England and Sydney Roosters star Victor Radley has broken his silence following the text scandal that has seen him thrust into the spotlight, with the 27-year-old admitting to feeling ’embarrassed’ by the situation.
Radley’s former Roosters teammate Brandon Smith is facing charges of dangerous drug supply and providing inside information for betting purposes and within that investigation, messages allegedly between Victor Radley and his ex-teammate were revealed.
Those messages appeared to show Radley requesting drugs and whilst there is no allegations of any legal wrongdoing, it’s a bad look, especially for a player at the Roosters whose chairman Nick Politis has been incredibly strong on his zero tolerance drug policy.
Despite that, Radley has not been axed but instead handed a ten-game ban by the club without pay, whilst also being ordered to donate $30,000 to a cancer charity. In total, it’s expected that Radley will lose out on around $180,000.
The NRL are considering action given how the story of Victor Radley and Brandon Smith consumed the first week of the play-offs, and that’s something the England international has admitted that he’s embarrassed about.
Victor Radley opens up after text scandal
Speaking for the first time since the emergence of the text scandal, Victor Radley told The Daily Telegraph that he made the people he loves ‘feel like s**t’.
“I’m embarrassed and never want to be in this position again. I made the people I love feel like s**t,” Radley said, adding: “I have to stand up, be a man and move forward.”
Making matters worse for Radley in terms of the personal spotlight is the fact his fiance, Taylah, is 32 weeks pregnant and found herself ‘bombarded’ with messages.
He said: “The club and my family were the two I had to worry about. I didn’t want the people I love to feel the way I felt. I want to make sure the people I love are all right and I made them feel like s**t. That hurt the most. That was disappointing.
“I bought a negative spotlight on the club and that’s something I don’t want to do and it’s something I will learn from and move forward.”
Admitting that he doesn’t mind ‘copping a bit’, the England international spoke about his fears the clubs would sack him but thanked them for their support.
He explained: “I’m looking forward to moving forward and trying to make amends. This club is everything to me and I know I hurt it. I had a difficult meeting (with Robinson and chairman Nick Politis) but, at the same time, I felt the love from the club.
“And for that I will be eternally grateful. You have to get on with it. There’s not much I can do – it was plastered on the news. The only thing I could do was speak to the club and my family and make sure they’re okay. I have to stand up, be a man and move forward.”
Despite Radley’s club-imposed ban, the RFL have confirmed that there is no issue in regards him playing for England in the upcoming Ashes series with the 27-year-old set to compete with the likes of Morgan Knowles, Morgan Smithies and Elliot Minchella for the loose forward role.
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