Titans buck bikie gang advances

[TITAN PETE]

Robyn Wuth | 12:01am May 11, 2013

THE Titans have slammed the door on outlaw motorcycle gang moves to infiltrate the club, warning players any association with bikies will not be tolerated.

The club has heeded the warning from the Australian Crime Commission and confirmed two players were booted from the team in 2009 over growing bikie links.

A Bulletin investigation has discovered the relationship between bikies and players began during the club's foundation years.

Asked to comment on the revelations, a club insider said: "Obviously it was something we kept an eye on. We never had a problem with the players or their performance and we didn't have a problem with who they were fraternising with -- unless it brought the game into disrepute which I don't believe it does."

Club sources have detailed meetings of outlaw gang members and associates with past and current players at boxing nights and cage fighting events.

Authorities believe bikies are deliberately targeting "sub-elite" sports stars to exploit their sporting connections and raise the profile of the gang.

In return, bikie insiders say sports stars are drawn to the gangs: "They are cashed up and often bored and stepping into the outlaw world brings an element of danger to a life dictated by training sessions and gym workouts," said one.

Police said they raised concerns with Titans management and urged the club to ban bikies from attending games in colours but the club still has not banned colours from games.

"We were keen to remove their presence from the stadium," a police source said. "People were genuinely worried. They made the fans nervous."

There is no suggestion drugs are a problem at the Titans and management moved swiftly to play down any such suggestion.

However, the link to bikies has again put the criminal spotlight on rugby league as the game is investigated by the Australian Crime Commission and doping authorities.

The relationship is also not welcomed by young families at games and comes as the Titans seek to increase their fan base.

"It's supposed to be a family environment. I would like to think the players and people of that calibre would not be linked to bikies," said a long-term Titans member.

He said bikies should respect the game and leave the colours at home.

"Pubs don't let them in wearing colours. The same rule should apply to the football games."

Former State of Origin star Scott Sattler confirmed that during his three-year stint as Titans operations manager from 2006, several key players developed close associations with outlaw gang members.

However, as long as their form held on the paddock, the club was not concerned, he said.

"Why? They paid to go in," Sattler, son of league legend John, said. "They didn't do anything wrong. It might be unnerving for the general public, but it is also intriguing.

"People are intrigued by a life they know nothing about. If it doesn't affect the brand, they have as much right to be there as anyone else."

Titans management said the club has "never condoned" players associating with outlaw motorcycle gang members.

"On one occasion when the club became aware of an association between two players and a motorcycle gang those players' contracts were not renewed. This matter arose and was dealt with in 2009 well after the termination of Mr Sattler's employment at the club," a spokesman said.

"The club will never condone players associating with outlaw motorcycle gang members as the club supports strong family values".

The NRL did not want to comment.

Criminologists believe the bigger winner out of the relationship is not the players but the bikies who want to recruit their own supporters.

Gold Coast criminologist Wayne Petherick said recruiting high-profile sporting members raised the outlaw gang's public image.

"The analogue I would draw would be Nespresso got George Clooney to advertise their coffee machines, so in a way recruiting a high-profile athlete has a similar effect. They are exploiting that celebrity."

Sattler disagrees and says the connection between bikie gangs and crime figures is nothing new.

"Back when my dad was playing in the '60s and '70s, he was on a first-name basis with some of the biggest gangsters, but he wasn't involved with their activities. At the end of the day, they were just footy fans, like everyone else," Sattler said.

"Rugby League as a fraternity has no control over who supports the code. I personally don't have any concerns if outlaw motorcycle gangs are involved as long as it is for the right reasons."

Police say there has always been a "commonality" between league players and bikies -- and the ties are deeper than most realise.

On the Gold Coast, fallen NRL player Anthony Watts has abandoned a promising league career for the Finks outlaw motorcycle gang.

In South Australia, rising AFL star Dylan Jessen, once touted as a potential star of the game, turned his back on a lucrative sporting career to become a patched member of the Finks and is now in jail on firearm charges.

Inaugural Brisbane Broncos and State of Origin league player "Smokin" Joe Kilroy was a patched member of the Black Uhlans -- a fact closely hidden by the game fearing public backlash.

In 1989, at the prime of his career, Kilroy was jailed for three years after pleading guilty to trafficking in marijuana.

"It wasn't something the club wanted to be general knowledge. Presumably they were worried about the public image," police said at the time.

Kilroy's former wife, Debbie Kilroy, told the Bulletin that Joe's membership with the Uhlans was never an issue.

"Not for one minute," she said.

"They mostly smoked a bit of dope around the place, that's about it. Sport people smoke dope, and the bikies smoked dope. That was about the extent of it."

The Australian Crime Commission report identified an "increasing number of associations" between athletes and gangs.

"Overseas experience has demonstrated that organised criminal groups involved in match fixing are increasingly targeting sub-elite athletes due to the ease with which these individuals can be 'bought', the lower levels of scrutiny from integrity authorities at sub-elite competitions and the potential long term value of these athletes to the criminal group," the ACC report states.

"Criminal identities and groups will invest years in developing such relationships, with the ultimate aim of having the athlete participate in activities such as match-fixing."

[Toads]

I understand what Scott Sattler is saying in regards to relations with his Old Man and Bikies. But today's Bikies are a completely different breed to the ones these days. At least back in his Old Man's Day, they did have some morals and the majority of them towed the line, and stayed within the boundaries of the OMCG code. These days, the modern Bikie probably has nothing to do with bikes 'n would sell their own Grandmother in a heartbeat if there was a dollar to be had..

[Coaster]

I really do not understand this article at all.

Are they comparing footballers to bike gangs?

Because there is no comparison.

1 lot hang around in club colours, and are covered in tattoos and are always in the gym smashing iron just to beat up weaker people. You never see them in normal social circles, and when they do they act like they own the place.


and the other lot ride motorcycles

[Mexican titan]

I saw the huge headline on the front page of the Bulletin and thought " oh no, surely not another bad story".
Then I read it. A story about 2009 and a dopey footballer now playing at third tier level that has some bikie mates that watch him play.
Quiet news day obviously.

[DIEHARD]

Non story. But something I have been afraid of. I want them no where near this football club and being on guard is necessary.