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BRISBANE - Fed-up Brisbane boss Bruno Cullen will lay down the law after ordering players home from end-of-season holidays for an emergency meeting to reinforce the National Rugby League club's tough new behavioural policy.
The unprecedented action follows another alcohol-induced incident, this one involving Broncos star and NSW
State of Origin halfback Peter Wallace at a Sunshine Coast hotel late on Sunday night.
Wallace, who was out with friends celebrating his 23rd birthday, is due to appear in Maroochydore Magistrates Court on November 14.
He's been charged with failing to leave a licensed premises and disorderly conduct at licensed premises.
Police arrested him after he tried to re-enter the hotel to tell friends he was leaving.
He had stitches to a lacerated ear yesterday but hotel management told the Broncos he had not been involved in any scuffle and had cut his ear on the corner of a picture frame.
A concerned and disappointed chief executive Bruno Cullen said the club had contacted all its players not involved in the World Cup and summonsed them to a compulsory meeting in the next 24 hours.
He promised he would deliver a stern warning to contracted players about their obligations to the club, recently engulfed in a string of off-field dramas involving sex and alcohol.
"I'm sick to death of it," said Cullen, recently forced to investigate sexual assault allegations against representative players Karmichael Hunt, Sam Thaiday and Darius Boyd.
"Today we've taken the step to call all the players in who are not on World Cup duty for their countries, and advance the introduction and re-reinforcement of the club's new code of behaviour by a few weeks.
"World Cup players, Darren (Lockyer) Karmichael (Hunt), Darius (Boyd), Ashton Sims (Fiji) and also members of next year's squad, Israel Folau, Lagi Setu and Ben Teo are obviously tied up with World Cup commitments.
"They won't be able to come but it will be reinforced to them when they get here.
"That probably leaves about 17 or 18 players and we expect to get the majority of them in within the next 24 hours."
Brisbane's new 10-point plan, which includes curfews and drinking bans between some games, was set to be invoked on October 31 when the players return to fitness training.
While Cullen would not reveal what he would say to the players, he said it would be "to the point".
"I'd rather they hear it first hand then see it on TV or read it in the papers," he said.
"Needless to say it will be very direct and very forceful and I hope very convincing."
"It's got to the point (that) if you want to be an elite rugby league player at the Brisbane Broncos, then you're going to be under 24/7, 365 days a year scrutiny.
"That's the kind of discipline we are going to demand."
"Obviously the penny hasn't dropped with some and whether we have to sledgehammer that through the cracks in the wall maybe we have to.
"They'll be told in no uncertain terms that further breaches of the old code or the new code or anything else that brings this club into disrepute will be treated very seriously."
Brisbane captain Darren Lockyer was recently forced to admit to manhandling a bar manager during a night out on the drink, after video evidence proved it was him.
Despite pressure on the Broncos to act, Wallace is unlikely to be made a scapegoat.
"Pete's a good guy and it's not like he's got a running sheet about his behaviour," said Cullen.
"This is the first time I've had to talk to Peter. You (media) may want to blow it up but it's a minor incident with a player who's never been in trouble before.
"It's more disappointing because of the accumulation of various events by various numbers of players.
"He's not a serial offender or anywhere near a serial offender and we'll discipline him as a first offender the way we think we should."
- AAP
