By Ian Neubauer
Members of the Brisbane Broncos have been named in a series of embarrassing and potentially criminal allegations centering around licensed venues in their home city.
Queensland rugby stars Karmichael Hunt, Darius Boyd and Sam Thaiday have been interviewed by police over the alleged sexual assault of 24-year-old woman in the toilets of the Alhambra Lounge nightclub in Fortitude Valley on Saturday (September 13) night, the Brisbane Times reported.
It has also been alleged that a fourth player filmed the incident on his mobile phone.
The Broncos attracted more negative press this week after a licensee claimed he was tackled by a Bronco.
Casablanca Bar proprietor, Terry De Gunten, told Fairfax Media he was tackled by Broncos skipper, Darren Lockyear, on September 6. He said team members have long been abusing their public status to run rampant in Brisbane pubs.
“A few years ago we had players throwing pizza all over our windows,” De Gunten said. “We have been told by everyone that it is not worth raising issues with the Broncos because they are very well connected and it would not be worth it. It has always been a motto here in Brisbane – if you react against them, you could get yourself into trouble."
De Gunten’s argument gained traction when it was later revealed one of the players interviewed by police in connection to last week’s sexual assault was evicted from two other licensed venues that same night for being drunk and disorderly.
A staff member at the first venue said on the condition of anonymity that Darius Boyd and other players had pushed into the taxi line outside the hotel. An employee at the second venue said the group was “blind” drunk and one of them may have been evicted.
Broncos CEO, Bruuno Cullen, told News Ltd the allegations against Lockyer were false and the players were victims of a witchhunt instigated by the media. He said he was unconcerned about the players long drinking sessions.
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