The NRL whacked Nathan Cleary with a ban and a big fine because the Panthers star lied to the Integrity Unit not once but twice, according to a report in The Daily Telegraph.
It's a revelation that has piqued the interest of NSW police, with AAP reporting that his story will be reinvestigated.
Cleary was initially cleared by police over an incident on Anzac Day that involved having friends at his house despite coronavirus restrictions. Five women received $1000 police fines for flouting government protocols.
Cleary has been banned for two-matches and fined $30,000 for being 'untruthful' in dealings with the NRL's integrity unit during investigations into social distancing breaches, after pictures emerged of him with women on his couch at home in April.
Fellow Panthers player Tyrone May, who lives with Cleary, has also been issued a breach notice and is facing a $15,000 fine and two-match suspension.
The bans are set to start when the NRL competition resumes on May 28.
It's been revealed the NRL felt it needed to be heavy-handed in its response to Cleary's behaviour, because the NSW halfback was dishonest on more than one occasion.
According to veteran columnist Paul Kent, the Integrity Unit's investigation exposed more dishonesty from Cleary after he was caught out lying in initial discussions.
While Cleary had claimed the women had dropped around to his house to wait for an Uber, the investigation reportedly revealed that Cleary had in fact left his house to pick them up, breaking enforceable government protocols stopping non-essential travel.
"Firstly, the activities were not in line with public protocols," an NRL source said. "But, secondly, he conspired to concoct a story about what he was doing."
Housemates Cleary and May came clean on the full story when the Integrity Unit interviewed both players again, concluding that Cleary was "untruthful in material matters".
That new information has prompted NSW deputy police commissioner Gary Worboys to look into the matter again.
"There will be some further inquiries made into that over the coming days and if it's appropriate to take action against that person, that will occur," Worboys told AAP.
"It'll be a local Police Area Command investigation. They handled it previously and we'll look forward to the outcome of that in the coming days."
May's claims of retreating to his bedroom to stay within social distancing guidelines were also brought undone. He joined the party alongside Cleary, leaving himself open to a $15,000 fine and a two game ban.
The five-eighth's season was already impacted by a four game suspension, which he is halfway through serving for the sex tape scandal that engulfed the club last year, and will now join his teammates in round seven.
NRL great Paul Gallen called out the NRL Integrity Unit for its sanction on Roberts, labeling it unfairly harsh for expecting the Penrith five-eighth to dob on his teammate.
Penrith coach Ivan Cleary told The Sydney Morning Herald his son was remorseful for his actions and that he will keep his place in the club's leadership group.
Cleary believes his son will look back on this moment as the trigger point that "made him a leader".
"Nathan has gone through a lot of pain here," the Panthers coach said.
"He's made a big mistake, but this is the kind of situation that can be a really strong reference point for the future.
"He's not the finished product. He came into the NRL as an 18-year-old and, up until this point, he's done pretty well [behaviourally]. But this will make him as a leader. And there are not too many leaders people want to follow who don't make mistakes. Often there's a big one in there somewhere.
"He's not perfect. It's been a tough couple of weeks for him. He's very remorseful."
from WWOS http://wwos.nine.com.au/nrl/nrl-nathan-cleary-lied-twice-to-integrity-unit/469bc335-e66a-4b9c-8943-7d24f5bf3f91
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