Brandon Smith: South Sydney NRL star ordered not to contact Victor Radley as he fights drug and betting charges in court
NRL star Brandon Smith has been ordered by a court not to contact with former teammate Victor Radley as he pleaded not guilty to drug supply and insider betting charges.
The Souths star arrived at Southport Magistrates Court to a large media scrum and declined to comment on the range of allegations that have been levelled against him by Queensland Police as he entered the courthouse.
His lawyer Paul McGirr told the court his client would be pleading not guilty to both charges and the matter was adjourned for three weeks until October 9 after the short and sharp appearance.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.The identity of the alleged drug dealer was also revealed with Smith also ordered not to contact Joshua Peter Bainbridge.
Alleged text messages between Smith and Radley in which the Rooster star asked Smith to help him source cocaine while on the Sunshine Coast for a golf trip with teammates in June became public earlier this week.
There is no suggestion or allegation from police that Radley received the drugs and he is not facing any drug-related charges and the Nightly does not suggest that he is guilty of committing any criminal offence.
A Rabbitohs fan got a selfie with Smith while he waited to sign bail before the NRL star was whisked away by a car waiting outside court.
Smith is represented by leading Sydney lawyer McGirr, who confirmed before the appearance the 29-year-old Kiwi hooker would fight the charges.
“Brandon will attend the mention with an agent solicitor on my behalf,” Mr McGirr told AAP.
“He will enter a plea of not guilty to both charges and we will request a brief of evidence.
“That’s all we will say at this stage until we are served the actual physical brief of evidence that the Queensland Police rely on.”
The charges stem from a police investigation after officers seized Smith’s phone at the Gold Coast airport on August 9. On August 25 he was charged.
The next day the NRL allowed the rake to play in the final regular season round for South Sydney, ruling out the prospect of enforcing an immediate ban.
The Sydney Roosters have become entangled, with text messages allegedly exchanged between its star lock Radley uncovered in the police investigation.
