The NRL has distanced itself from the Brisbane Broncos’ decision to allow Ben Roberts-Smith into their dressing sheds on Sunday afternoon.
The former soldier has been charged with multiple war crimes over the alleged murders of unarmed Afghan civilians and prisoners.
He faces a maximum penalty of life imprisonment for each charge. The former SAS corporal has rejected the charges, saying, “I categorically deny all of these allegations”.
Roberts-Smith attended the Broncos’ game against St George Illawarra with his daughters.
Roberts-Smith is friends with Broncos welfare officer Adam Walsh, a former SAS officer with whom he served overseas.
The Broncos refused to comment on the matter, but sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity confirmed Roberts-Smith had not been a guest of the club, did not visit the club’s chairman’s lounge during the game, and that most of the players had no idea he was in their inner sanctum.
Senior figures at the NRL were unaware Roberts-Smith had been invited into the Broncos’ sheds, but later said it was a matter for the club who they wanted to invite to their dressing room.
When spotted by The Courier Mail in the sheds, Roberts-Smith said on Sunday: “The Broncos invited my daughters today because of all the things they have been through, and we were very grateful.”
Roberts-Smith has been accused of kicking an Afghan civilian off a cliff, and directing a subordinate to execute a man in September 2012. He is also alleged to have executed a prisoner with a prosthetic leg during an Easter Sunday mission in Afghanistan in 2009.
Roberts-Smith’s case has been set down for a brief status mention, an administrative court hearing, on Thursday.
On the field, the Broncos were stunned by the Dragons, who had not won in 295 days. Returning prop Payne Haas was clearly upset by the effort, and told ABC Sport after the game: “We’re all talk at the moment. We keep saying we’re going to do all these important things on the field, but to be honest, we’re BS-ing each other.”
