St George Illawarra Dragons five-eighth Talatau Amone has been found guilty of a hammer assault in Wollongong late last year.
The incident, which occurred in November last year, allegedly saw Amone attack a roofing contractor with a hammer and, as reported by multiple publications, he was found guilty on Wednesday morning in Wollongong Local Court.
The Dragons have acknowledged the verdict and confirmed Amone will be stood down from club activities until further notice.
"The Dragons acknowledge the guilty verdict handed down to player Talatau Amone in Wollongong Court today in relation to an assault last November," the statement read.
"As a result of this outcome, Amone has been stood down from all club activities until further notice.
"The club will make no further comment at this time as court proceedings continue."
He was initially charged with reckless grievous bodily harm, destroying property and intimidation and was initially facing up to 14 years in jail if a maximum sentence was handed down and the case was tried in the district court.
That saw the NRL impose the no-fault stand-down at the time, however, the case was moved to the local court, seeing the maximum penalty wiped to five years and the no-fault stand-down removed for Amone, who went on to play 19 games for the Dragons in 2023.
In his court defence earlier this year, Amone's legal team argued that it was a case of mistaken identity and Amone was not present at the time of the attack, per the ABC.
Amone will be sentenced by the court in December and could be facing the prospect of jail time.
That will throw the Dragons' 2024 plans into disarray. Amone was set to be the club's first-choice number six next season in a halves pairing with Ben Hunt, who has also requested a release.
While Hunt is now likely to remain with the Red V in 2024, the Dragons have already released Jayden Sullivan to the Wests Tigers, weakening their depth in the halves.
If Amone is missing, the club may need to turn to recent signing Kyle Flanagan or utility Jack Bird to play the five-eighth role. Youngsters Connor Muhleisen and Haele Finau have also filled in at NSW Cup level in the number six jumper throughout 2023, but are both more suited to the dummy half role.
