- Ex-St George Illawarra NRL star spent night behind bars
- Was arrested on Sunday in Warrawong on NSW south coast
Former NRL player Talatau ‘Junior’ Amone spent Sunday night in custody after being charged with common assault after allegedly spitting at a woman at a Wollongong pub.
Mr Amone, 22, was arrested on Sunday and charged with one count of common assault.
He was refused bail by police and spent the night in custody on remand.
Police on Sunday afternoon began investigating reports of an alleged assault at a Keira St, Wollongong pub earlier that day.
It is alleged that about 2am, Mr Amone was involved in an argument with a woman before spitting at her.
Police said the woman was known to Mr Amone.
Mr Amone was arrested at a Warrawong home about 6.15pm on Sunday and taken to Wollongong Police Station, where he was charged and denied bail.
The former St George Illawarra playmaker is due to appear in Wollongong Local Court on Monday.
Talatau Amone (pictured during a court appearance in June) is in more trouble with police after allegedly spitting at a woman in a Wollongong pub
The former Dragons star avoided jail last December when he was sentenced for an attack that saw him arm himself with a hammer and chase a tradesman off a roof
He avoided jail in December last year when he was sentenced after being found guilty of arming himself with a hammer and chasing a tradesman off a roof during a heated dispute.
Amone and his father Talatau Amone were found guilty in October at Wollongong Local Court of a string of charges, including assault relating to an incident outside their family home in Warrawong in November 2022.
Talatau Amone pleaded not guilty to damaging property, intimidation, entering a building or land with the intention to commit an indictable offence and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
Magistrate Gabriel Fleming described the pair’s conduct as ‘appalling’ as she individually sentenced the father and son for their roles during the heated confrontation.
Junior Amone was sentenced to a two-year Intensive Corrections Order, which is a term of imprisonment but to be served in the community.
Ms Fleming said the NRL player’s conduct was ‘appalling’.
Amone (pictured centre, outside court in December last year) was sentenced to a two-year Intensive Corrections Order over the hammer attack
‘You armed yourself with a hammer, the victims were vulnerable, the victim was up on a roof, there was nowhere to go,’ she said.
Ms Fleming told the court it was a ‘tragedy’ the conviction is affecting the 21-year-old’s playing career and finances, as he supports his family both in Australia and overseas.
‘I think it is a tragedy this could jeopardise your entire future in the profession you love,’ she said.
‘It is your tragedy not mine.’
Both men were fined $1000 each for damaging a car, and will have to pay their share of $13,481 in compensation.
In late 2023, Amone’s $500,000-a-year contract with the Dragons was torn up and he was deregistered indefinitely by the NRL.