{"id":330560,"date":"2025-12-06T01:38:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-06T01:38:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/330560\/"},"modified":"2025-12-06T01:38:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-06T01:38:10","slug":"night-in-custody-for-nrl-legend-over-bizarre-street-act","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/330560\/","title":{"rendered":"Night in custody for NRL legend over bizarre street act"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dual-code rugby star Wendell Sailor has spent a night in custody after allegedly being found blocking traffic in the middle of a busy road in a bizarre incident.<\/p>\n

The 51-year-old former Australian league and union international was arrested after police received reports of a man yelling and standing in the middle of the road in Wollongong about 11pm on Friday.<\/p>\n

He was allegedly stopping traffic near a busy intersection not far from the city centre while apparently under the influence of drugs or alcohol.<\/p>\n

\"Wendell<\/p>\n

Wendell Sailor represented Australia in both rugby union and league during his playing career. (Sandra Teddy\/AAP PHOTOS)<\/p>\n

Sailor also allegedly fought officers’ attempts to move him before he was charged at Wollongong police station.<\/p>\n

He was accused of breaching bail conditions, obstructing traffic and resisting arrest, and held in custody ahead of his appearance in court on Saturday.<\/p>\n

No officers were injured in the incident, police said.<\/p>\n

The premiership-winning former NRL player appeared in handcuffs wearing a Chicago Bulls T-shirt as the weekend bail court was told he was in the process of a “difficult” separation from his wife of almost 30 years.<\/p>\n

He accepted he had breached existing bail conditions that prevented him from being intoxicated in public, the court was told.<\/p>\n

\"Wendell<\/p>\n

Sailor finished his 222-game NRL career in 2009 after seasons with the Broncos and the Dragons. (AAP PHOTOS)<\/p>\n

Acting magistrate Paul Fernon warned Sailor against obstructing police who were just doing their jobs while arresting him.<\/p>\n

“It’s a job that’s made harder when people don’t let them do their work,” he told the Queensland-born ex-winger.<\/p>\n

Sailor was on bail for alcohol-related charges stemming from an incident in Sydney’s city centre more than a year earlier when the latest arrest took place.<\/p>\n

He previously pleaded not guilty to charges of common assault, behaving in an offensive manner, refusing to leave a licensed premises and intimidation after allegedly attacking two men outside a bar in November 2024.<\/p>\n

Mr Fernon said he understood Sailor was going through a difficult family situation, but that was no excuse for breaching his undertakings.<\/p>\n

He released Sailor on conditions that included seeing a doctor within seven days and accepting any recommended treatments, as well as an undertaking that he wouldn’t be intoxicated in public.<\/p>\n

\"Wendell<\/p>\n

Sailor was released on bail and will face Wollongong Local Court on December 16. (Dean Lewins\/AAP PHOTOS)<\/p>\n

“If you breach your bail conditions, you’ll end up back in custody. That’s just what happens,” the magistrate said.<\/p>\n

“The responsibility is on you … just you.”<\/p>\n

Sailor, who sat forward in his cell as he was told he would be allowed to leave, replied: “Yes sir. Thanks very much, appreciate it.”<\/p>\n

He is due to face Wollongong Local Court on December 16 on the latest charges, while a hearing has been scheduled for February over the assault allegations.<\/p>\n

Sailor was a prolific try-scorer during his 17-year rugby career, including crossing the line 13 times in 37 games for the Wallabies and earning a start in the 2003 Rugby World Cup final.<\/p>\n

He finished his 222-game NRL career in 2009 after nine seasons with the Brisbane Broncos and two seasons with the St George Illawarra Dragons.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dual-code rugby star Wendell Sailor has spent a night in custody after allegedly being found blocking traffic in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":330561,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[184905,64,63,97748,184904,184903,2066,761,762,158,85,184902,4526],"class_list":["post-330560","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-aap-photos","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-league","tag-bail-conditions","tag-bizarre-incident","tag-chicago-bulls","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports","tag-wendell-sailor","tag-wollongong"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/330560","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=330560"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/330560\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/330561"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=330560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=330560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=330560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}