{"id":514071,"date":"2026-03-02T15:05:21","date_gmt":"2026-03-02T15:05:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/514071\/"},"modified":"2026-03-02T15:05:21","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T15:05:21","slug":"raiders-recruit-in-drug-scandal-spotlight-ahead-of-season-opener-nrl-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/514071\/","title":{"rendered":"Raiders recruit in drug scandal spotlight ahead of season opener – NRL News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Raiders recruit Daine Laurie<\/a> could face serious disciplinary action after the NRL<\/a> recently learned he was charged with drug possession on Mad Monday last year.<\/p>\n

Laurie was caught by police with a bag containing 0.37g of cocaine while in the passenger seat of a vehicle at 11:10 am on September 29.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The incident occurred the morning after the Penrith Panthers’ season-ending 16-14 loss to the Broncos in the preliminary finals, where Laurie was listed as an 18th man.<\/p>\n

He was charged with possessing a prohibited drug and set to appear in court on November 10, but police dropped the charges on the day, meaning his scheduled appearance at Penrith Local Court was no longer required, and the matter was ultimately dismissed.<\/p>\n

However, it can now be revealed by The Daily Telegraph\u00a0that the NRL<\/a> was never aware of the incident.<\/p>\n

The NRL<\/a> integrity unit is now investigating whether they should’ve been notified.<\/p>\n

An NRL<\/a> spokesman said the league was \u201cworking with the Panthers on the matter.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

A Penrith spokesman added the club would not comment further, other than to confirm, \u201cWe have been in discussions over the past few days with the NRL<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Laurie’s solicitor, Pat Duffy, explained that recent legislation introduced by Premier Chris Minns meant Laurie could have been issued a $400 on-the-spot fine rather than being charged.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was instructed immediately and raised with the police that Mr Laurie should not have been charged,\u201d Mr Duffy said.<\/p>\n

\u201cPolice agreed to withdraw the charge. A Criminal Infringement Notice (CIN) was then issued.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt (the charge) was withdrawn at the first instance, at the request of the police, and no adverse finding of wrongdoing was made against Mr Laurie by the court.\u201d<\/p>\n

NSW Police confirmed the charge had been withdrawn and the fine issued \u201cfollowing representations made by the man’s legal representative.\u201d<\/p>\n

Only a day after Laurie’s court hearing was dismissed, the Canberra Raiders<\/a> officially announced his signing, despite reports he was set to join them in late September.<\/p>\n

Although never formally charged, Valentine Holmes<\/a> was banned for one match by the NRL<\/a> in 2023 after posting a social media video<\/a> showing him holding a bag of white powder in his mouth.<\/p>\n

Laurie is set to make his debut for the Raiders this Saturday against Manly, after signing on a three-year-deal with last year’s minor premiers in hopes of more first-grade opportunities.\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, his availability has now been questioned, as past incidents of a similar nature have previously led to player suspensions.<\/p>\n

The Canberra Raiders<\/a> have not commented on the situation.<\/p>\n

Get set for the footy with the FREE Zero Tackle 2026 NRL Season Guide!<\/a> Packed with 130+ pages of player profiles, team previews, insights and analysis, the 2026 NRL Season Guide<\/a> is built for fans who want the full picture. Download your free Season Guide HERE.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Raiders recruit Daine Laurie could face serious disciplinary action after the NRL recently learned he was charged with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":130102,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-514071","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/514071","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=514071"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/514071\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/130102"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=514071"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=514071"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=514071"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}