The Newcastle Knights have more drama on their hands with former player and now club official Ben Rogers facing two assault charges after an incident at a charity fundraiser.
Fairfax Media reports that Rogers is alleged to have punched two men in an incident captured on CCTV at a taxi rank outside Wests Leagues Club in New Lambton early on September 1 last year.
He was charged with two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and has appeared twice in Newcastle Local Court.
The matter has been adjourned until January 20.
The incident occurred a few hours after the Down Town Ball, a charity function in support of Down Syndrome NSW, for which Rogers is the Hunter region ambassador.
News of the charges against Rogers comes just days after star prop Russell Packer’s two-year jail term following a guilty plea to assault occasioning actual bodily harm and failing to leave a venue.
Rogers, a former five-eighth who played 30 games for the Knights from 2009-11, is the club’s community and charity support manager. He retired as a player in 2011 after a second shoulder reconstruction.