Jason Taumalolo’s rise to dominance through the last few seasons has been nothing short of impressive, but few would have tipped that the Cowboys’ enforcer would make the leap from back to front page for any reason other than his talent on the Rugby League field.
Twenty-three-year-old Taumalolo and his mates turned back the clock on Wednesday night when they were caught egging cars in the suburbs of Townsville, in what has truly been one of the more bizarre stories to surface for quite a while.
This incredible situation got us thinking about some of the other times athletes have made the front page for child-like antics, dummy spits and general tomfoolery!
Jason Taumalolo
Jason Taumalolo’s impact on the field has arguably never been as strong as the impact he had on the innocent streets of Townsville this week.
Taumalolo and a few lower grade players did their best to recapture their youth, but rather than getting involved in Pokemon Go like everyone else seems to be doing, went on an egging spree.
While he’s not expected to be stood down for the Cows’ pivotal clash with the Storm on Saturday night, Taumalolo is expected to be lumped with the clean-up bill when he fronts the magistrate’s court in October.
Mario Balotelli
Mario Balotelli spent more time in the headlines than he did on the pitch during his stint with Premier League club Manchester City, but nothing compared to the time he nearly burnt down his house after setting off fireworks in his bathroom.
Balotelli insisted that it was in fact a mate who had decided to light the crackers inside, but the charismatic Italian earned himself a position fronting a fireworks safety campaign in the weeks following
Balotelli was fined more than £300,000 for his many off field grievances at City, which also included a punch-up with team mate Jerome Boateng and situation whereby he was caught throwing darts at a youth team player.
Andrew Symonds
Andrew Symonds was a cult hero of the Australian cricket team in the mid-2000s and a good portion of that reputation was built around the fact he just seemed like a great bloke who you could crack a beer with.
It was therefore only a matter of time before the Queenslander found himself in the headlines for something that didn’t relate to his batting average, and that came in the form of a fishing charter in 2008.
Symonds elected to skip a compulsory team meeting on the eve of Australia’s first one dayer against Bangladesh in Darwin and was promptly sent home in disgrace. Who can blame the bloke – when the Barra are biting, the Barra are biting!
Jack Wilshere
If there’s one thing that Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger loves, it’s managing a team to fourth in the Premier League. If there’s one thing he hates, it’s his stars, at the peak of their fitness being caught smoking.
Midfielder Jack Wilshere felt the wrath of Wenger when he was caught outside a nightclub with a dart in hand, after the Gunners knocked off Napoli in the Champions League in 2013.
To make the situation far better for the England international, a spokesperson from him camp said “Jack was with friends and team-mates. One dared Jack, who does not smoke, to hold the cigarette momentarily as part of a prank.” Deary me.
Shane Warne
Shane Warne was paid a reported $200,000 by Nicorette in 1999 to quit smoking, but folded to his cravings publically only days before the end of his four-month sponsorship.
Several punters came forward over the coming weeks and revealed that they has seen Warne smoking in a number of locations around the world throughout his supposed hiatus.
Clearly embarrassed by the situation they had put themselves in, Nicorette refused to confirm how much they had paid Warne and continued to try and make the situation a good PR drive, before quietly sweeping the campaign under the rug.
Josh Dugan & Blake Ferguson
Josh Dugan and Blake Ferguson have made the headlines together several times throughout their respective careers, but the most memorable occasion was undoubtedly ‘Cruisergate’.
Dugan and Ferguson were part of a Raiders team who were handsomely beaten by the Panthers in early 2013, and the pair failed to show up the following day for the club’s compulsory recovery session.
Having later taken photos of themselves drinking vodka cruisers and subsequently posted them online, the pair were suspended by the Raiders indefinitely and neither remained at the club much longer.
Damien Oliver
Champion hoop Damien Oliver is usually in the headlines because he has produced absolute magic in the saddle, but he found himself out of favour and out of the winter carnival when he was caught over the limit at Warrnambool in May.
Oliver bought into the vibe of the Warrnambool festival a little too seriously; throwing back the tinnies until the wee hours before rocking up to work the next day with plenty still in his system.
To his credit, the veteran jockey copped the ban on his chin, but probably would have been the difference on Azkadellia in the Doomben 10,000.
Kurtley Beale & James O’Connor
There are few people who can successfully navigate past a Hungry Jack’s without entering at the end of a night on the grog, and sport stars are apparently not immune.
Wallabies’ backs Kurtley Beale and James O’Connor were slapped with a ‘please explain’ after they were snapped in the line at Hungry’s at 4am on a Wednesday morning, only days before they were due to line up for the national side against the British & Irish Lions.
The pair were reportedly not under the influence when they dropped in for a whopper, but anyone that is sober and willing to dive head-first into a 4am-quality burger deserves to be investigated.
Dawn Fraser
Dawn Fraser laid the foundation, for Australian athletes at least, to get involved in off-field shenanigans when she famously stole an Olympic flag from Emperor Hirohito’s palace during the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.
Fraser had already angered plenty of people in Tokyo by the point of her flag theft, but she silenced her critics when she won gold in the Women’s 100m freestyle in an Olympic record 59.5 seconds.
Tom Boyd & Zaine Cordy
Fights are something that inevitably happen in a rough, full-contact sport like football.
It is not at all out of the ordinary to see rival players having a dig at each other from the opening whistle, but Western Bulldogs players Tom Boyd and Zaine Cordy apparently did not understand the ins and outs of that earlier this year when they were stood down for punching on with each other.
One thing that has become abundantly clear is that alcohol and sport stars do not mix, and that was yet again the case in this instance.
