Roosters would be crazy - and wrong - to sack Victor Radley

3 weeks ago 5

Opinion

September 18, 2025 — 11.40am

It is asinine that the Sydney Roosters are giving thought to tearing up Victor Radley’s contract.

Radley has allegedly reached out to former teammate Brandon Smith to hook him up with some cocaine for a boys’ golf trip on the Sunshine Coast in June. He hasn’t been charged with anything.

There is no proof Radley actually obtained any drugs, let alone consumed any of the two grams of cocaine he is alleged to have requested.

The text messages that have been published this week, allegedly involving Radley, Smith, and a drug dealer, were quite damning if they sent them. For what it is worth, they were also highly entertaining.

The messages were part of police evidence presented in court on Thursday as Smith pleaded not guilty to charges of unlawfully supplying a dangerous drug and using or disclosing inside knowledge for betting.

But how is it that Radley now finds himself on thin ice at the Roosters?

It’s because Nick Politis, the club’s mega-rich owner and chairman, in an interview with The Sunday Telegraph back in January, declared: “My view is if somebody’s caught doing cocaine or leaning over snorting something, we’re going to get rid of them.

“Our stance is zero tolerance. We are very strong on it. [Coach] Trent [Robinson] is very strong on it.”

If Politis sits on his hands now and does nothing to Radley, how would that make him look? Stupid? Probably.

But the dumber thing to do would be to pull the trigger on one of your homegrown juniors. Radley is the unofficial Mayor of Bronte and loves the red, white, and blue. He puts his body on the line every week in the hope of securing victories for his teammates and Politis.

Roosters chairman Nick Politis talks to Victor Radley after a match.

Did Politis make those comments with bitter rivals South Sydney in his sights? Late last season, Latrell Mitchell landed in hot water when a picture emerged of him standing over a white substance in a Dubbo motel room.

Souths issued a $100,000 penalty to their highest-paid player – $80,000 of which was suspended pending any further breach of his playing contract or a wellbeing program.

Politis was reportedly furious when he heard about Radley being dragged into a police report involving Smith.

Radley’s management has been told he is free to explore his options elsewhere, despite having two years to run on a deal that is worth around $650,000 next year and $700,000 in 2027.

Victor Radley and Brandon Smith after the round 27 match between the Roosters and Rabbitohs.

A club like St George Illawarra or the Wests Tigers could more than do with a ball-playing lock forward.

From a legal standpoint, Radley does not have to go anywhere.

As one lawyer, quoted on the condition of anonymity as he was not involved in the case, told me on Thursday morning: “In terms of the two parties, I’d much prefer to be acting for Victor than the club.”

Players who have been photographed with white substances, or charged with cocaine possession in recent years have been spared the sack.

In 2021, Storm trio Cameron Munster, Smith, and Chris Lewis were all caught on film gathering around a white substance. The Storm removed Munster from the leadership group and placed him on a 12-month alcohol ban – but none of them were sacked.

A few days after that Storm drama, Reece Walsh, who was then playing with the New Zealand Warriors, was caught by police in possession of cocaine on the Gold Coast. He was hit with a two-match ban and $5000 fine, but the Warriors stood by him.

Broncos playmaker Ezra Mam is still at the Broncos, despite being fined $850 for drug-driving and driving without a licence when he crashed his car into another vehicle last October. He was disqualified from driving for nine months. Mam was fined a total of $120,000 by the Broncos and the NRL and was banned for nine games.

Canterbury tore up the final year of Josh Addo-Carr’s $500,000-a-season contract last year, but only after he returned a positive result for cocaine during a roadside drug test.

This masthead reported Radley was not expected to attend the club’s Jack Gibson Medal awards night on Thursday. I can only hope that was not the case.

He gave his all again this year for the Chooks. He deserves better. And he certainly does not deserve the sack.

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