Former New South Wales and Australian representative Peter Tunks has made the startling revelation that a South Sydney Rabbitohs' club authority labeled him a "drug dealer" to rival clubs in a bid to keep the hard-nosed forward at the club.
Tunks played the first 78 games of his career for the Rabbitohs between 1977 and 1983, before leaving for the Canterbury Bulldogs at the start of 1984 where he would play another 125 games through to the end of 1989.
It was during his time at Belmore that he played State of Origin football for New South Wales on ten occasions, and international footy for Australia on another ten occasions, with Tunks then having short stints at Leeds, the Penrith Panthers, the Salford Red Devils and Sheffield Eagles to finish his career through to 1991.
Speaking on the Unfiltered podcast with Andy Raymond though, Tunks revealed all wasn't on good terms over his South Sydney exit, with club personnel tanking his offers from rival clubs.
So explosive are the accusations, the podcast - and as a result, Zero Tackle - have elected not to publish the name of the person involved.
"Well, what happened [with my exit] is South's [redacted] made me an offer, a pretty good offer, and three other clubs made me an offer. It was Canterbury, I think Manly, and somebody else, I can't remember," Tunks told Raymond.
"I went and saw [redacted], and I told him that I was going to leave, that it was time for me to go somewhere else, you know.
"The three clubs that had made me an offer, he told them that I was a drug dealer. He told them I was a drug dealer. So immediately, all three clubs dropped their offer to me by 66% and he increased his offer to me by 33%.
"Like I said, he is a d***head and he's a thief. So I had these offers on the table, so I went to Canterbury."
Tunks revealed that, despite the offer being a lower value from the Bulldogs, he still switched clubs on principle and could have even moved to country rugby league for more money, but wanted to stay in Sydney.
"I went to Canterbury in 1984 for $12,000 taxable, $2000 after 6 games, $2000 after 12 games. I got offered twice as much, nearly three times as much in Group 18, but I was only about 25," Tunks said.
The former forward also revealed that the club would often renege on cash payments during his era, and as a result, wound up being owed $35,000 at the time of his departure.
"When I'm playing at South Sydney, every time you did a contract, [redacted] would offer you $5000, $7500 cash every year and this, that, and the other, then before the end of the year, they'd say, 'Oh look, we're struggling, we're really going bad, but look, the next contract I do with you, I'll look after you,' this, that, and the other," Tunks said.
"So by the time that I left South Sydney, he owed $35,000 cash. So that's why he went to the other clubs 'cause he wanted to keep me there, and he didn't want me going anywhere else.
"So I was on f*** all to go to Canterbury, but it was a matter of principle.
"I wasn't gonna play for South Sydney anymore with.. there. But I, just, I was playing for nothing.
"So there was a lot of corruption, a lot of corruption."