Rugby League: Bulldogs Drink Problem Worsens

Sonny Bill Williams, the New Zealand loose forward who plays in Sydney for the Bulldogs and is one of the highest-profile players in Australia, admitted to an alcohol problem yesterday after the latest scandal to hit the National Rugby League.

Williams, 21, was spotted urinating in the street by the police shortly after leaving a Sydney nightclub last weekend, the third drink-related incident involving him in the past 12 months. Last year he was banned from driving for five months and at the start of this season he was caught in a compromising position in a pub toilet with Candice Falzon, a former ironwoman who has also been romantically linked with the Little Britain star David Walliams.

"I'll be seeking professional help with regards to alcohol and until myself and the club feel this is under control I'll be off the drink," said Williams, who was dubbed Dunny Bill after the pub-toilet incident.

Ben Roberts, another New Zealand international who is one of Williams' Bulldogs team-mates, was also charged with drink-driving last weekend, two weeks after he had been dropped for breaking a team curfew after a game in Auckland.

Canberra Raiders have also had problems: their stand-off Todd Carney was sentenced to 200 hours' community service and banned from driving for 18 months after being found guilty of a series of offenses in a high-speed police chase.

Richie Mathers, who left Leeds for the Gold Coast Titans last winter, is unlikely to play again this year after suffering a serious knee injury at the weekend.

Wigan's second-row Gareth Hock has withdrawn from the Great Britain squad for Friday's Test against France at Headingley with a shoulder injury and the Hull prop Garreth Carvell is doubtful because of a dead leg. Hull's full-back Shaun Briscoe is facing a long lay-off with a suspected broken jaw and the Hull Kingston Rovers hooker Ben Fisher may be out for the season with knee-ligament damage.