- Former St George Illawarra NRL star spent the night behind bars
- He was arrested on Sunday in Warrawong on the New South Wales south coast.
Former NRL player Talatau ‘Junior’ Amone spent Sunday night in custody after being charged with common assault after allegedly spitting at a woman in a Wollongong pub.
Mr Amone, 22, was arrested on Sunday and charged with one count of common assault.
Police denied him bail and he spent the night in pre-trial detention.
On Sunday afternoon, police began investigating reports of an alleged assault at a pub on Keira St, Wollongong, earlier that day.
It is believed that at around 2am, Mr Amone had an argument with a woman before spitting at her.
Police said the woman was known to Mr Amone.
Mr Amone was arrested at a home in Warrawong at about 6.15pm on Sunday and taken to Wollongong Police Station where he was charged and refused bail.
The former St George Illawarra player is due to appear in Wollongong Local Court on Monday.
Talatau Amone (pictured during a court appearance in June) is in further trouble with police after allegedly spitting at a woman in a Wollongong pub.
The former Dragons star avoided jail last December when he was sentenced for an attack in which he armed himself with a hammer and chased a shopkeeper off a roof.
He avoided jail in December last year when he was sentenced after being found guilty of arming himself with a hammer and chasing a trader from a rooftop during a heated dispute.
In October, Amone and his father, Talatau Amone, were found guilty in Wollongong Local Court of a number of charges, including assault, relating to an incident outside their family home in Warrawong in November 2022.
Talatau Amone pleaded not guilty to damaging property, intimidation, entering a building or land with intent to commit an indictable offence and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
Magistrate Gabriel Fleming described the conduct of the pair as “appalling” and individually sentenced the father and son for their roles during the heated confrontation.
Junior Amone was sentenced to a two-year intensive correctional order, which is a prison sentence but must be served in the community.
Ms Fleming said the NRL player’s conduct was “appalling”.
Amone (pictured centre outside court in December last year) was sentenced to a two-year intensive correction order for the hammer attack.
“They armed themselves with a hammer, the victims were vulnerable, the victim was on the roof, there was nowhere to go,” he explained.
Ms Fleming told the court it was a “tragedy” that the conviction was affecting the 21-year-old’s playing career and finances as he supports his family both in Australia and overseas.
“I think it’s a tragedy that this could jeopardize your entire future in the profession that you love,” he said.
“It’s your tragedy, not mine.”
Both men were fined $1,000 each for damaging a car and will have to pay their share of $13,481 in compensation.
At the end of 2023, Amone’s $500,000-a-year contract with the Dragons was terminated and the NRL cancelled him indefinitely.
