Cowboys respond as NRL accused of ignoring explosive sex, drug claims after player’s airport tryst

The North Queensland Cowboys have released a statement in the wake of bombshell claims that the NRL’s integrity unit ignored the complaint of a man whose wife had a consenting sexual encounter with a Cowboys player in an airport toilet.

The husband, The Sydney Morning Herald report claims, was also given valium by the Cowboys’ then football manager, Peter Parr, and provided with a false medical certificate by the Cowboys’ club doctor, Chris Ball, upon learning of the tryst.

The encounter is said to have taken place in a Qantas Lounge toilet in mid-2018 when the Cowboys were travelling back to Townsville via Brisbane.

The woman is an employee of the club. After her husband became aware of the tryst, he was reportedly furious with his wife and the Cowboys.

In a statement, the club said: “The North Queensland Cowboys are aware of a series of allegations published by the Sydney Morning Herald today.

“The club is providing its full support to the parties involved as their wellbeing is of utmost importance.

“As the NRL is currently investigating the allegations, it is not appropriate for the club or its connected parties to make any further comment.”

Parr, according to a letter sent by the husband’s lawyer to the integrity unit, allegedly gave the husband valium “to help him cope with the shock” of discovering the affair on Father’s Day.

The incident was first flagged with the NRL by the husband’s lawyer, John Sneddon, in October last year.

Parr denied the tablets belonged to him and said that they were given to him after he “swung by the doc’s place”.

The husband, however, is a long-haul truck driver and subsequently tested positive for benzodiazepine as part of a workplace drugs test.

Dr Ball is accused of falsely claiming he personally consulted with the husband.

“[The husband] had experienced a family crisis and was stressed and unable to sleep,” Dr Ball wrote to the truck company.

Asked why there was no written prescription, Dr Ball said he “does not prescribe benzodiazepine medication” and that he “gave [the husband] a sample quantity of four diazepam [Valium] … tablets to help facilitate sleep.”

Further follow-ups indicated that Dr Ball, who the husband claims he has never met, had stopped providing the man with medication.

Parr said he regretted how he acted but said he was dealing with “a very stressful situation” at the time.

Ball is being investigated by AHPRA (Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency) in relation to the incident.

Sneddon had raised concerns that other integrity unit matters – such as Nathan Cleary’s TikTok lies during the COVID-19 shutdown – had been resolved so quickly, yet the one involving his client was taking so long.

Despite a year passing and no action being taken, Sneddon was told on October 9 that the matter would be “progressed”, citing the AHPRA probe as a reason for the delay.

It followed claims in The Australian that Sam Burgess was given a liquid tranquilliser by South Sydney’s club doctor Andrew McDonald who provided a prescription in the name of Burgess’ father in law.

The tryst reportedly led to the breakdown of the marriage between the female Cowboys staffer and her husband.

And in late 2018, he texted the player’s wife.

“[Name removed], I know you wouldn’t like me texting you but I feel no one but you could understand how I am feeling. I only found out today [his wife] gets to keep her job at the Cowboys,” he wrote.

“I feel so gutted that nothing what her and [the player] have done after cheating on both of us over that Gold Coast weekend is fair. I have lost everything – my wife, family. I feel so worthless after what they have done but to know that they will still see each other at the club is so hurtful for me.

“I just can’t believe Parrie [Peter Parr] is covering [the truck driver’s wife’s] tracks and will still let her travel with the team. I feel like no one gives a f**k about how we might feel about it.

“I guess I should just realise I am nobody and not important to anybody especially to [his wife], the Cowboys and obviously [the player] who felt my wife was also his property. I won’t bother you ever again. I promise not to ring or text again. I am sorry.”