NRL

Sacked star Blake Ferguson breaks silence for the first time after being released from jail

by
Callum Walker
March 1, 2022

Sacked star Blake Ferguson has broken his silence after being released from jail.

The 31-year-old was sacked by the NEC Green Rockets rugby union side after being arrested for allegedly possessing cocaine and beating up a fellow restaurant-goer when he was out in the Roppongi district late at night.

Ferguson must now stay in Japan after having his phone and passport taken from him, but he has finally been released from jail ahead of his court appearance in early March, the Daily Mail has reported.

“My partner was obviously angry and upset about what I did. I’ll have to earn back her trust. I’ve let down a lot of people, not just my family,” he told the Daily Telegraph.

“It was just me and some Japanese guys who couldn’t speak English. I read a few books… the food was pretty ordinary and I got a bad back… the mattress would have been a centimetre thick.”

The former Parramatta Eels and Canberra Raiders winger played almost 250 NRL games, but will plead guilty in a bid to get home to Australia.

The NEC Green Rockets revealed they would drug test their entire squad after Ferguson was arrested back in late December.

“We deeply apologise for the arrest of Blake Ferguson, a former contract player of NEC Green Rockets Tokatsu, on December 30, 2021 for a serious violation of the law of possession of illegal drugs,” the club statement said.

“As an emergency measure, we have already conducted drug tests by an external organisation on all the players and staff of the team, and confirmed that all the test results are negative.’

“In the future, we will carry out regular drug tests and compliance training for all athletes, and conduct thorough background checks including drug tests when contracting new athletes.”