NRL: Former NRL star Brett Finch charged with sharing child abuse material

Brett Finch during a game for the Melbourne Storm in 2013. Photo / Getty

Former NRL star Brett Finch has been arrested for allegedly sharing child abuse material on his mobile phone, according to Australian media reports.

The Daily Telegraph reports that Finch was arrested this morning at a Sydney police station and charged with five counts of use carriage service transmit or publish or promote child abuse.

He was granted conditional bail and will appear in court early next year.

The 40-year-old was one of eight men arrested as part of the Strike Force Hank investigation by the NSW Police Child Abuse and Sex Crimes Squad, the Daily Telegraph reports.

Finch represented the Canberra Raiders, Sydney Roosters, Parramatta Eels and Melbourne Storm throughout a stellar career, during which he scored 66 tries in 270 NRL games.

Last week Finch opened up about the alcohol and drug addiction that plagued his post-playing career.

Rugby league fans first became concerned about the former State of Origin representative's wellbeing after he appeared on The Matty Johns Podcast in 2019. Viewers noticed that Finch seemed disorientated and frazzled throughout the interview.

Later that year, passengers on a flight from Sydney to the Gold Coast spotted Finch with a bloodied and runny nose.

"(He) couldn't control his runny nose and (appeared) paranoid," a passenger told The Daily Telegraph at the time.

"He wasn't abusive. He just didn't want to get off the plane, like he was scared about something."

Finch checked himself into a mental health facility a few days later.

Speaking on the Turn Up The Talk podcast, Finch said "rock bottom" came when he was stood down by Channel 9 in 2016.

Finch revealed how he deceived his partner into thinking he was working, when in actuality he was visiting his "dealer".

"I pretend to wake up, put my radio shirt on because I was working for 2GB Continuous Call at the time … I've already called Ray (Hadley) to tell him I was sick," he recalled.

"Get in the car, go straight to me dealer's house. My missus is from Melbourne, she's not going to be listening to the radio.

"I'm thinking, 'Finchy, you magnificent bastard,' … I'm just going to go get on it all day."

However, Finch's girlfriend left him after she found out about the scheme.

"Elli knew exactly where I'd gone," he explained.

"She said, 'I'm out, I'm going,' and packs her bags and goes back to Melbourne.

"I get home, now I'm stood down from both jobs, and I go to my account and I've got minus $10. Eighteen months earlier, I had hundreds of thousands.

"And my first thought is, where can I pick up, where can I get another one from?

"It's taken everything from me but my thought is, I still want another one. It's ridiculous, I've just lost everything.

"I sat there and — not that I've ever contemplated suicide — but I sat there and went, mate, this is not living, this is existing.

"I don't have a dollar to my name, I've got no job, me missus has left, this is not living."

Finch married his partner Elli Johnston in 2018 and the couple welcomed a baby girl together in 2019.

- With news.com.au