Former NRL star Josh Dugan could sue Cronulla for wrongful dismissal after he was sacked over alleged repeated breaches of the NRL’s Covid-19 policies.

Dugan escaped without a penalty after being found guilty of breaching Covid-19 travel restrictions at the height of the pandemic. 

In Lithgow Local Court on Friday, Dugan was found guilty of one count of not complying with a noticed direction, but Magistrate Kasey Pearce acquitted him of another count of not complying with a noticed direction.

She recorded a conviction but imposed no further penalty.

And according to the Sydney Morning Herald, the 33-year-old will now consider legal action after beating one of the two police charges field against him.

Josh Dugan could sue Cronulla over wrongful termination of his contract

Josh Dugan could sue Cronulla over wrongful termination of his contract

Josh Dugan could sue Cronulla over wrongful termination of his contract

Dugan was sacked after allegedly breaching Covid-19 policies twice in two months

Dugan was sacked after allegedly breaching Covid-19 policies twice in two months

Dugan was sacked after allegedly breaching Covid-19 policies twice in two months

Dugan retired in September last year, just hours after the Sharks terminated his contract following a second breach of the NRL’s biosecurity rules. Dugan had two months left on his deal, believed to be worth $850,000-a-year.

Two weeks earlier, the former State of Origin star had been fined $50,000 by the NRL for violating its Covid-19 protocols for a second time in two months after being stopped in New South Wales.

Police charged Dugan after he and his housemate, Ben Williams, were pulled over in Lithgow, around 150kilometres northwest of Sydney

The duo were instructed to head back to the New South Wales capital and their place of residence, only to be stopped again less than an hour later driving in the opposite direction.

The court heard he told police he was in the process of moving to Yetholme, a rural town between Bathurst and Lithgow.

He told police he was travelling to feed animals on the property.

Police argued that Mr Dugan knew he was flouting the strict Covid travel restrictions, which forbade travel between Sydney and regional NSW during that period.

However, his lawyer Paul McGirr had argued the police needed to prove the former fullback knew which restrictions were in place at a time when the regulations were constantly changing.

‘Basically, they couldn’t prove that he knew the laws, which I said nobody knew,’ McGirr said of the first charge. 

‘The [COVID lockdown] laws were a joke, they were changing daily, sometimes twice daily.

The 32-year-old retired from the NRL in September last year after playing 215 games

The 32-year-old retired from the NRL in September last year after playing 215 games

The 32-year-old retired from the NRL in September last year after playing 215 games

The former fullback was found not guilty one count of not complying with a noticed direction

The former fullback was found not guilty one count of not complying with a noticed direction

The former fullback was found not guilty one count of not complying with a noticed direction

 The ex-Test star’s legal proceedings were delayed at the end of last year after the legality of Covid penalty infringement notices came into question following a Supreme Court ruling.

More than 33,000 Covid fines issued in NSW were thrown out after the court determined the offences had not adequately been clearly identified.

Dugan played 215 NRL games in his career with Canberra, St George and Cronulla and played 12 times each for New South Wales and Australia.

Less than a month before his first breach of the Covid-19 protocols, Dugan had been told by the Sharks he would not be offered a new contract as part of the team’s decision to overhaul the roster under incoming coach Craig Fitzgibbon.  

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