The Rugby League Players Association has begun involvement in the case of Josiah Karapani, who was stood down by the Brisbane Broncos over an off-field incident, and then not allowed to play in the QLD Cup over the weekend.
Karapani was stood down by the Broncos last week after his second off-field incident of the season.
After being spoken to by police in March over a public nuisance offence in Fortitude Valley, he was allegedly stopped speeding at 119 kilometres per hour in a 100 kilometre per hour zone on the Pacific Motorway last week.
There it was also alleged Karapani was failing to display P Plates, driving an unregistered vehicle and driving an uninsured vehicle.
Upon being taken to the police station for a further breath test, he recorded a reading of 0.037 - the P Plate status of his licence however means he needed to record a zero-blood alcohol reading.
He was issued with a court notice for the drink driving offence and will appear on July 21, with the Broncos deciding to drop Karapani from first-grade.
Not subject to the NRL's no-fault stand-down policy, he was set to play QLD Cup over the weekend, but sources told Wide World of Sports that without an investigation, he was withdrawn from the game by the QRL.
“There was no investigation, nothing,” a source close to Karapani told nine.com.au.
“One minute he was training to play last weekend in the Q Cup, next minute he was out.
“It was all very strange.”
RLPA boss Clint Newton has confirmed his association will be looking for an explanation from the QRL over how Karapani was stood down as he fights for his career.
While Brisbane coach Michael Maguire has indicated he won't move to sack Karapani over his second offence of the season, halfback Ben Hunt last week gave the talented outside back a dire warning over his future with the club.
"We had a conversation about that and Kotoni's (Staggs) pretty close with him, so he went and had a pretty good chat with Josiah and he's been stood down,” Hunt said last week.
“He knows he's in the wrong, but he also knows it's the second time he's made that mistake and you can't keep making those mistakes or you're gonna find your way out of this club pretty quick.
“So he definitely knows where he stands, and as a leadership group we're happy to move on with where we're at. After that first mistake he made, you sort of feel that he's on the right track and he's doing everything right, but he's just slipped up again.
“I really like Josiah. I get along with him, he's a great fella, and he knows he's in the wrong. He knows he's made a mistake. We've all been young kids before and we'll get around him and look after him and he'll find his way back.”
The Broncos have a bye this week as they work on arresting what is now an eight-game losing streak, and it's unclear when Karapani will be considered next for first-grade.
After last year’s Ezra Mam incident, the Broncos will be gun-shy.
I would not have been surprised if they had stood him down for the rest of the season, but keep in mind the answer to the old question: “What is the world’s most heavily protected species ? ” It’s not the Blue Whale, the Giant Panda or the Polar Bear – it’s the Professional Athlete.