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Blake Ferguson has been suspended from all football after he was charged with indecent assault over an incident on Sunday night.
A statement by police has confirmed that Miranda Local Area Command charged the Blues winger with indecent assault over the alleged incident.
‘‘Police have been told a 23-year-old ACT man allegedly indecently assaulted a woman, also aged 23, while inside a nightclub on Cronulla Street about 10.30pm (Sunday),’’ the statement read.
Blake Ferguson leaves Waverley police station on Monday night. Photo: Chris Barrett
‘‘The woman immediately reported the incident to Cronulla Police and an investigation was initiated.
‘‘Detectives from Miranda Local Area Command viewed CCTV vision and spoke with a number of people. Shortly before 5pm (Monday), a 23-year-old man attended Waverley Police Station where he was arrested.
The man has now been charged with one count of indecent assault; he was granted conditional bail to appear in Waverley Local Court on 16 July 2013.’’
Ferguson attended Waverley Police Station for more than two hours on Monday night with Blues team managers Craig Young and Bert Lowrie over the allegations made by a female patron at 2230 Restaurant and Bar in Cronulla on Sunday night.
NRL officials have decided the 23-year-old will be stood down from all football until further notice.
Nathan Merritt, Akuila Uate and Jorge Taufua under consideration to replace him on the right wing in Origin II.
Dugan, who was sacked by the Raiders earlier this season after an infamous drinking session with Ferguson on the rooftop of Ferguson's Canberra townhouse, was not accused of any wrongdoing.
Ferguson was stood down by the Raiders on that occasion and told he was on his final warning, a threat Canberra officials have repeatedly shown they are prepared to carry through with.
Besides Dugan, the Raiders have parted ways with four other players in the past six years for off-field incidents - including stars Todd Carney and Joel Monaghan, as well as Steve Irwin and Bronx Goodwin.
Ferguson was also fined $10,000 and ordered to undergo counselling by the Raiders, who are understood to be disappointed that he had been drinking with Dugan after being of the belief he had gone to Sydney to stay with family the night before joining the NSW camp.
While the Blues had to deal with the fallout over the incident, Ferguson was not officially their responsibility until 10am Monday and no one in the NSW camp is believed to have been aware he had gone out drinking with Dugan.
St George Illawarra officials may also have an issue with Dugan drinking while he was recovering from an ankle injury, for which the new Blues fullback underwent scans on Monday.
The allegations overshadowed the first day of camp in Coogee for Laurie Daley's side who are looking to claim a first series win since 2005 with victory over Queensland in Brisbane on June 26.
The team's main media session for the week was put back by almost two hours on Monday with Daley reading from a prepared statement to confirm police were investigating the situation.
''We have been made aware of an allegation and have been in contact with the NRL's integrity unit,'' he said.
''We will continue to co-operate with the police investigation. Josh Dugan was with Blake at the time, but there has been no allegations made against him and we will update you as the matter continues.''
The incident was also being investigated by the NRL integrity unit, who contacted the Raiders.
''We have been notified by the NRL of an incident involving Blake Ferguson last night," Canberra chief Don Furner said. "At this stage we are working with police, NSW Rugby League management and the NRL integrity unit and will make no further comment until the facts can be properly established."
Since Dugan's departure from Canberra, it has coincided in an upturn in form for Ferguson, who impressed on his NSW debut on Origin I.
Dugan has done likewise with a struggling St George Illawarra side to return to the Origin arena for the first time since game one in 2011 after Jarryd Hayne failed to recover from a hamstring injury.
Blues players did their best to play down any claims of disruption with back-rower Ryan Hoffman denying it would affect the build-up to Wednesday week's game.
''We don't know anything about it and the attention and speculation is something we can't control,'' he said. ''But preparations for the game will be as normal and I am sure the team management will keep us informed as to what is going on. But all of our focus is on the game.''
NSW cancelled training on Monday with several players nursing niggling problems from the weekend.
with Glenn Jackson and AAP
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/l...#ixzz2WTE9OQwa
Blake Ferguson has been suspended from all football after he was charged with indecent assault over an incident on Sunday night.
A statement by police has confirmed that Miranda Local Area Command charged the Blues winger with indecent assault over the alleged incident.
‘‘Police have been told a 23-year-old ACT man allegedly indecently assaulted a woman, also aged 23, while inside a nightclub on Cronulla Street about 10.30pm (Sunday),’’ the statement read.
Blake Ferguson leaves Waverley police station on Monday night. Photo: Chris Barrett
‘‘The woman immediately reported the incident to Cronulla Police and an investigation was initiated.
‘‘Detectives from Miranda Local Area Command viewed CCTV vision and spoke with a number of people. Shortly before 5pm (Monday), a 23-year-old man attended Waverley Police Station where he was arrested.
The man has now been charged with one count of indecent assault; he was granted conditional bail to appear in Waverley Local Court on 16 July 2013.’’
Ferguson attended Waverley Police Station for more than two hours on Monday night with Blues team managers Craig Young and Bert Lowrie over the allegations made by a female patron at 2230 Restaurant and Bar in Cronulla on Sunday night.
NRL officials have decided the 23-year-old will be stood down from all football until further notice.
Nathan Merritt, Akuila Uate and Jorge Taufua under consideration to replace him on the right wing in Origin II.
Dugan, who was sacked by the Raiders earlier this season after an infamous drinking session with Ferguson on the rooftop of Ferguson's Canberra townhouse, was not accused of any wrongdoing.
Ferguson was stood down by the Raiders on that occasion and told he was on his final warning, a threat Canberra officials have repeatedly shown they are prepared to carry through with.
Besides Dugan, the Raiders have parted ways with four other players in the past six years for off-field incidents - including stars Todd Carney and Joel Monaghan, as well as Steve Irwin and Bronx Goodwin.
Ferguson was also fined $10,000 and ordered to undergo counselling by the Raiders, who are understood to be disappointed that he had been drinking with Dugan after being of the belief he had gone to Sydney to stay with family the night before joining the NSW camp.
While the Blues had to deal with the fallout over the incident, Ferguson was not officially their responsibility until 10am Monday and no one in the NSW camp is believed to have been aware he had gone out drinking with Dugan.
St George Illawarra officials may also have an issue with Dugan drinking while he was recovering from an ankle injury, for which the new Blues fullback underwent scans on Monday.
The allegations overshadowed the first day of camp in Coogee for Laurie Daley's side who are looking to claim a first series win since 2005 with victory over Queensland in Brisbane on June 26.
The team's main media session for the week was put back by almost two hours on Monday with Daley reading from a prepared statement to confirm police were investigating the situation.
''We have been made aware of an allegation and have been in contact with the NRL's integrity unit,'' he said.
''We will continue to co-operate with the police investigation. Josh Dugan was with Blake at the time, but there has been no allegations made against him and we will update you as the matter continues.''
The incident was also being investigated by the NRL integrity unit, who contacted the Raiders.
''We have been notified by the NRL of an incident involving Blake Ferguson last night," Canberra chief Don Furner said. "At this stage we are working with police, NSW Rugby League management and the NRL integrity unit and will make no further comment until the facts can be properly established."
Since Dugan's departure from Canberra, it has coincided in an upturn in form for Ferguson, who impressed on his NSW debut on Origin I.
Dugan has done likewise with a struggling St George Illawarra side to return to the Origin arena for the first time since game one in 2011 after Jarryd Hayne failed to recover from a hamstring injury.
Blues players did their best to play down any claims of disruption with back-rower Ryan Hoffman denying it would affect the build-up to Wednesday week's game.
''We don't know anything about it and the attention and speculation is something we can't control,'' he said. ''But preparations for the game will be as normal and I am sure the team management will keep us informed as to what is going on. But all of our focus is on the game.''
NSW cancelled training on Monday with several players nursing niggling problems from the weekend.
with Glenn Jackson and AAP
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/l...#ixzz2WTE9OQwa
...issues with abandonment, insecurities, etc..
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