Roosters coach Trent Robinson has warned Victor Radley about his "really frustrating" off-field behaviour, after the 23-year-old was removed from a flight home from the Gold Coast on the weekend.
The incident comes just months after Radley was hit with a two-match suspension and a $20,000 fine after being involved in an incident in Byron Bay.
The Roosters lock is serving a five-match ban for a high shot on Brisbane’s Tevita Pangai jnr in round 11.
Robinson said on Wednesday he'd had a stern discussion with Radley earlier in the week following the forward's "disappointing" actions. The club is working with the NRL Integrity Unit to investigate the matter.
"It shouldn’t happen. It’s not what we want from our players," Robinson said.
"Just act like a man in public and behave yourself. It’s pretty simple … He’s a really good man, he’s got good principles and he wants to be a lad sometimes and that’s not what we need from him.
Robinson wants Radley to be a leader
"That’s not what the game needs from him. It’s not what the kids that look up to him need from him."
Robinson did not disclose the full details of the incident but maintained that "it wasn’t a big deal".
"They’ve got to investigate but I saw him on that night … There was no issue from the police on that night or anything like that, other than that they had too much to drink and they were a bit loud. There wasn’t any abuse," Robinson said.
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"[But it] doesn’t matter. It just can’t happen … We don’t want that in the general public, let alone someone that wears the colours every week and it’s disappointing."
The three-time premiership-winning coach hopes Radley will learn from the matter and take on further leadership responsibilities at the club.
"I want to see him assume the role of a leader in our game … People look up to [him]," he said.
"It’s not that difficult … As I said, he’s a good man who wants to be one of the boys and he has to assume that responsibility of being an NRL footballer and a leader at a club and we don’t want to act that way."
Robinson's focus is now on Friday's trip to BlueBet Stadium to take on competition heavyweights Penrith.
The Roosters are fresh off a thrilling one-point victory over the Titans in which rookie halfback Sam Walker booted the first field goal of his young career to decide the contest in the last minute.
After starting the year on a 12-game winning streak, Penrith have dropped their past two games with their Origin stars watching from the sidelines.
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Robinson downplayed the battle between Walker and NSW halfback Nathan Cleary but had a lot of praise for the Penrith playmaker.
"[Cleary’s] gone through that progression really, really well and it’s a credit to him the way that he’s developed over the years and now leading his state in that way. It’s really nice," he said.
"They’re two different players still and the way that they go about the seven role, but they’ll both dominate their teams for years to come."
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Despite struggling with a shoulder issue on Saturday, Walker is expected to be right to take on Penrith.
"I’m glad he doesn’t have three shoulders, otherwise we’d be waiting on the next one," Robinson laughed.
"He’s sore but they’re the rigours of a small half at the moment … [Sam Verrills also] got cleared this morning, so that’s a real positive for us – we’ll get the artist behind the play-the-ball and get him playing again … He’s a traditional dummy-half, so it’s really nice to get him back out there."
