Beleaguered Dragons centre Tim Lafai claims he and his "boys" were outnumbered and forced to defend themselves during a wild brawl that spilled out of a Wollongong nightclub in the early hours of Sunday.
Police have charged Lafai and teammate Siliva Havili after CCTV cameras allegedly captured the pair getting amongst the 5am melee. In text messages obtained by the Fairfax Media, Lafai defends his group against accusations of "dog shotting", or coward punching.
"We've never liked fighting, it's the last thing we wanted, we were out numbered [sic] there was only 4 of us and it seemed like there were a lot of boys who were trying to fight us," he said.
"Two of our own mates got dog shot and that's what kept sparking things up."
The texts form part of an exchange between Lafai and a friend of Port Kembla man Reed Harris, 26. Harris was hit to the head and knocked unconscious outside Atchison Street nightclub Fever. He said he was a bystander to an earlier conflict inside the club, involving his friends and a group that included Dragons players Lafai, Havili and Dunamis Lui. Harris says he later became involved in a "scuffle" with Havili outside.
His brother Deejay witnessed the hit that rendered him unconscious, and claims it was levelled by Havili. Elsewhere in the exchange of messages Lafai says: "Hope your brother [Harris] is alright but we never dog shotted any of the boys we were just trying to defend ourselves, sorry again for your bro I honestly hope he's ok. God bless".
"We don't go out to start fights too bro ... maybe it wasn't one of your boys that dog shotted one of ours but like I said, the boys said they're sorry and I'm sure the boys you know in the team will say that we don't like starting trouble".
Triple M reported Havili "hit the deck" during fighting inside Fever, and that heckling by some patrons over the Dragons' awful recent form sparked the conflict. Harris believes he was mistaken for one of the men involved in the fighting upstairs. Dashcam video captured outside Fever that morning shows a taxi hurriedly reversing the wrong way out of one-way Atchison Street as the roadway is flooded with agitated men and security staff. The brawl had dispersed by the time police arrived, but later resumed outside a nearby 7-Eleven.
Lafai and Havili were arrested when they disobeyed a police directive. They were charged with affray and offensive behaviour on Monday evening and have been stood down from all club activities. The Dragons are in disarray on and off the field but Friday night's opponents, Canterbury, have problems of their own heading into the ANZ Stadium showdown.
Canterbury's premiership credentials face an early examination when they host the struggling Dragons. The Bulldogs blew a big chance to secure a second chance in the finals after their no-show against defending premiers North Queensland in Townsville last-start, dropping to fifth spot.
Now the 2014 grand finalists have to regroup quickly and kick-start their premiership assault against a spiralling Dragons side that have lost their past three matches.
Bulldogs coach Des Hasler insists it's imperative his men put the Cowboys' nightmare behind them and respond against the Dragons if they are to challenge for the top four.
"We need to make sure that doesn't happen again, but what's done is done," he said. "The boys are obviously disappointed and we've got to get back out [there]. The top four is what we've got a chance of making. It's very tight so we need to win games."
Hasler pointed out that every grand final winner in the NRL era has come from inside the top four. Not since the Bulldogs came from sixth in 1995 to lift the ARL trophy have the premiers come from outside the top four teams during the home-and-away season.
"History would tell you it's very important [to finish top four]," he said. "Obviously any chance you've got a second chance is always good." The Bulldogs round out the regular season against Newcastle (away), Manly (home), Brisbane (away), North Queensland (home) and South Sydney (home).
