Sam Newman’s son Max Jones sues NBA star Jock Landale over alleged assault at Geelong Grammar

The son of AFL great Sam Newman has taken legal action against his former school and one of Australia’s biggest basketball stars over an alleged attack a decade ago that he says left him with life-changing injuries.

Max Jones, 25, is suing Geelong Grammar for negligence and “failing to institute a culture at the school that would prevent the abuse of students by their peers” over the alleged incident involving Australian NBA star, Jock Landale.

He alleges that Landale, who is now engaged to the niece of television presenter Rebecca Maddern, knocked him to the ground and attacked him on February 7, 2013.

Landale is alleged to have repeatedly jumped on Mr. Jones’s torso to the beat of a song played through a portable speaker inside a school common room, according to a brief obtained by the herald sun.

Mr. Jones was then in year 10, while Landale was in year 12.

Mr. Jones alleges that he had to undergo a discectomy to remove the damaged discs in his spine a week later.

He is suing both Geelong and Landale, 27, for lost earnings and past and future medical expenses, and has enlisted the law firm Arnold Thomas and Becker to represent him.

“The incident constituted a common law assault for which the second defendant (Landale) is directly responsible,” the brief reads.

‘As a result of the incident and the injuries caused by the incident, the plaintiff’s ability to concentrate and study was impaired.’

Geelong Grammar has denied the allegations and stated that Mr Jones did not report any assault at the time.

Landale has also denied the alleged assault and other allegations made against him by Mr. Jones.

Lawyers for the school, Landale and Mr. Jones have declined to comment further on the matter that is currently before the courts.

Max Jones, the youngest son of Sam Newman (pictured) is suing his old school

Max Jones claims the alleged assault occurred in Geelong Grammar (pictured) in 2013

Landale is one of Australia’s highest-paid sports stars who was part of the Australian Boomers team that won bronze at the Tokyo Olympics.

He currently plays in the NBA for the Phoenix Suns for $2.3 million a year and is engaged to Indi Maddern, Rebecca Maddern’s niece.

Geelong Grammar is among the most exclusive private schools in Australia, where fees are as low as $40,000 a year. The then Prince Charles, now King Charles III, attended the school for six months in 1966.

Mr. Jones is the youngest of Newman’s three children.

His mother, Leonie Jones, Newman’s third wife, infamously ‘accidentally’ ran over the Footy Show host, breaking his leg and breaking her ankle while pregnant with their son in 1997.

In a 2003 interview, Newman described her five-year-old son as “smarter than me and his mother put together.”

Jock Landale (pictured with his fiancée) is one of Australia’s highest-paid sports stars.

She then revealed in 2017 that she had a different relationship with Max than she did with her two older children.

“I am a couple with the two oldest, the youngest is 19 years old, and I have a different relationship with him because he is at a different stage of life and another generation away from the children I had before. We have a relationship and a different view of things,” Newman told the Herald Sun.

Mr. Jones previously spoke about his media aspirations to follow in the footsteps of his father, who gave him his blessing.

“I love the sport and have seen the ups and downs and the good and bad sides through Dad, both on and off TV,” Jones told the Herald Sun in 2020.

‘I’d really love to get into that (TV). That’s what I’m trying to achieve.’

“I’ve talked to him (Newman) a couple of times (about TV), and he’s always been incredibly supportive and encouraged me to do what I think is right.”