Not much point worrying about this really. If the player in question (no idea who) is charged, and found guilty, then by all means throw the book at them. If the cops haven't laid any charges, then it's really nothing to do with us.
Big media beat-up unless anything is proven. What some people will do to sell a few papers....
177th Senior AFL Match - Round 4, 2009 - Sydney vs Carlton, SCG. This is obviously out of date. I suppose I'll update it once I could be bothered sitting down with the fixture and working it out....
Des' Weblog
Swan helped pay $200,000 over rape claim
By Caroline Wilson, Jake Niall and Emma Quayle
March 19, 2004 - 12:21AM
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Two current AFL players, including Port Adelaide's Peter Burgoyne and a Sydney player, reached an out-of-court settlement with a woman who had made sexual assault allegations against them in 2000.
Burgoyne and former AFL player Adam Heuskes were charged with rape over an alleged incident in Adelaide in August of that year.
The charges were not proceeded with and no convictions were recorded. Heuskes was a Brisbane player at the time but is now playing in the South Australian National Football League.
The current Swans player contributed to the payout, which was made in 2002 to settle a civil action by the woman against the players.
It is understood the majority of the payout was contributed by Burgoyne and the Sydney player because they were still earning high salaries.
The Sydney player was not charged. There is no suggestion that the out-of-court settlement was connected with the criminal charges.
Port Adelaide chief executive Brian Cunningham said last night the charges had not proceeded.
He said the basis of the monetary settlement was that "all three players denied the allegations and the woman accepted that the settlement was not an admission of liability".
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"There were no findings made in relation to the player. In a subsequent civil action, a woman allegedly involved in the incident sent a letter of demand seeking a financial settlement."
The payout was revealed in The Sunday Age in Melbourne two weeks ago, before the scandal over allegations of serious sexual misconduct involving St Kilda's Stephen Milne and Leigh Montagna surfaced on Tuesday. These players were named by their club, which has said they vehemently deny the allegations.
The Sunday Age report, which was primarily about gang rape allegations in rugby league, did not name the players.
AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou said last night he was unaware of the payment.
Cunningham said that Port Adelaide "did not pay or compensate in any way any party in connection with the matter, nor did it provide or pay the player's legal assistance".
He said the club was not a party to the settlement.
"A senior club official advised the player to obtain a lawyer, which he did," Cunningham said.
"The official attended meetings between the lawyer and the player as an observer."
Sydney chief executive Myles Baron-Hay would not comment last night.
The details of the payment emerged as the AFL and its captains launched a spirited defence of the game and its players.
Demetriou said that while there were times individual footballers would "transgress", he believed the bulk of the AFL's 640 players were "outstanding community leaders".
His thoughts were echoed by club captains, including Collingwood skipper and Brownlow medallist Nathan Buckley, who felt he "owed" football for instilling an ability to make socially responsible decisions.
Demetriou said he was convinced female football supporters would not turn away from the game, and said the AFL's image remained good.
Milne and Montagna have denied the claims made against them by two women after an alleged incident on Sunday night at Montagna's bayside home.
Demetriou named James Hird, Michael Voss and Buckley as "outstanding leaders in this community".
Buckley said he had made more right decisions than wrong because of football.
"Without football I don't know where I'd be," he said.
"I'm no saint, but I owe a lot to footy for the discipline I believe I've got in a lot of areas of my life."
Buckley said the AFL and its clubs now demanded that any off-field indiscretions be dealt with, "not swept under the carpet". He said most players respected women.
"There's always a minority, and those people need to be dealt with to the full letter of the law," Buckley said.
Geelong captain Steven King said he would again address his players on the dangers of off-field indiscretions.
Kangaroos skipper Adam Simpson said his team would this morning be told of their social responsibilities by the Victoria Police.
You don't ban those who supported your opponent, you make them wallow in their loserdom by covering your victory! You sit them in the front row. You give them a hat! Toby Ziegler
I mentioned this on the board a week or so ago - in the thread where Bron had been on the radio - I did say we should be circumspect about this issue.
A couple of points
He was a 'former Sydney player'
He is no longer in the competition following this incident
You don't ban those who supported your opponent, you make them wallow in their loserdom by covering your victory! You sit them in the front row. You give them a hat! Toby Ziegler
You could say very very high profile player.Originally posted by Dudley
The 3rd player (and a high profile one at that) involved in this incident remains on the Swans list today
http://www.realfooty.theage.com.au/r...199372348.html
DST
"Looking forward to a rebuilt, new, fast and exciting Swans model in 2010"
Reggi,Originally posted by Reggi
I mentioned this on the board a week or so ago - in the thread where Bron had been on the radio - I did say we should be circumspect about this issue.
A couple of points
He was a 'former Sydney player'
He is no longer in the competition following this incident
Sorry to disagree with you but he is a current Swans player and a very high profile one at that.
As I said before in the thread, I was in the same club as the three players (and a number of other players that night) on the night of the alleged incident.
He was there and is definately still on our list.
DST
"Looking forward to a rebuilt, new, fast and exciting Swans model in 2010"
Payout on footy sex
Russell Robinson
19mar04
A WOMAN who claims she was sexually assaulted by three high-profile AFL players was paid about $200,000 for her silence.
The woman complained to police that she was raped and sexually assaulted by the players in bushland near an Adelaide city nightclub.
She named Port Adelaide's Peter Burgoyne, former Brisbane Lion and one-time Port player Adam Heuskes, and another player from an interstate AFL club as the alleged attackers.
The confidential payment was made more than a year ago after the woman's lawyers sent the players letters of demand as part of a civil action claiming pain and suffering resulting from the alleged attack.
The Herald Sun was told yesterday Burgoyne and the other interstate player were sent their letters addressed to their football clubs.
According to a legal source: "Three separate players took part (in the settlement). All three contributed, and the amount was substantial."
The alleged attack took place in the early hours of August 18, 2000, when the woman, then 23, went to the West Adelaide nightclub with a group of friends.
The woman spoke to the Herald Sun about her ordeal in an exclusive interview a year after the alleged attack.
She said the experience left her feeling degraded and confused.
The Adelaide shop assistant told of having been passed a drink, which she didn't ask for, by one of the players.
She believes the drink was spiked because she later kept lapsing in and out of consciousness. She claims Burgoyne asked if she wanted to go for a walk, to which she agreed.
"I didn't have a clear head. To me it was just a walk. It could've been to McDonald's next door or to the bar," she recalled.
It was just as they were leaving the nightspot that she says she noticed Heuskes and the other man following them.
"I still didn't have an idea what was going on ? it's hard to explain," she told the Herald Sun.
She claims Burgoyne, still holding her hand, was walking briskly dragging her while she stumbled behind in the darkness.
At a spot deep within the park, the woman said she was laid down and then sexually assaulted.
Her lower clothing was removed and strewn about the grass.
The woman claimed she remembered one of them complaining: "Why do I always have to go last?"
"On and off I knew what was happening. I can't say how long it went for ? I was lapsing in and out," she said.
"They rolled me on my stomach a number of times ? just like I was their rag doll.
"Then they left me.
"As Peter Burgoyne walked off I remember him asking: `Are you all right?'
"I drifted off and woke up some time later, alone."
She then had to crawl around in the darkness to find her handbag and clothes, which were some distance away.
All the time the woman's friends had been trying to ring her on her mobile phone which was in her handbag.
They eventually met up and went to a nearby police station to report the alleged rape.
The following day she underwent medical tests.
The Herald Sun had been told the woman was a virgin before the alleged attack.
Eight days later, Burgoyne and Heuskes were charged with rape.
The other man was never charged by police.
The three AFL players are believed to have claimed the sexual encounter was consensual.
The charges against Burgoyne and Heuskes were unexpectedly dropped five weeks later by the South Australian Director of Public Prosecutions, Paul Rofe, QC.
He had determined that there was "no reasonable prospect of conviction on any criminal charge".
Mr Rofe, who had interviewed the alleged victim, said the decision "was a legal judgment, not a moral judgment".
"After a careful evaluation of the available evidence by myself and senior prosecutors, it has been determined there is no reasonable prospect of conviction on any criminal charge," he said.
"It may be time for the AFL and individual clubs to review the players' code of conduct as it relates to off-field behaviour."
After the charges were withdrawn the woman's distraught family hit out at Mr Rofe's decision and what the woman regarded as his conflict of interest.
Mr Rofe has never hidden his association with football. He was a board member of the Adelaide Crows and played 240 amateur league games.
Representatives of Port Adelaide and the other player's club said yesterday their clubs had not paid the woman.
Through their clubs the Herald Sun requested interviews with the players.
Burgoyne and Heuskes did not return calls.
You don't ban those who supported your opponent, you make them wallow in their loserdom by covering your victory! You sit them in the front row. You give them a hat! Toby Ziegler
No I knew he was around and know who it is (der who doesn't) also knew as above article suggests that he was 'present' was never charged - no allegations were directed at him - from what I was told at the time.
This was no secret it was reported quite heavily when it happened
Last edited by Reggi; 19th March 2004 at 07:19 AM.
You don't ban those who supported your opponent, you make them wallow in their loserdom by covering your victory! You sit them in the front row. You give them a hat! Toby Ziegler
Two players publicly outed but the Swans player not publicly named, hmmmmmm
I guess we'll expect a press conference this afternoon. Surely we'll get hammered further if the club doesn't go public today.
can someone post the reports from a few years ago which names this player ... may as well find out here rather than on the Daily Turd tomorrow
See me run a marathon again as a leprechaun?
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the player is indeed very high profile. Am I allowed to name him?
LIFE GOES ON
Just tell us what position he plays.Originally posted by Snowy
the player is indeed very high profile. Am I allowed to name him?
Apparently he was a passive observer.
LIFE GOES ON
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