St George Illawarra’s horror off-season has gone from bad to worse with forward Francis Molo fronting court charged with stalking/intimidating a woman at his home near Wollongong.
Molo, who joined the Dragons last season after making his State of Origin debut as a Cowboys player, pleaded guilty to the charge when the matter was mentioned in Port Kembla Local Court on Wednesday.
The Illawarra Mercury reported the 28-year-old’s legal representative told the court there would be argument about the details of the incident, which occurred eight days before Christmas.
Molo is not to approach the woman for at least 12 hours after drinking alcohol or taking illicit drugs under the conditions of an interim apprehended violence order taken out by police.
The Dragons notified the NRL of the incident as soon as they were aware of it.
NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo has the discretion to sideline Molo under the NRL’s no-fault stand-down policy, even though the incident doesn’t meet the threshold for him to be automatically prevented from playing.
Dragons player Francis Molo.Credit:NRL Photos
Molo featured for St George Illawarra in the Dragons’ thumping loss to South Sydney in the Charity Shield at Mudgee last weekend, a match in which his brother Michael was also part of the squad.
The club disciplined players Mikaele Ravalawa and Zane Musgrove after teammates were forced to separate them after an altercation close to dawn at the team’s Mudgee hotel after the match.
It caps a torrid summer for the joint venture, whose star five-eighth Junior Amone has been stood down under the NRL’s policy after he was charged with allegedly being involved in a rooftop hammer attack on a tradie near his Wollongong home.
Molo was hoping to reinvigorate his career this season having fought back to Origin level after being involved in a tackle that killed James Ackerman during a Queensland Cup match between Sunshine Coast Falcons and Norths Devils in 2015.
An inquest found Molo did not intend to shoulder charge Ackerman, who died as a result of injuries to an artery.
St George Illawarra will begin their NRL campaign against the Gold Coast Titans in round two. Anthony Griffin’s side has the bye in the opening round.
