![\"Cloe](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/63969d041ab3e8b95716f2891ac29aa30b718b6a4b95c1da7abad8d66abff796.png\")
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Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n A former Wallabies star has faced court over allegations he repeatedly threatened to kill a man over a supposed land deal in Samoa.<\/p>\n Digby Ioane, 40, allegedly became \u201cobsessed\u201d with the man, and threatened to kill him between April 22 and April 26.<\/p>\n Ioane represented himself on Wednesday afternoon in the Brisbane Magistrates Court, where he applied for bail.<\/p>\n Ioane told Magistrate Anne Thacker his mother owned significant land in Samoa, and the case related to a \u201cmassive deal\u201d he had concerns about.<\/p>\n \u201c[The man] has agreed with the prime minister of Samoa to agree on a $100 million [deal] with Israel to bring over their army,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cFor me, my Mum is the rightful queen of Samoa, I\u2019m just protecting her land.\u201d<\/p>\n Ioane\u2019s older brother, Sala, spoke on behalf of Ioane.<\/p>\n He said he had wanted Ioane to be checked for mental health concerns, especially for head knocks sustained over his career, but this had not happened.<\/p>\n The magistrate said the prosecution had opposed Ioane\u2019s bail, fearing he would not behave appropriately if released.<\/p>\n His brother responded: \u201cTo be honest, your honour, this kid won\u2019t even kill a fly.<\/p>\n \u201cI grew up with him \u2026 I\u2019ve travelled to France to look after him in his career, and \u2026 at the time when this was happening, it\u2019s called mental health to me.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was just upset at the time, and he said some things at the time, and I had warned him.\u201d<\/p>\n The court heard Ioane had been in hospital, but had since been discharged.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was just saying it out of anger. Believe me, on the field he\u2019s a warrior, but in person he\u2019s not that sort of person,\u201d his brother told the court.<\/p>\n In handing down her decision, Thacker said the evidence against Ioane appeared to be far too serious to take the risk in releasing him.<\/p>\n \u201cYou became obsessed with this person and the evidence from the complainant is that you\u2019ve been threatening to kill him over and over and over again,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cUntil some better information about you is discovered, or you are on medication, you\u2019re an unacceptable risk of reoffending, and it\u2019s unsafe for the alleged victim.<\/p>\n \u201cSo you\u2019ll have to stay in custody, but get on some medication as soon as you can, that might make a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n Ioane\u2019s case was adjourned to June 8.<\/p>\n Ioane played 35 Test matches for the Wallabies between 2007 and 2013, and then signed a two-year deal worth $1.2 million a year with Stade Francais for the 2013-14 season.<\/p>\n Ioane, of Samoan heritage, was born in New Zealand but moved to Melbourne at two years old, before moving to Brisbane where he attended St Joseph\u2019s College Gregory Terrace.<\/p>\n Start the day with a summary of the day\u2019s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n![\"Digby](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/0654ba34232e0f077b6e77201119307520641a20.jpeg\")
Digby Ioane played for the Wallabies between 2007 and 2013. AP<\/p>\n![\"Ioane](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/28a5c414e80457b83d22a2ab216df8576a0f4b39.jpeg\")
Ioane represented Australia as well as the Queensland Reds in Super Rugby.AFP<\/p>\n![\"Cloe](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1779283875_620_63969d041ab3e8b95716f2891ac29aa30b718b6a4b95c1da7abad8d66abff796.png\")
Cloe Read<\/a> is the crime and court reporter at Brisbane Times.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":436722,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-436721","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436721","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=436721"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436721\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/436722"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=436721"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=436721"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=436721"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}