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State of Origin debutant Apisai Koroisau endangered the entire NRL competition by smuggling a woman he met online into the players’ hotel, Daily Mail Australia can reveal.
The Penrith Panthers hooker is under investigation after he allegedly snuck the woman into the Blues camp one day before the team was moved to Kingscliff, in northern NSW, to escape Sydney’s rampant Covid outbreak last month.
The married father-of-two allegedly also met up with the woman on a second occasion, on the day of Game 2, when the team was in a ‘bubble’ to prevent any potential exposure to the virus.
The woman claims Koroisau gave her ‘strict’ instructions on how to sneak into camp without being noticed.
They planned to meet a third time but the woman claimed Koroisau put an end to the dalliance hours before she was due to arrive after Jai Arrow was unceremoniously dumped from the Maroons camp over a similar incident involving a female dancer being invited back to his hotel.
New South Wales Rugby League confirmed they were aware of the incident involving Koroisau and an ‘unregistered guest’ when contacted on Thursday, and had referred the matter to the NRL Integrity Unit.
Koroisau’s wife Amy is aware of the romance after she was contacted by the woman in a series of messages obtained by Daily Mail Australia.
Instagram messages sent from Amy’s account suggest Koroisau admitted to the rendezvous but assured his wife there was ‘no emotional connection’
Koroisau’s wife Amy congratulated him on Instagram for making his long-awaited debut in game three after being 18th man for the first two matches
The woman, who asked not to be named, said she met Korosiau on Instagram in early June, and their communication quickly moved to Snapchat.
Over the course of a few days and their two meetings, she ‘developed feelings’ for him, claiming she fell for his ‘sweet, nice, caring’ personality.
‘I actually started to have little feels for him,’ she said. ‘He came across like such a sweet nice caring guy who gave me a lot of attention and sweet words.. I definitely got sucked in!’
Koroisau was 18th man for games one and two, and allegedly invited the woman to join him at the Novotel in Homebush on June 20.
The NRL has gone to extreme lengths to keep the game alive since the pandemic began 18 months ago, including demanding all players enter a ‘bubble’ to avoid potential outbreaks.
But Koroisau allegedly breached the rules by inviting the woman, who was holidaying in Sydney, into the Blues camp despite the Covid outbreak in the city.
Daily Mail Australia understands Koroisau sent grovelling texts (pictured) to his wife after she was told of the incident
Koroisau’s wife Amy was reportedly ‘left shaking’ after she learned of the alleged affair
The woman, who asked not to be named, said she met Korosiau on Instagram in early June, and their communication quickly moved to Snapchat.
‘I was told to message him when my Uber was about to drop me off and walk straight into the lifts, where he would be waiting for me,’ she said.
Koroisau was in the elevator when the woman arrived, and ushered her directly up to his room.
They allegedly spent about two hours together before Koroisau told her to leave because he had to return to his teammates – who were all together downstairs.
Less than 12 hours later, Koroisau and his Blues teammates flew to Kingscliff, where Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk granted them an exemption to ensure the State of Origin could go ahead despite increasing Covid cases across Sydney.
On June 27, the day of the second match, the woman said Koroisau invited her to join him at the Sofitel resort in Brisbane – but he warned her it would be ‘difficult’ given he now had a roommate.
She said he suggested she book her own room in the hotel – and even allegedly offered to pay for it.
Receipts seen by Daily Mail Australia showed the woman checked into the room that she booked about midday on June 27
Koroisau’s wife of four years allegedly told the other woman that she would leave him after learning of the affair, but it appears she has since flown to the Sunshine Coast to join the Penrith Panthers’ Covid bubble with their two young daughters
The woman said she booked a room in her own name and met Koroisau when she arrived. He then took a key to her room on his way out and returned to see her about midnight after his team sealed the State of Origin cup in a 26-0 thrashing of Queensland.
She claims Koroisau didn’t want his roommate to know he was breaching strict isolation rules implemented by camp officials, and that he left her room about 6am the next morning.
Receipts seen by Daily Mail Australia showed the woman checked into the room that she booked about midday on June 27.
‘My understanding is that nobody actually knew and that he kept it all hush hush because it was not allowed,’ she said.
The pair planned to meet again before game three, but the woman said Korosiau pulled the pin after word spread that Arrow had been booted out of camp.
‘We didn’t want to ruin his debut… so we decided it would be best that I didn’t come,’ she said.
Koroisau married Amy in 2017 in a traditional Fijian ceremony and the couple have gone on to welcome two daughters
The woman claims the next morning, Koroisau told her he’d be ‘deleting his Snapchat’ because he was heading home to his wife, and urged her not to contact him on Instagram in case his wife read the message. Pictured: An exchange between Koroisau’s wife’s Instagram account and the other woman
The woman claims the next morning, Koroisau told her he’d be ‘deleting his Snapchat’ because he was heading home to his wife, and urged her not to contact him on Instagram in case his wife read the messages.
‘He didn’t want his wife to know he had Snapchat, so he said he’d contact me again in the next camp like 10 days away, he said not to send Instagram messages because his wife regularly checks it,’ she said.
Following the short-lived alleged affair, the other woman contacted Koroisau’s wife, Amy, to apologise for her part in what happened.
In a series of messages shown to Daily Mail Australia, Amy Koroisau told the other woman she was ‘devastated’ and considered leaving the marriage.
‘He’s dead to me now,’ a message sent from Amy Koroisau’s Instagram account read.
‘I appreciate you telling me but you’re just as low as him… I hope you never have to feel how I feel right now. I wouldn’t wish this on anybody.’
Koroisau had a stellar debut in game three, scoring a try, after being listed as 18th man for games one and two
A spokesman for New South Wales Rugby League told Daily Mail Australia they have been ‘made aware of an alleged matter involving an unregistered guest attending the team hotel after Game II of State of Origin’
Amy told the woman she felt like she was ‘dying’ after learning of the alleged affair, accusing her of being a homewrecker and ‘destroying our lives’
Amy told the woman she felt like she was ‘dying’ after learning of the alleged affair, accusing her of being a homewrecker and ‘destroying our lives’.
The mother-of-two said she sensed something was amiss after her husband returned from camp, and had no doubt the truth would have come out eventually.
In the text exchange, Amy claims Koroisau admitted to the rendezvous’ but promised there was ‘no emotional connection,’ despite flirting with the woman over several days.
‘[He said] yeah there was flirting but he didn’t feel anything for you and apparently he said in Kingscliff that he felt guilty and couldn’t do it anymore,’ Amy wrote to the woman.
The duo had organised to meet up again in Blues camp ahead of game three, when Koroisau had been selected in the top 17 lineup to make his official Origin debut.
But they mutually decided to pull the pin at the 11th hour when word spread that Maroons lock Jai Arrow had been booted out of camp after sneaking a dancer into the bubble.
‘The Blues had a big serious meeting about it and extra security was placed at the hotel… I didn’t want to get caught up in anything like that so we thought it was safer if I didn’t come,’ the woman said.
Koroisau’s manager Gian Lombardo said his client and his wife would not be making a comment on the matter as it is now being investigated by the integrity unit.
The mother-of-two said she sensed something was amiss after her husband returned from camp, and had no doubt the truth would have come out eventually
Daily Mail Australia has contacted the New South Wales Rugby League and Koroisau’s manager for comment
Source: Daily Mail
