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'Warned twice': Startling new details in NRL stars' virus breach

Josh Addo-Carr, pictured here using a firearm during the camping trip with Latrell Mitchell.
Josh Addo-Carr is now being investigated for firearms offences during the camping trip. Image: Instagram

Josh Addo-Carr is coming under renewed scrutiny over reports his camping trip with Latrell Mitchell was his third breach of coronavirus restrictions.

NSW Police fined Mitchell and Add-Carr but will continue investigations into the pair on Tuesday over possible firearms offences and the use of unregistered motorbikes.

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Addo-Carr's now deleted social media posts had shown him riding a dirt bike without a helmet and firing a gun while at a weekend gathering on a property near Taree.

And it has now emerged that the Melbourne winger had previously been spoken to by police about social-distancing measures in Sydney.

According to The Daily Telegraph, Addo-Carr was warned by police for breaching COVID-19 rules on April 3 and April 14.

The NSW and Kangaroos star was reportedly seen sitting in a car in Glebe, with police warning him for being outside without a valid excuse.

“Josh Addo-Carr was warned twice in 11 days for violating COVID-19 restrictions before he was caught for a third time on a weekend camping trip that has thrown the NRL into crisis,” Phil Rothfield wrote on Tuesday.

Laurie Daley hopes scandal acts as warning

While those incidents weren't known or reported, NRL legend Laurie Daley hoped the spotlight on Addo-Carr and South Sydney's Mitchell would scare any other players out of breaking NRL or government protocols.

“I think it's made more people more aware of what their responsibilities are,” Daley told Sky Sports Radio on Tuesday.

“I think they will see what these two guys are about to face and think I don't want to be doing that.

“I don't want to put my game at risk or be on the back page of the paper and get myself in trouble.

“Now it's out in the open, other athletes will be sitting back and going it's not acceptable, this isn't what the community wants us to do and we're putting people at risk.”

Latrell Mitchell and Josh Addo-Carr, pictured here looking on before State of Origin in 2019.
Latrell Mitchell and Josh Addo-Carr look on before State of Origin in 2019. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

Daley did warn that had the pair not been caught, they would have risked putting teammates in danger when they return to training next week.

It's now unclear if Mitchell and Addo-Carr will be able to train with their teams next Monday.

Indigenous All Stars coach Daley said he supported a ban of up to a month, after his fellow former NSW mentor Phil Gould called for the pair to be suspended for the season.

ARLC chairman Peter V'landys has previously shown his hand when Gai Waterhouse staffer Neil Paine was suspended by Racing NSW for a month for embracing a trainer after a race.

V'landys, who is also the chief executive of Racing NSW, has kept horse racing going amid the coronavirus crisis with strict biosecurity measures.

Kangaroos coach Mal Meninga revealed he’d reconsider picking Mitchell and Addo-Carr for Australia again based on the team's values system.

with AAP