St George Illawarra’s nightmare summer has taken another hit with forward Francis Molo pleading guilty to a domestic-related intimidation charge.
The former Queensland State of Origin prop appeared on Wednesday before a Port Kembla Local Court, where he pleaded guilty to a charge of intimidation from December.
The matter has been referred to the NRL’s integrity unit, who will wait until the court hearing on March 22 before deciding whether to punish the 28-year-old.
“The Integrity Unit is aware that Dragons player Francis Molo has today pleaded guilty to a charge of intimidation (domestic violence related),” an NRL spokesman said.
“The matter remains before the court.
“The NRL will await the conclusion of those proceedings before finalising its process and determining any applicable sanction under the NRL rules.”
It means Molo will be free to play until that point, with the NRL opting against enforcing the discretionary no-fault stand-down policy on the forward.
The incident is the latest drama to hit the Dragons during the pre-season.
Five-eighth Talatau Amone has been stood down and waiting to face court next month on a charge of reckless grievous bodily harm in company for an alleged hammer attack.
Winger Mikaele Ravalawa and forward Zane Musgrove have both also been fined by the club for a heated argument at their team hotel in Mudgee on the morning after the Charity Shield.
Teammate Aaron Woods insisted this week there was little in the incident.
“We were staying at a hotel all together and we were allowed to have a few beers,” Woods said on Triple M.
“Because we have the bye round one and don’t play until the Sunday of round two we went out and ended up coming home and a couple of the boys got rowdy in the hotel room.
“It was similar to Jack (Wighton) and Latrell (Mitchell), no police involvement or anything in it.
“A little bit of argument between men, a little bit of wrestling and afterwards we’re all good again.”
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