Fears are growing that more players, both current and former, across three football codes will be implicated in the Queensland cocaine scandal that has engulfed the NRL.
Representative forwards Greg Bird and Dave Taylor, and three of their Gold Coast Titans teammates, could be hit with a minimum four-year, worldwide ban from sport if they are found guilty of cocaine supply charges.
The Titans were plunged deeper into crisis on Sunday after the NRL club's return from a pre-season trial match in Cairns with Bird, Taylor, and former Kiwis international Kalifa Faifai Loa each served with notices to appear in court from Queensland's Crime and Corruption Commission (QCCC).
The trio, together with former Titans squad member Joe Vickery, all face charges of supplying cocaine as part of the same QCCC investigation that on Friday saw Titans hooker Beau Falloon, outside back Jamie Dowling, and Queensland Reds backline utility Karmichael Hunt also charged.
Falloon's girlfriend has been confirmed as the 22-year-old woman also charged last Friday, when the story first broke.
All four are due in court on March 5, the same day the Brisbane Broncos and reigning premiers the South Sydney Rabbitohs are set to play their blockbuster season-opening clash at Suncorp Stadium.
Taylor, Bird, Faifai Loa and Vickery are all expected to face Southport Magistrates Court on March 9.
It is understood the QCCC will allege those charged arranged for the supply of cocaine for personal use or to supply the drug to friends and colleagues between August and December last year.
It is believed players' activities at the Titans' Mad Monday boat cruise and a player's stag party attracted the attention of authorities operating a covert drugs sting targeting one of Queensland's largest cocaine cartels.
Brisbane's Courier-Mail reports that several other former Titans as well as players from rival codes remain of interest to investigators.
The arrests come after former Australian and Queensland representative Jason Smith and ex-North Sydney and Wests Tigers fullback Matt Seers were charged with supplying drugs in separate arrests in January. Former Sydney Roosters player John Touma also appeared in court on February 6 on cocaine supply and possession charges.
All five Titans players have been stood down indefinitely by the club but could face a minimum four-year, worldwide ban from sport if they are found guilty.
A guilty verdict could then see them face punishments from the anti-doping body Wada which could potentially end their playing careers in any major sporting code around the world.
Sydney's Daily Telegraph reports that under section 2.7 of the Wada code, supplying prohibited substances to a third party is considered "trafficking" and carries a minimum four-year ban from all sport.
Meanwhile, the Titans have launched their own investigation which could see players being sacked immediately regardless of the legal result.
Until the Titans reach a decision on the players' futures, the club is unable to sign replacements and will have to rely on the current squad.
Bird is the player most likely to have his contract torn up, as he is already on his last warning at the Titans after he was stripped of his captaincy in December for urinating in public during his wedding celebrations in Byron Bay.
It is at the discretion of the NRL and the Titans whether the five players are reinstated after they appear in court in two weeks or are given a provisional ban until the court hearings are completed.
* The Queensland Reds say they won't select Hunt for their next Super Rugby game on Friday night against the Highlanders.
Queensland Rugby Union chief executive Jim Carmichael said yesterday it was in the best interests of Hunt's welfare that he be excluded from the team ahead of his Gold Coast court date next week.
Drugs crisis - the big players
Greg Bird, 30: Charged with two counts of supplying cocaine.
Dave Taylor, 26: Charged with one count of possession and one count of supplying cocaine.
Beau Falloon, 27: Charged with four counts of supplying cocaine.
Jamie Dowling, 24: Charged with two counts of supplying cocaine.
Kalifa Faifai Loa, 25: Charged with one count of supplying cocaine.
Karmichael Hunt, 28: Queensland Reds player charged with four counts of supplying cocaine.
Others charged
Joe Vickery, 25: Former Titans squad member was also charged with seven counts of supplying cocaine.
Jason Smith, 42: Former league international charged with trafficking 280g of cocaine between June and December 2014.
Matt Seers, 40: Former NRL player charged with 15 counts of supplying a dangerous drug and one count of trafficking a dangerous drug.
- By David Skipwith of the New Zealand Herald
