Two players from the Canterbury Bulldogs team have been stood down after it was alleged that they had taken two high school girls back to their hotel after a visit to a school in February.
Corey Harawira-Naera and Jayden Okunbor were stood down from the club days before the season opener against Parramatta on Thursday, with the club confirming the pair had committed “serious” breaches of the code of conduct for both the club and the NRL.
As reported by the ABC, Bulldogs’ CEO Andrew Hill confirmed the players’ removal from the team, after it was alleged they had taken two girls of consensual age back to the team’s hotel while on a pre-season club trip to Port Macquarie.
It’s reported the club’s guidelines were strict in not allowing players to bring women back to hotel rooms while on the promotional trip.
The serious breach of conduct and has resulted in an internal investigation at the club and is expected to attract heavy penalties to the players.
“The club wishes to reiterate that while neither player is subject to a current police investigation, these are very concerning matters that the club has treated very seriously,” Hill said.
Hill also said that the club is working hard to protect the identity of the young women involved throughout the investigation and that he was unable to make any further comments.
Both Harawira-Naera and Okunbor were initially named for the season opener game against Parramatta, but have since been removed from the final lists. Newly-recruited forward and lock Joe Stimson and second-row forward Dean Britt will now play their debut games for the Canterbury Bulldogs.
