Listen to the moment NRL star Paul Vaughan almost spilled the beans about his illegal lockdown party with 12 teammates hours before it was raided by police
- Paul Vaughan did radio interview hours before illegal party revealing his plans
- The Dragons prop said he 'will have a couple of...' before cutting himself off
- Vaughan also said he was 'underpaid' despite earning $800,000 per season
- The 30-year-old ripped into young teammate Zac Lomax for earning 'too much'
- Matt Dufty ran 5km home from the party while Jack de Belin hid under a bed
Paul Vaughan joked about being 'underpaid', whinged about a young teammate earning too much, and nearly revealed his party plans in a radio interview hours before the party that would see his $800,000-a-year contract torn up.
The St George-Illawarra Dragons prop was sacked on Tuesday after a board meeting decided to terminate his contract after hosting an illegal lockdown party on Saturday night.
In an interview with Triple M on Saturday morning, Vaughan labelled himself a 'battler' who was 'overworked and underpaid' before saying rising star Zac Lomax 'shouldn't be earning that much'.
When asking what his plans were for his day off 30-year-old replied 'I will have a couple of… oh' before saying he'd ask teammate Ben Hunt for a few coffees.
Paul Vaughan joked about being 'underpaid', slammed a young teammate for earning too much and nearly revealed his party plans in a radio interview hours before the party that would see his $1.1million contract torn up
Police were called to Paul Vaughan's Shellharbour home about 9.45pm on Saturday after neighbours complained of an illegal party taking place
What Vaughan really did was host 12 teammates at his home in Shellharbour on Saturday night, until neighbours called in a noise complaint and got them busted by police about 9.45pm.
Fullback Matt Dufty ran 5km home to avoid them, Corey Norman also fled but left behind his wallet and car with personalised license plates.
Meanwhile, Jack de Belin cowered under Vaughan's bed and other players tried to hide in cupboards when police stormed in.
Vaughan's interview with Triple M on Saturday morning underlines the attitude issues that reportedly plagued his time with the club.
A Dragons insider told Nine on Tuesday: 'The fact he's played State of Origin for NSW and played for Australia, yet isn't in our leadership group, should tell you something about him.'
In the interview ,Vaughan said he was available for other clubs for 2023, repeatedly claimed to be underpaid and took several shots at 21-year-old Zac Lomax for his salary.
'I'm off contract next year, so if anyone wants to pick me up?' Vaughan said.
When asked if he would be looking elsewhere, he replied: 'If Saints give all of our money to Zac Lomax I might have to.'
Lomax was one of the Dragons players at Vaughan's party.
The NRL gave Vaughan and 12 other Dragons players fines totalling $305,000 for their organisation and participation in the party.
Police also handed out $1,000 fines to the St George 13, as well as Vaughan's wife Elle for breaking lockdown protocol.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, fullback Matt Dufty ran from Vaughan's house back to his own home upon hearing police were coming.
Corey Norman also fled, embarrassingly leaving behind his wallet and car with personalised license plates.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald , fullback Matt Dufty ran kilometres from Vaughan's house back to his own home upon hearing police were coming
Jack De Belin (pictured with partner Alyce) allegedly hid under a bed when the police arrived at teammate Paul Vaughan's home on Saturday night. There is no suggestion Alyce was also at the party
Jack de Belin hid under Vaughan's bed, according to the report, with players fabricating a story to the club when questioned the next day.
The entire roster appeared on a Zoom call with the club where they were asked to party to privately call the football department if they were at the party to avoid shaming individuals in front of the whole team.
There were 12 phone calls made to admit their guilt, but de Belin did not, with players clearly communicating before the call to invent a story to protect the controversial star who only recently returned to the team after two rape trials.
Pictured: Paul and Elle Vaughan. The NRL star hosted 12 of his teammates at his home while Sydney and the Shellharbour region is in lockdown which saw him sacked from the Dragons
A thorough police investigation as a result of witnesses claiming they saw de Belin eventually led to him turning himself in to the club, and getting an extensive $42,000 fine from the NRL as a result.
The betrayal is particularly upsetting for the club and its fans given de Belin has only just returned from a three-year absence due to an ongoing legal battle over rape charges. Those charges were dropped in May after two hung juries.
The Dragons ripped up Vaughan's lucrative $800,000-a-season contract over the Covid breach.
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The club is understood to have considered the party his third strike after a series of indiscretions including another Covid breach.
In December 2018, St George Illawarra cautioned the 30-year-old after a woman contacted the Dragons claiming Vaughan sent her explicit messages.
The woman wanted to make the photos of the conversation public but then decided against it for legal reasons, The Daily Telegraph reported.
When the text messages came to light, the Dragons gave Vaughan a breach notice but in August 2020 he was fined $10,000 and suspended for two weeks after he broke NRL bubble restrictions by visiting a café in the Illawarra.
That Covid-19 breach is understood to have been Vaughan's second strike.
When police arrived at Paul Vaughan's house (pictured) they reportedly found some players running down the streets and others hiding in cupboards. Jack de Belin was hiding underneath a bed
The alleged breach occurred after St George Illawarra came from 12 points behind to beat the New Zealand Warriors in golden point on Friday night (pictured)
The club is understood to have employed its 'three strikes and you're out' policy after de Belin was pulled up for the previous Covid bubble breach and sexting scandal.
'It was a very bad judgement call on my behalf and obviously very stupid,' the disgraced forward told Fox Sports' NRL 360 on Tuesday night.
'I'm deeply remorseful and very sorry for what's happened. I can't express that enough.
'It was a terrible judgement call and and one that I very, very much regret.'
'It's hard to... keep on. I don't really have the answers,' the 181-game veteran replied when asked what he was thinking.
'It wasn't the right thing to do. In hindsight it was dumb, a very stupid thing to do.'
'I love the game so much and it pains me to see the impact it's had on the game. It's heartbreaking for me.'
While other players were spared, it is likely they'll be expected to publicly apologise for their actions, and more financial penalties are expected to be imposed.
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