Hotel licensee says Loko threw first punch
Bulldogs under pressure to sack their player
Loko tried to access hotel on two more occasions that night
Loko then allegedly got invovled in a larger brawl
CANTERBURY will be under pressure to tear up the contract of Jacob Loko after gritty details of a drunken night out emerged, including a fist fight with good friend and Manly winger Jorge Taufua, and allegations he later sparked a 30-man brawl.
The Bulldogs and Manly informed the NRL on Monday the pair had been involved in a fight with each other near the Hotel Chambers in the Sydney CBD late Saturday.
BRAWL:Loko and Taufua fight outside nightclub
But both clubs were understood to be caught by surprise by just how gruesome the CCTV footage of the incident was when it led the 6pm news bulletins.
Jacob threw the first punch. I know this 100 per cent because we’ve got it on our (CCTV) footage. Seven do as well
Chady Khouzame
The licensee for the Hotel Chambers, Chady Khouzame, was working Saturday night, and last night told The Daily Telegrah what exactly transpired after the pair arrived at his venue shortly after 10.30pm.
Khouzame went into fascinating detail, and made it clear it was Loko — not Taufua — who was the serious problem.
So poorly behaved was Loko that Khouzame said the Canterbury centre was now “banned for life’’ from his premises.
The late-night antics have left the NRL with yet another black eye as they try to desperately move on from the Gold Coast cocaine crisis, and the well-documented South Sydney Arizona arrests.
Loko and Taufua (in the white shirt) spill their fight into the road.
Loko and Taufua (in the white shirt) spill their fight into the road.
“They both arrived just after 10.30pm and they were fine, there were no issues,’’ Khouzame said last night.
“But Jacob was then asked to leave around 11.45pm. He wasn’t behaving well and throwing cups around.
“Jacob was the bad one, and Jorge was trying to give him the benefit of the doubt.
“We asked him to leave, and the guards had to physically remove him.
“Our footage shows Jorge walking back in, then Jacob tries to walk back in behind him. The security stops him, and that’s when Jacob got angry and Jorge had to stop him from trying to hit the security guard.
“He went up to the guard nose to nose like he was ready to throw a punch. That’s why Jorge got the s...ts.
Jacob was the bad one, and Jorge was trying to give him the benefit of the doubt. We asked him to leave, and the guards had to physically remove him.
Chady Khouzame
“Jorge knew the guards, and because Jacob walked up to one of the security guards, Jorge was backing him away saying ‘what are you doing?’.
“Jorge started walking up Elizabeth St with his head down, and was closer to the building (than the street), and Jacob kept pushing him. I watched the whole thing.
“It took off from there. Jacob wanted to get his attention and kept pushing him against the wall. Jacob threw the first punch. Our guards broke them up and put them in (separate) cabs.
“Jacob has then returned to the Martin Place area about 1.30am, and he’s tried to get back in (to Hotel Chambers). He offered us money to get back into the venue, but we said ‘no’.
“We asked the licensing police to ask him to leave, they escorted him across the street to put him in a cab again.
“Around 3.45am he’s come back again to the precinct around Phillip St and Martin Place, and that’s when he was involved in an all-in brawl. He threw the first punch, and I know this 100 per cent because we’ve got it on our (CCTV) footage. Seven do as well.’’
Both players will face an investigation from the NRL Integrity Unit.
Both players will face an investigation from the NRL Integrity Unit.
Khouzame said Loko only had between “three or four drinks’’, believed to be spirits, but drank them quickly while Taufua was “pacing himself’’.
Loko only returned from a suspension he incurred for high-range drink driving in January. He will be sentenced in May. He’s got untapped talent, but at just 22 already suffered a lifetime of injury setbacks.
The fact he was asked to leave twice — then allegedly sparked a brawl which was allegedly capture don CCTV — could all but force the Dogs’ hand. Should they fail to come down hard, there’s every chance the NRL Integrity Unit will.
The reason for the brawl between the two friends is unknown.
The reason for the brawl between the two friends is unknown.
An NRL spokesman said they were letting both clubs prepare their own reports, and added: “We’ll only intervene if we feel the penalty isn’t sufficient.’’
While Taufua was painted as the peacemaker, Manly officials were said to be hardly impressed when CCTV footage showed him walking freely, only for the winger to arrive for Sea Eagles training on Monday on crutches.
He broke down with a knee injury on the eve of the season proper, and why he was out late and drinking will be one question fired to him when he fronts club officials.
Originally published as Loko’s future grim after street brawl
http://www.couriermail.com.au/sport/nrl ... 7275458968
oh dear again, the roids & grog grog dont mix well
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Porkchop, doin what he does best, makin a fukkin juicy asss porkchop of himself