8.30am and completed the scheduled wrestling session at 10am, before being instructed to wrestle other Bulldogs players.
According to the report, some teammates suggested reducing the intensity of the wrestling bouts, but a Bulldogs coach instructed them not to.
The documents allege that the coach’s order imposed “unlawful corporal punishment” on Topine.
The forward moved to Australia from New Zealand as a teenager and settled in Perth, before moving to Sydney to attend East Hills Boys High School in Sydney on a scholarship and captaining the Australian Schoolboys in 2019.
He made his NRL debut for the Bulldogs in 2021, when the club finished bottom of the ladder. He played 16 games under three coaches during a period in which the Bulldogs underwent a roster overhaul.
The case is listed for a directions hearing on June 13 in the NSW Supreme Court in Sydney.
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