The manager of a Sydney bar where Wendell Sailor allegedly assaulted a member of the public on Wednesday has revealed new details about the incident and how the former NRL player had left his staff “petrified”.
Jack Butcher, the manager of Pappy’s bar, located in Sydney’s CBD, revealed The daily telegraph that the former Broncos star had allegedly ‘bumped his chest’ on his shoulder before getting into a face-to-face argument with a patron inside the bar.
Recounting the incident, the bar manager, who claimed Sailor had been drinking for four hours before the police showed up, had shouted: “Do you know who I am?”
The waiter later claimed the Kangaroos winger “couldn’t even get a sentence together”.
And he added: “One of my colleagues hid because she was petrified.”
The manager of a Sydney bar where Wendell Sailor (pictured) allegedly assaulted a member of the public on Wednesday has revealed new details about the incident.
Speaking about the incident, the 50-year-old told reporters that nothing had happened.
Police were called to trendy Pappy’s Bar (pictured) in Sydney’s CBD on Wednesday night when a customer called triple zero to report the alleged attacks.
On Thursday, reports claimed the former radio personality turned NRL had allegedly assaulted two people and intimidated another on Wednesday night.
Police arrived at the scene and arrested the 50-year-old man at around 11am The Daily Telegraph adds that he was charged with five offences, including common assault.
The outlet has since contacted Sailor, who stated: ‘Nothing happened, mate. Nothing happened.’
Butcher claimed Sailor had arrived after 7pm. He had alleged the former NRL player was drinking alcohol bought by other people.
“I was trying to start conversations with everyone,” Butcher said. He then claimed that around 11pm, he had heard “an alarming noise” from the wife of a couple the former Broncos and Dragons star had been speaking to earlier that night.
“I looked out the window and saw the husband and Wendell chest to chest and I ran down the stairs and when I got there, the couple was gone,” Butcher said.
“Wendell started walking towards them and I told him to move on,” Butcher said before claiming the rugby star “started getting aggressive.”
“He came up to my face and was talking and spitting (but not on purpose),” she said. “I wiped my face and he reached out and pushed my face and smeared saliva on my hair and face.”
CCTV footage from the Sydney pub showed Sailor sitting at the bar surrounded by other customers.
The bartender alleges Sailor’s behavior left some of his staff “petrified” before the police were called.
Sailor is a dual code international, but is perhaps best known for his time with the Brisbane Broncos, where he made 189 appearances.
After threatening to call the police, the bar manager said Sailor told him, “Call the damn police.” What are the police going to do?
He alleged that Sailor had continued yelling at him: ‘Do you know who I am?’ before saying, ‘You’re done.’
He also claims the former NRL star said: ‘You’re kicking me out because I’m black.’ You’re kicking me out because I’m Aboriginal.
The bartender alleged that the former Broncos star followed him into the bar and began hitting his chest against the side of his shoulder.
“If he hadn’t caught me, I would have fallen down the stairs,” he said. ‘He did it about three times while insulting me.
“He told me ‘You’re fucking finished’ repeatedly.”
Butcher then revealed that several bar regulars had attempted to intervene to “protect” bar staff from the former football player before the police were called.
Once officers arrived, Butcher alleged that Sailor “refused” to leave the bar when police asked him to.
The barman claims the former NRL star “only left the pub after police threatened to restrain him”.
“He only left when they threatened to immobilize him,” he added.
A NSW Police spokesman said Sailor was taken to Day Street police station before being released on conditional bail.
The former Queensland and Wallabies star, who quit his radio job with Triple M from July, is also due to appear in court over an arrested violence order which was made against him by a woman, the publication reported.
He is due to appear at Downing Center Local Court on all five charges on November 28, with the AVO to appear at the same court on November 13.
New South Wales Police provided the following statement to Daily Mail Australia: “At approximately 11pm on Wednesday 6 November 2024, police were called to a licensed premises on Erskine Street, Sydney, following reports of an alleged assault.
‘Officers attached to Sydney City Police Area Command attended and were told that a 50-year-old man allegedly assaulted two people and intimidated a third.
“No injuries were reported.”
Sailor explained her surprising decision to leave her job at Triple M, which she had held since 2015, saying: “My main goal now is to spend more time with my children and pursue community interests.”
“My priority is to balance my career with family life, especially since I celebrate my 50th birthday this week.”
The former Kangaroos star said his “son and daughter need me around.”
In April, Sailor revealed her torment over the rape trial of her soccer star son, Tristan.
In 2020, New South Wales police charged the NRL’s young gun after a woman alleged she was so drunk she woke up naked with no memory of what happened after a night out in Sydney.
The soccer star was accused of having sex with the woman while she was unconscious or too drunk to give consent.
Sailor had previously worked at radio station Triple M, but left his role in July stating that his children needed him more.
He was declared innocent in March 2022.
The alleged incident came just two weeks after the Dragons released Sailor, and his father, who also played for the club in the twilight of his career, felt his son had been unfairly thrown out the door.
“Only his closest family understands what happened a few years ago,” Wendell said.
“At times I have shed tears over the journey he has been through.”
In June of this year it emerged that Wendell was facing a lawsuit from law firm Madison Marcus for allegedly unpaid legal fees of more than $100,000.
The firm defended Tristan against rape charges and the case was dropped in July.
