James Roberts being investigated for quarantine balcony breach

Off-contract Wests Tigers centre James Roberts is being investigated by the NRL after he was photographed breaching Queensland Health’s balcony directive while in hard lockdown.

Queensland Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young declared late last week she was prepared to evict all non-Queensland NRL teams from the state if there was another violation of the local health orders.

James Roberts is being investigated by the NRL Integrity Unit for a potential Queensland Health balcony breach.Credit:Getty Images

Wives and girlfriends were ordered to tape up their windows and balcony doors at a Gold Coast hotel over the weekend as they began 14 days in quarantine, following an incident in which items were passed across balconies.

Roberts was unable to travel and stay with the Tigers in their NRL quarantine bubble after being placed in a COVID hold when he attended a shopping centre in Sydney at the same time as a person infected with COVID. He subsequently travelled with the families and is staying at the same facility.

Images of Roberts opening the balcony door in his Gold Coast hotel and coming out for fresh air were captured on camera on Tuesday by a photographer, and were later bought by a TV network.

The man known as “The Jet” bizarrely went out of his way to draw attention to himself by hanging a blue-and-white striped hotel towel over his balcony.

He now risks being sent straight home and virtually banished for the remainder of the NRL season.

The 28-year-old has struggled with his mental health in recent years and is now being supported by the Tigers and NRL over the latest incident.

Roberts remains in hotel quarantine as the NRL confirmed the Integrity Unit was investigating the matter.

“The NRL and Wests Tigers are providing James with additional wellbeing support to assist him in coping with quarantine and will continue to work closely with Queensland Health,” the Tigers and NRL said in a joint statement.

While the families aren’t allowed to leave their hotel floor, Roberts has been given permission to use the hotel gym for up to an hour a day with other NRL players who made the delayed trip north.

Roberts was keen to make a late-season comeback for the Tigers in the hope he could land a deal at a new club in 2022.

The Tigers have an option in their favour but are unlikely to take it up.

TV footage of the wives and girlfriends sharing food across balconies outraged local authorities late last week.

There have since been reports of paparazzi booking rooms in neighbouring hotels and even using drones in the hope they would catch out people violating the strict no-balcony orders.

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Christian Nicolussi covers rugby league for The Sydney Morning Herald.

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