PANTHERS boss Phil Gould has addressed an explosive media report about Bryce Cartwright after a former girlfriend claimed she had been harassed, intimidated and paid off after falling pregnant with the young star’s child.

In The Sunday Telegraph report, the woman, who identified herself only as ‘Miss X’ for the purpose of the story, claimed she had been pressured to terminate the pregnancy, eventually agreeing, and was paid the sum of $50,000, organised by a third party.

The third party, according to the Telegraph’s report, was “club intermediary Lou Zivanovic”, a former Panthers player and life member of the club.

Speaking to the media this afternoon, Gould said he was comfortable with how the club had handled the situation, distancing the Panthers from Zivanovic, who he said “doesn’t have a role at the club”.

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Gould admitted he had been tipped off by The Daily Telegraph about the pregnancy in October last year, before the pregnancy was terminated in November, but said the call was made simply to let Gould know that the woman was trying to go public with her story.

He said that when he subsequently contacted Cartwright and his management team, the matter had already been dealt with by them and no further action was taken.

Bryce Cartwright of the Panthers. Source: News Corp Australia

“I had no knowledge of the story up until that point of time,” Gould said.

“ ... By the time I had contacted (Bryce Cartwright and his management) there had been a rumour or gossip column about an unnamed NRL player, but this process was well under way and almost finalised by then.

“By the time I had got the heads up, whatever had taken place away from the club had already transpired.”

Gould did not deny that Zivanovic had been involved in representing Cartwright as he tried to resolve the situation for the 22-year-old but said any action he took was not on behalf of the club.

“Lou’s not around our players, he’s not here at the club. He doesn’t have an official role at the club at all. Lou’s a personal family friend of the Cartwrights,” Gould said.

Gould said the Panthers had never been contacted by Miss X, despite her claim that she had written a letter of complaint and sent it to the club and was “yet to hear back”.

“We’ve had no contact from this young lady at all. She’s never called us, never written to us, there’s never been a complaint — the first we knew about these allegations were on the weekend in the newspaper report,” Gould said.

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“If at any time she feels the need or wants to come and discuss the matter, she can call me and come and see me at any time.

“If that’s going to help her in the process, and we can help her in any way, we’ve got great respect and want to make sure she’s okay, but up to this point in time the club’s had no involvement in this, the club had no knowledge of what transpired and we have not been contacted by the young lady.”

Gould said he had been in regular contact with Cartwright since the newspaper report had hit the young player “like a bolt of lightning”.

He said the star second rower’s welfare would continue to be monitored but said the club would not be taking disciplinary action against him or standing him down.

After doing their own investigation into the matter over the last 24 hours, Gould said the club was satisfied Cartwright had done his best to deal with a difficult situation.

“I’ve had a couple of discussions with Bryce over the weekend and we’ll deal with that going forward for Bryce’s welfare,” Gould said.

“I think too, for Bryce’s welfare and knowing Bryce for a long time, it was important to me in dealing with the facts of this matter that I was satisfied that he’d acted in a respectful manner and a supportive manner and I’m satisfied in this respect that Bryce has done as well as any young man could in the same situation.

“ ... We’re giving Bryce all the support we can give him. It’s difficult, I know a lot of people go through this in their lives and it’s not the first time this has happened to a young couple.

“It’s a huge decision (to have an abortion) and it’s very emotional. I guess from Bryce’s perspective he thought the matter was settled some time ago, so this, what happened on the weekend, sort of hit him like a bolt of lightning, so we’ve got to deal with that going forward.”

Gould’s decision to front the press came a day after the Panthers released a statement, attributed to Panthers Group chairman David O’Neill, responding to The Sunday Telegraph story.

“Recent media reports about the personal life of Bryce Cartwright refer to a private matter,” the statement said.

“Panthers board and management had no prior knowledge of these allegations.

“At no stage has the club communicated with ‘Miss X’ or directed any other person on behalf of Panthers to do so.

“Panthers have no knowledge of receiving any correspondence from ‘Miss X’.

“Out of respect to both parties, the club will be making no further comment.”

NRL boss Todd Greenberg said he considered the matter to be a private one between Cartwright and Miss X.

Gould said the Panthers had not been contacted by the Integrity Unit and he expected that the matter was now closed.

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