The Sydney Morning Herald is reporting that former Cronulla Sharks player Broderick Wright has informed that embattled club that he plans to sue them for negligence, breach of contract and intentional tort.
Intentional tort is a category of torts that describes a civil wrong resulting from an intentional act on the part of the tortfeasor. The burden of proof is lower in a civil case than it is in a criminal case.
Wright joins other former players Josh Cordoba and Isaac Gordon in taking legal action against the club. He WILL NOT be the last.
With the Sharks facing a fine, Shane Flanagan facing a 12 month ban and former trainer Trent Elkin also facing a long ban, ASADA is effectively doing all the hard work bringing together all the evidence needed to sue the club.
I have always said that any fine the club faces from the NRL would pale into insignificance in the face of the eventual legal action taken against the club by former players.
It will be interesting to see what happens when players start to receive suspensions once the ASADA investigation is completed. You will no doubt see that many players who have publicly supported the club will join in taking legal action against the club.
These players have every right to sue for damages too. With fines and bans now being handed down the evidence is obviously already strong enough to take a certain level of action against the club and officials. This evidence will only mount as ASADA wraps up their case and starts to hand out further recommendations in regards to bans that will be handed out to other officials and players.
This is only just the beginning of the fallout from the ASADA investigation the Cronulla Sharks will face…
