Stood down from the St George Illawarra Dragons last year due to NRL's no-fault stand-down policy, Talatau Amone has once again found himself back in the headlines.
As reported byย News Corp,ย Amone was arrested over the weekend and spent Sunday evening in custody after an altercation which has seen him charged with domestic common assault against a woman.
It is expected that he will appear in Wollongong Local Court on Monday after he was refused bail.
Aiming to work toward an NRL return, this current incident comes after he was deregistered by the NRL after being sentenced with a two-year intensive corrections order.
Touted as the Dragons' next big superstar, Amone was once on a contract worth $500,000 a season with the club until the end of the 2026 season.
Featuring in 54 matches for the club between 2021 and 2023, he became a Tongan international after three games for the international side in 2022.
โIt was tough at the start, getting the news that I won't be able to play this year. When I first got the news it rocked me a bit, I just didn't know what to do,โ the 22-year-old told The Sydney Morning Heraldย in Januaryย of his deregistration.
โFooty is all I've done my whole life. So getting that news, knowing that I'm not allowed to play the sport I love and the thing that I love to do, it rocked me a bit and it took me a while to get over it.
โI'll take it as a little blessing in disguise and now I can just work on myself mentally and physically, be able to train every day and just focus on my mental well-being. I'm still young, I haven't scratched the surface yet in my rugby league career.
โI'm ready to come back from this and show everyone what I've really got. I haven't really reached my potential yet and I just can't wait to go out there and show everyone my best.
"I have the right support system around, I've got my family, I've got close friends. They got me through it and there's always a light at the end of the tunnel.
โI realised that and I know when I come back, it will make me a better player. I'll come back stronger mentally and physically.โ
