As a subcontractor to Croad Gardens, Roger Bonnici thought laying artificial turf would be pretty straightforward. But he says his dealings with the ex-Hawthorn star and his busines has left him more than $6000 out of pocket. Mr Bonnici met Mr Croad at a job site and, being a football fanatic, jumped at the chance to work for him, laying turf at an East Bentleigh property in 2016. Roger Bonnici says he was left $6000 out of pocket after working for Trent Croad. Credit:Joe Armao Mr Croad paid Mr Bonnici for half of the work, which came to a little more than $6000, and promised the same amount again on completion. But Mr Croad did not pay the outstanding amount when he finished the work, Mr Bonnici alleges.

Mr Bonnici took Croad Gardens to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, but despite the tribunal ruling in Mr Bonnici’s favour earlier this year, he is yet to receive the money. “There is just no justice in this,” he said. "Society is so over-policed these days, yet even when you do the right thing you can’t get justice. “I don’t know how I’m going to get my money back.” It is also alleged that Mr Croad did not complete the work he was contracted to do at the East Bentleigh property where Mr Bonnici laid the turf, despite the clients paying more than half the $44,000 quote. The residents, in a letter to VCAT in support of Mr Bonnici’s case, said they chased Mr Croad for months to get him to finish the project.

In February last year, Mr Croad asked them for more money to complete the installation of a water tank, plumbing and front fence, a driveway expansion and planting, which his clients refused. “We refused to give him any more money before the conclusion of work, as per our contact,” they wrote. “Since then we have not heard from him. He has not answered our phone calls, not returned our messages, texts or emails. “We are not in a position to pursue this matter at this time, since my mum is battling leukaemia and unfortunately we cannot deal with this on top of everything else happening in our lives.” John Meo, who runs a rubbish removal business in Melbourne, said he was also subcontracted by Mr Croad for the East Bentleigh project.

He alleges he was never paid for the hire of a skip bin, nor for a second job after it, and is owed $720. “I rang him probably 30 or 40 times, I reckon,” Mr Meo said. “To chase that amount, it’s not worth it and they probably know that as well ... now it’s more the principle.” Rosanna Parissi said she met Mr Croad when he became a gardener for her father, who had suffered a stroke and has vascular dementia. Rosanna Parissi said Mr Croad did not complete landscaping work for her elderly father. Credit:Darrian Traynor

“We had a good rapport at first," Ms Parissi, a full-time carer for her father, said. "He was friendly, genuinely concerned and caring, and he would do things quickly." She said she hired him privately to landscape the front and back yards of their Brunswick home. He completed the back yard, but Ms Parissi said Mr Croad never finished the front. Ms Parissi had paid almost all of the $5500 he quoted for the work. “It’s been horrible,” she said. “I thought I could trust him.” Croad Gardens has claimed in correspondence to Ms Parissi that it was never contracted to make over the front yard, but she denies this and says she has at least one email in which the front yard is referenced as part of the work.

The allegations were denied in an email to The Age, signed by his father Bruce, after repeated requests by phone and email to Trent Croad for comment. "I am not aware of any outstanding issues of the nature to which you refer," the email says. "Should any exist; because such matters would be of a private commercial nature your party would be well advised to seek mediation and/or use the well established processes available from the various State Government agencies that facilitate commercial dispute resolution. I am available at any time for discussion." Trent Croad, pictured with partner Kate Jesaulenko. Credit:Facebook Now 38, Mr Croad retired from the AFL in 2010 after 222 senior games.



He has suffered money troubles in the past, becoming embroiled in a court stoush with a former girlfriend, public relations agent Shereen Kiddle. The mother of two claimed Mr Croad owed her almost $100,000 after she loaned him money in 2012. In 2011 he sold his home in the Melbourne suburb of Surrey Hills for $2 million. Mr Croad started the landscape gardening company in 2015 – the same year he became engaged to then Neighbours soap star Kym Valentine. They split late last year and he was last known to be dating Kate Jesaulenko, the daughter of Carlton great Alex Jesaulenko.