The woman at the centre of the Api Koroisau controversy was never contacted by the NRL officials to provide a statement about sneaking into State of Origin camp and breaching biosecurity protocols on two occasions.
Koroisau was handed a two match suspension and ordered to pay $35,000 after admitting he put the entire NRL competition at risk when he sneaked a woman he met online into his room.
But the woman claims the punishment was not severe enough given Koroisau breached the game’s Covid bubble and proceeded to cover it up for three weeks, despite watching an opposition player get stood down over an almost identical offence.
‘There was all the public shame… but two weeks is nothing,’ she said.
The woman, who does not want to be identified, was surprised she was never contacted by integrity unit officials to provide a statement about the details of the rendezvous inside the team hotel.
‘I’m shocked by the NRL just going off Api’s word… Trusting a guy who brought me into camp twice and a planned third time,’ she said.
Api Koroisau with his wife Amy, who has stood by him despite him admitting to smuggling a woman he met on Instagram into State of Origin camp
The woman who accused Koroisau of breaching quarantine said she met the footballer on Instagram in early June, and their communication quickly moved to Snapchat
Koroisau’s wife Amy congratulated him on Instagram for making his long-awaited debut in game three after being 18th man for the first two matches
The woman claims she was smuggled into the Blues hotel on June 20 in Homebush and on June 27 – the day of State of Origin 2 – in Brisbane.
She eventually admitted the affair to Koroisau’s wife, who was shattered when she heard of the allegations.
Koroisau’s punishment aligns with what Jai Arrow received for a similar indiscretion, but the woman involved says she doesn’t think two games on the sideline ‘teaches these guys a lesson’.
Koroisau will spend one more match on the sidelines before he’s able to rejoin his team after copping a two game suspension
While she doubts the punishment will be a deterrent, the woman said she hopes there will be no further breaches – either of the bubble or of trust within a relationship.
The woman claims she was charmed by Koroisau and quickly developed feelings for him before he suddenly deleted his Snapchat account and told her not to contact him on Instagram in case his wife saw the messages.
Her opinion on the matter echoes that made by others after Daily Mail Australia exposed the breach, with Ray Hadley warning ‘any penalty imposed would not be harsh enough’.
The 2GB broadcaster earlier told his audience the code had to come down hard on Koroisau if he was found to have breached the biosecurity bubble.
‘The NRL has a very big job to do here,’ Hadley said on Friday morning. ‘Whatever they do with the bloke probably won’t be enough.
‘He’s put the entire game at risk and they should deal with him appropriately. I don’t want to see a slap on the wrist.’
Daily Mail Australia understands Koroisau sent grovelling texts (pictured) to his wife after she was told of the incident with the woman during State of Origin
Koroisau issued a grovelling apology last Friday night while his wife Amy admitted she had been left ‘immensely hurt’ by the revelations.
‘I made the choice to do the wrong thing and my actions have brought shame and embarrassment to many people, especially my wife and children. I will be forever sorry,’ the footy player said.
He apologised to the fans for putting the game at risk and to his wife Amy and two daughters for the ‘pain caused through selfish, thoughtless actions’.
‘I’m determined to become a better partner, father and protector, and hopefully rebuild trust, and earn back your love and our family,’ he said.
Amy has vowed to stand by her man, releasing a statement at the same time which said: ‘Api is a great dad and although this has hurt me immensely I have no doubt he will put the necessary strategies in place to learn from this and better who he is.’
Api Koroisau has been fined $35,000 and suspended for two games after Daily Mail Australia exclusively revealed that he allegedly put the entire NRL competition at risk by smuggling a woman he met on Instagram into the Blues hotel on two occasions. He is pictured with his wife Amy
The two-game suspension started immediately, meaning the 28-year-old missed Saturday night’s game against the Brisbane Broncos and will miss the grand final grudge rematch against Melbourne Storm this Saturday.
NRL officials stood by the punishment on Friday, despite fans and critics alike labelling it as ‘weak’.
In a statement, the league said the penalty was imposed based on the fact that the breach took place prior to more recent incidents involving Arrow and a dozen players from St George Illawarra.
It also takes into account the fact that protocols had only recently been upgraded at the time of the offence.
The entire NRL season is hanging by a thread in Queensland with the state’s chief health officer Jeannette Young reportedly ‘very close’ to tearing up exemptions for players and sending them packing to Covid-riddled Sydney, which would essentially force the game to suspend.
Koroisau called off a third rendezvous with the woman after Queensland player Jai Arrow was dumped from the Maroons camp over a similar incident involving a female dancer being invited back to his hotel. Koroisau is pictured holding the ball in State of Origin game three
Koroisau was the 18th man for games one and two of the State of Origin series, and allegedly first invited the woman to join him at the Novotel in Homebush on June 20.
‘I was told to message him when my Uber was about to drop me off and walk straight into the lifts, where he would be waiting for me,’ the woman said of the ‘strict’ instructions provided to her upon agreeing to meet with him.
Koroisau was in the elevator when the woman arrived, and ushered her directly up to his room.
They allegedly spent about two hours together before Koroisau told her to leave because he had to return to his teammates who were all together downstairs.
Less than 12 hours later, Koroisau and his Blues teammates flew to Kingscliff, where Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk granted them an exemption to ensure the State of Origin could go ahead.
The woman claims the next morning, Koroisau told her he’d be ‘deleting his Snapchat’ because he was heading home to his wife, and urged her not to contact him on Instagram in case his wife read the message. Pictured: An exchange between Koroisau’s wife’s Instagram account and the other woman
On June 27, the day of the second match, the woman said Koroisau invited her to join him at the Sofitel resort in Brisbane – but he warned her it would be ‘difficult’ given he now had a roommate.
She said he suggested she book her own room in the hotel – and even allegedly offered to pay for it.
The woman said she booked a room in her own name and met Koroisau when she arrived. He then took a key to her room on his way out and returned to see her about midnight after his team sealed the series in a 26-0 thrashing of Queensland.
She claims Koroisau didn’t want his roommate to know he was breaching strict isolation rules implemented by camp officials, and that he left her room about 6am.
‘My understanding is that nobody actually knew and that he kept it all hush hush because it was not allowed,’ she said.
The pair planned to meet again before game three, but the woman said Korosiau pulled the pin after word spread that Arrow had been booted out of camp for having a dancer in his room.
‘We didn’t want to ruin his debut… so we decided it would be best that I didn’t come,’ she said.
Following the short-lived alleged affair, the other woman contacted Koroisau’s wife Amy to apologise for her part in what happened.
In a series of messages shown to Daily Mail Australia, Amy Koroisau told the other woman she was ‘devastated’ and considered leaving the marriage.
‘He’s dead to me now,’ a message sent from Amy Koroisau’s Instagram account read.
Amy flew with the couple’s two young daughters to Coolangatta on the Gold Coast last Wednesday to join her husband and his team.
The family will spend 14 days in hotel quarantine at a Gold Coast hotel before moving north to the Sunshine Coast, where Koroisau and his teammates are based.