- Blake Ferguson released by Newcastle football team, Kurri Kurri
- After multiple off-field accusations, teammates were unimpressed
- Ferguson, 34, was a magnet for controversy in his football career
Troubled former NRL star Blake Ferguson has been released by Newcastle football club Kurri Kurri following multiple off-field allegations.
Ferguson, 34, is said to be unwelcome at the Bulldogs, with his former teammates furious at his alleged conduct.
Newcastle rugby league general manager Adam Devcich, a former NRL referee, issued a statement about Ferguson, who was released after just one game.
“Blake was signed by Kurri Kurri but the club released him from his obligations,” Devcich said.
‘Your contract has been terminated by mutual agreement. That’s all we or the club will say. “No further comment will be made by either party.”
Troubled former NRL star Blake Ferguson has been released by Newcastle football club Kurri Kurri following multiple off-field allegations.
Ferguson, 34, is said to be unwelcome at the Bulldogs, with his former teammates furious at his alleged behavior (pictured after signing with the club in 2023).
It is the latest fall from grace for former Test winger Ferguson, who has been involved in countless incidents throughout his colorful football career.
In 2013, when he was on the Raiders’ books, Ferguson skipped a training session to drink Vodka Cruisers with teammate Josh Dugan on the roof of his house.
That same year he was convicted of indecently assaulting a woman at 2230, a popular nightclub in Cronulla, after celebrating his first New South Wales State of Origin selection.
Ferguson said he had confused her with “another blonde woman” he had met earlier that night.
“I always liked blonde girls because I lived in Cronulla for a long time,” he told the court.
Ferguson moved to the Roosters in 2015 after serving time out of the game due to an indecent assault conviction, where he returned to the NSW Origin fold in 2017 alongside Dugan.
The pair drove several hours to the Lennox Head Hotel just days before the third game of the series, with some present suggesting they had embarked on an eight-hour drinking session.
Those reports were denied by members of the NSW organisation, but the duo were left out of the team the following year and then-coach Brad Fittler wanted to change their “selfish culture”.
Ferguson skipped a training session with the Raiders in 2013 to drink vodka with Josh Dugan.
That same year, Ferguson was found guilty of indecently assaulting a woman at 2230, a popular nightclub in Cronulla, after celebrating his first New South Wales State of Origin selection.
While playing for NSW in 2017, Dugan and Ferguson drove several hours to the Lennox Head hotel just days before the third game of the series, with some present suggesting they embarked on an eight-hour drinking session.
Blake Ferguson was arrested in late 2021 after he was allegedly caught in possession of cocaine after punching a man in a Tokyo restaurant.
Later that year, he entered a rehab center to overcome his gambling addiction.
Ferguson moved to the Parramatta Eels in 2019, where he returned to the New South Wales team, setting up the winning try in the series decider.
He then announced that he was moving to Japan to play rugby.
On December 30, 2021, Tokyo Metropolitan Police officers took him to the Azabu Police Station at around 6.30 am.
Police detained Ferguson for allegedly punching another man at a restaurant in Roppongi in Minato City, a popular nightclub district in Tokyo.
Officers searched the soccer star’s belongings at the police station and allegedly found cocaine.
Ferguson spent the next 29 days in a four meter by three meter cell and was only allowed out for 10 minutes each day “for a while”.
His lucrative rugby contract, said to be worth $1.5 million, was broken up by the NEC Green Rockets, and Ferguson returned to Australia to “gain the trust” of his family.