Footy star Josh Dugan posts pictures of himself breaching Covid lockdown with a dinner at a swanky Italian restaurant in Potts Point
- Footy star Josh Dugan, 31, broke NRL biosecurity protocols on Sunday night
- He posted a photo with mates eating at a restaurant in Sydney’s Potts Point
- All NRL players were told they could only leave their home for essential reasons
- Dugan is in isolation from teammates & has since returned a negative Covid test
Footy star Josh Dugan has left the NRL and club officials fuming after posting a photo of himself on social media at a restaurant with friends during the Covid lockdown in NSW.
Dugan was out eating dinner on Sunday night at Fratelli Paradiso in Sydney’s Potts Point, breaking the NRL’s strict biosecurity protocols in place.
He is now in isolation from his Cronulla teammates and remains under investigation after ignoring the clear directive from the governing body.
Players were repeatedly told they could only leave their homes for essential household reasons.
NRL star Josh Dugan (pictured far left) at Fratelli Paradiso restaurant in Potts Point on Sunday – breaching lockdown rules
The Sharks are said to be seething at Dugan and have reported the incident to the NRL Integrity Unit.
Dugan has since labelled his weekend breach of the Covid-19 bubble rules an ‘error in judgement.’
‘Its been a difficult period for me personally and I’m putting my hand up on this one,’ he told the Daily Telegraph.
‘I’ve (since) had all the necessary testing done for Covid and I’ve come back negative.’
Dugan, on a contract worth a reported $850,000 per year, is currently out of favour at the Sharks due to his patchy form.
He is turning out for their feeder club, the Newtown Jets, and is looking for a start elsewhere in 2022 either at another NRL club or overseas.
Josh Dugan has since labelled his foolish behaviour on Sunday an ‘error in judgement’ (pictured with partner Jordan Danielle)
Dugan is also no stranger to controversy.
He was sacked by Canberra – who gave him his NRL start – in 2013 for repeated off-field indiscretions.
Dugan’s most infamous stuff up came after posting a photo on social media drinking Cruiser alcoholic ‘lolly drinks’ on a rooftop with then Raiders teammate Blake Ferguson – when he was supposed to be recovering from an injury.
Then in 2017, Dugan and Ferguson were spotted at a Lennox Heads pub on the NSW south coast drinking and gambling just days out from a vital State of Origin match.
Witnesses said the pair were ‘drunk and acting like clowns’ at the watering hole, which was 80km away from their team base.
NSW went onto lose the Origin decider to Queensland 22-6.
Josh Dugan (pictured left) has represented the Raiders, Dragons and Sharks in an impressive – but injury interrupted – career marred by off-field dramas
On Monday, NRL players and officials were thrust back under the tightest level of Covid-19 biosecurity restrictions as the league’s bosses ponder how to continue the competition.
All 16 NRL clubs have been told to put players back under the toughest – level 4 – restrictions, banned from leaving home unless training, playing or completing an essential household task and with no visitors to homes allowed.
‘When the competition resumes on Thursday night, players and officials will be under the same protocols as they were when the competition successfully resumed on May 28 last year,’ NRL CEO Andrew Abdo said.
‘It’s clear the virus is spreading quickly and these measures provide an additional safeguard to ensure the competition can continue.
‘Our players, officials and clubs united last year to ensure no risk to the competition or the community and I have every confidence the same will apply as we work through the current challenges.’