Two Canberra players were involved in a late-night altercation at the team hotel in Las Vegas after one of the players was left stranded without a room due to a system malfunction.
Canberra coach Ricky Stuart confirmed the incident took place on the team’s first night in Las Vegas.
The players were allowed out to enjoy themselves, as has been the case with the Penrith Panthers and Warriors’ players but were involved in an altercation when they returned to their hotel.
Technical issues at the hotel, which left hundreds of guests waiting up to four hours to be checked into their rooms, meant that one player didn’t have a room.
One Canberra player wanted to stay with his teammate in the same bed but met resistance. The pair then had a fight in the hotel corridor, leading to hotel security evicting them from the premises.
Hotel security initially thought one of the players had a weapon in their possession, but it was found to be an inflatable baseball bat. They were later allowed to return to their rooms, not before hotel staff incorrectly escorted them to a room of one of the Panthers’ players.
“I’m aware of this,” Stuart said. “It happened three days ago. I’ve dealt with this strongly. It was irresponsible behaviour, I’ve dealt with this and want to now go about preparing the team for Saturday.”
More to come
