Former Rhinos coach faces court
FORMER Grafton Rhinos first grade rugby league coach Shaun Fathers and ex-NRL player Craig Field have been charged with murder after a man found unconscious outside a Kingscliff Hotel on Sunday died in hospital.
Former South Sydney Rabbitohs captain Field, 39, and Fathers, 41, were both charged with the murder of 50-year-old Kelvin Kane after an alleged assault on Sunday.
Neither Field nor Fathers applied for bail and they were both remanded in custody.
Tweed Police allege the men knew each other and a disagreement started between them inside a Kingscliff hotel.
All three men were residents of Kingscliff.
At a press conference, Tweed Superintendent Stuart Wilkins said police were called to the hotel at 9.15pm on Sunday in response to an assault taking place.
"Upon arrival police located an unconscious 50-year-old male person who was being the subject of CPR," Supt Wilkins said.
"At that time police discovered that he had been assaulted."
Supt Wilkins said inquiries led to a home in Kingscliff where police arrested Field and Fathers.
"There was a confrontation in the hotel during the afternoon and evening and at the closing of the hotel it has moved to the car park where it took a violent turn and the victim was assaulted," he said.
"Certainly it was one significant punch that led this man to fall to the ground and hit his head, which is the cause of his significant injuries. We had five or six people who witnessed the assault who are helping police with the investigation today."
The alleged incident happened just one day before The Daily Examiner's story of Maclean's Josh Gorman, who was punched in an attack in 2010 and said he was still haunted by the violence.
Fathers was at the Rhinos in April last year but left the club five games into the season.
