Oct 14th, 2018

Oct 14th, 2018

Recently retired NRL great Johnathan Thurston has broken his 14-year silence on the Canterbury Bulldogs Coffs Harbour scandal which threatened to derail his career.

The North Queensland Cowboys legend became the first member of the 2004 Bulldogs squad to open up about the incident, doing so in his new book, Johnathan Thurston: The Autobiography.

Thurston explained in his account how group sex was commonplace early on in his career, so when his teammates revealed that the unnamed woman involved in the incident had "slept with six of them" while partying at the Plantation Hotel in Coffs Harbour, Thurston was unmoved.

"I wish I could tell you that I was shocked by the group sex - but I wasn't," Thurston wrote.

Thurston admitted that the incident threatened to end his career before it began (AAP)

"Consensual group sex, a girl sleeping with more than one NRL player at the same time, was not unusual.

"Looking back now, I can see how distasteful and disrespectful it was.

"Now, 14 years later, as a dad of three daughters, I don"t condone that type of thing."

According to Thurston's account, after spotting the woman at the Plantation Hotel, he and a couple of teammates hopped in a taxi at 5am ahead of the team's 7am recovery session the next day, when the woman allegedly wanted to meet up with members of the Bulldogs squad again.

Thurston condemned the group sex sessions calling it 'distasteful and disrespectful' (AAP)

Thurston revealed that the woman had followed the players back to their hotel and began screaming and knocking on the door asking to be let in, before being given a profanity-laced "spray" by one of his teammates.

When Thurston and his teammates made their way to the pool recovery session, the woman was spotted sitting outside the hotel crying at 6.45am.

Just a few hours later at midday, news had broken regarding an accusation made against "three and six players" in the early hours of the morning.

"I was stunned," Thurston wrote.

"I was not involved in any capacity with the woman who made the accusations.

Thurston was just a 20-year-old trying to make his name in the NRL when the scandal erupted (Getty)

"I was not involved with her on the Wednesday night and I did not see what happened in the pool area on the Sunday morning."

Thurston revealed that he was "shocked and scared" to be interviewed by police in regards to the incident, and explained how his feelings towards the woman involved in the incident had changed over the years.

"I think the woman who made the allegations did so out of anger after the boys reduced her to tears. I genuinely feel sorry for her," he wrote.

"I was angry for a long time but now, looking back, I can understand that she went through a lot too.

"We could have handled the situation better.

"We didn't treat her with respect. She should never have been treated that way."

The Director of Public Prosecutions ruled there was insufficient evidence to launch a prosecution. No charges were ever laid with all the members of the squad cleared of any wrongdoing.