A trio of Brisbane Broncos players have saved a woman from an alleged case of domestic violence on the Sunshine Coast.
According to The Courier Mail, Matt Lodge, Ben Te'o and Jordan Riki miraculously performed a citizen's arrest on the woman's partner, who was allegedly threatening to kill her.
It is understood that Lodge and Te'o were on their way to the Twin Waters Resort following a team dinner in Mooloolaba on Wednesday night before coming across the distressed woman.
The woman and her partner were reportedly arguing as the two players came across a car blocking the road, with the woman quoted to have said "he is going to kill me", per one of the Brisbane players.
Lodge and Te'o assisted the woman into their car and soon alerted teammates via WhatsApp.
Teammates including captain Alex Glenn and Riki soon arrived at the incident, with Riki tackling the man and performing a citizen's arrest until the police arrived.
Sunshine Coast District Police superintendent Craig Hawkins released a statement following the incident.
They did intervene in an incident in Maroochydore after witnessing an event on the side of the road,” he said.
“They saw a woman in distress and intervened. Police were called and took action in regards to a domestic violence incident.
“We don’t encourage people to get involved in things like this other than calling police. On this occasion they took the action they did and went to the aid of a young lady they saw was in distress.
“We don’t encourage that behaviour but they felt as though they needed to intervene and certainly helped with her protection. Thankfully it worked out appropriately and no-one was injured.”
Brisbane CEO Paul White lauded the efforts of his players.
“They acted instinctively, they didn’t have an opportunity to contemplate,” he said.
“They saw a woman in distress and went to assist her. They rang police and by the time they arrived, some of the other teammates had arrived and restrained the man.
“I concur with the police, but sometimes you come across things and you have to act instinctively. Our players were confronted with a situation and their actions protected the lady involved.
“The players did what was right. Their immediate concern was for the safety of the woman and police took the necessary action.”