The Brisbane Broncos have sacked players Ian Lacey and John Te Reo after an incident in which a man was allegedly assaulted after the club’s annual presentation dinner at the weekend.

Lacey faced Brisbane Magistrates Court this morning, charged over the grievous bodily harm of a 32-year-old man.

A handcuffed and barefoot Lacey sat silently as he was granted bail on the condition he make no contact with the injured man and another Broncos player police want to interview.

The court heard police also want to question Te Reo, who left for New Zealand on a planned holiday on the day of the alleged attack.

Broncos chief executive offficer Bruno Cullen says Lacey and Te Reo have been found to have breached their contract with the club, following an independent internal investigation.

Mr Cullen says the club is encouraging Te Reo to return to Australia from New Zealand to help police with their investigation.

He says Lacey and Te Reo were informed of their dismissal on Tuesday afternoon.

“We’ve concluded from our investigations that the two players in question are in serious breach of both their NRL contracts and our own internal code of conduct and therefore we thought we had no other option but to terminate the individuals’ contracts,” he said.

Mr Cullen says he does not think the decision will influence legal proceedings.

The Broncos have now sacked four players in just over a year for disciplinary reasons.

It is understood the 32-year-old man was on his way home in the early hours of Saturday morning after visiting several nightclubs in Brisbane’s central business district when he was chased from the Victory Hotel and assaulted on a street corner.

He remains in hospital with a possible fractured skull and bleeding on the brain.

Lacey is to appear in court for committal mention on January 7.

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Tags: Broncos, sacked, alleged, assault

Posted on October 5th, 2006 by Klaus Roe
Filed under: Question of Sport