The Field of Law

The Roosters have pulled Sam Walker's extension, Josh Addo-Carr's B sample has come back negative, and a Melbourne Cup carnival trainer has been stood down.

Sports lawyers ⁠Tim Fuller ⁠and ⁠Matt Krog⁠ explain the law underneath all three: restraint of trade, NRL free agency from 1 November, and the landmark cases Buckley v Tutty (1971) and Adamson v NSWRL (1991) that killed transfer fees and the draft in rugby league.

They also tackle Wayne Bennett's transfer window idea, the player welfare cost of a competition stretching to Perth and Papua New Guinea, a governing body trying to police a coach's private home, and why anti-doping cases don't always need a positive test.

General commentary only. Nothing in this episode is legal advice.

At 16,⁠ James “Chico” Segeyaro⁠ left Cairns for Redfern, alone and unable to read a train timetable.

More than 180 NRL games later, a positive test for ligandrol threatened to end it all. The source was a kitchen blender he shared with his flatmate.

Calling in from Port Moresby during his Kokoda trek, the former Cowboys, Panthers, Sharks, Broncos and Manly hooker joins⁠ Tim Fuller⁠, his lawyer through the case, and ⁠Matt Krog⁠.

They unpack the NRL Anti-Doping Tribunal decision that found the violation unintentional and cut a possible four-year ban to 20 months.

Tim explains why the case now features in anti-doping education worldwide.

The conversation then turns to Manly’s Pride jersey boycott and player consultation, the unresolved legal questions from the Israel Folau case, and the ⁠PNG Chiefs⁠ trademark fight with New Zealand Rugby.

Chapters

00:00: Chico calls in from PNG 04:00: Goroka to Redfern: signed by Souths at 16 21:00: Leeds, Cronulla and the Broncos move 31:08: The blender case and the 20-month ban 44:50: Manly’s Pride jersey game and Israel Folau 59:21: PNG Chiefs v NZ Rugby: the trademark fight The Field of Law provides general commentary on sports law and does not constitute legal advice.

Dale Copley played 148 NRL games for the Broncos, Titans and Roosters, and then had to figure out what came next. Tim Fuller and Matt Krog sit down with him for a long, loose conversation about the transition from elite sport to a corporate law career.

They talk about pharmacy, a missed exam at Suncorp, why he picked law because it gave him options, and why he never believed retirement would actually happen. They also get into the NRL’s ten-year post-career surgery window, the RLPA’s role in transition, whether first grade players should be required to study or work, NRL expansion, third-party deals, and whether a player draft belongs in rugby league.

Then it’s the grab bag. The PNG Chiefs trademark fight, the Manchester City sanctions, and the Medvedev disqualification, which Tim thinks was long overdue.

General commentary only. Nothing in this episode is legal advice.

One contaminated tub of protein powder can trigger a four-year doping ban, even when the athlete never intended to cheat.

Sports lawyers ⁠Tim Fuller⁠ and ⁠Matt Krog⁠ are joined by⁠ Roisin Featherstone⁠, a Brisbane lawyer with a medical laboratory science background, to unpack supplement contamination, strict liability under the WADA Code, consumer law claims against manufacturers and the crippling cost of fighting an anti-doping charge.

They tackle Connor Watson's concussion upgrade before the NRL grand final, Phoenix Crossland's hip drop ban and why judiciary sanctions so often follow the injury instead of the act.

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General commentary only. Not legal advice.

Manchester City has reportedly been found guilty of 114 of 115 Premier League financial charges, and sports lawyer ⁠Tim Fuller ⁠is joined by ⁠Professor James Skinner, Dean of the Business School at the University of Newcastle⁠, to explain what the verdict means for football.

They break down the Profit and Sustainability Rules, why CAS has no role this time, the possible sanctions from points deductions to relegation, the fit and proper owners' test, and the compensation claims rival clubs could bring.

Plus the Melbourne Storm salary cap precedent, multi-club ownership and Melbourne City, sportswashing, and the AFL integrity review into Norm Smith Medal voting. Follow ⁠The Field of Law on Spotify⁠ so you never miss an episode.

General commentary only, not legal advice.

Former NRL judiciary chairman and ⁠NSW District Court Judge Paul Conlon⁠ joins ⁠Tim Fuller⁠ and Matt Krog for a frank conversation about how sport judges its own.

The episode covers Lachie Neale's grand final week tribunal fight, the NRL's no-fault stand-down policy, the Cronulla ASADA saga and Shayna Jack's anti-doping case.

Paul brings more than four decades in criminal law and eight years at the head of the NRL judiciary to the rules that make or break athletes' careers.

Paul explains how the old three-player NRL judiciary actually worked. He describes the advice he gave ahead of Billy Slater's famous shoulder charge hearing, and he explains why he believes the current two-person panel is pushing clubs to take early pleas rather than risk a hearing.

He is candid about why he does not like the no-fault stand-down rule and why he is wary of codes relying on untested police statements of facts. He also argues that voluntary assumption of risk makes US-style mass concussion litigation unlikely in Australia.

On anti-doping, Paul looks back on the 2013 "blackest day in sport" announcement, the fight for disclosure in Shayna Jack's case, and USADA chief Travis Tygart's call for case-by-case treatment of inadvertent low-level positives.

To close, each of them makes a call on the week ahead. Tim backs Lachie Neale to beat his ban and farewell the Lions in the grand final. Matt says Kylian Mbappé's cash and equity deal with On signals a new era of athlete entrepreneurs, and the complex advice those deals will demand. Paul, a proud Blues man, tips New South Wales to spoil Darius Boyd's debut as Queensland coach.

Tim Fuller is Special Counsel at⁠ Bennett & Philp⁠. He has Court of Arbitration for Sport experience and was part of Shayna Jack's legal team. Matt Krog is the founder of ⁠Aus Sports Law ⁠and represents NRL players in judiciary hearings, contracts and tribunal appeals.

Follow ⁠The Field of Law⁠, if you enjoyed this conversation, and send us the sports law question you want answered next.

This episode is general commentary and education only. It is not legal advice. For advice on your own circumstances, speak to a qualified legal practitioner.

Foxtel Group Senior Legal Counsel ⁠Calli Tsipidis⁠ joins sports lawyers ⁠Tim Fuller⁠ and ⁠Matt Krog⁠ to explain who really owns sports content in Australia, and how broadcasters protect it. Calli is the 2026 ⁠Lawyers Weekly⁠ Media & Telecommunications Lawyer of the Year and works across Fox Sports, Kayo, Binge and DAZN.

She takes us inside the legal build behind Club Kayo, the new creator network spanning NRL, AFL, cricket and motorsport.

She explains how creators are vetted and contracted at speed, what they can and cannot film at the ground, and why vertical video may become its own category of media rights in future broadcast deals.

Also in this episode, Cricket Australia's push to privatise the BBL and what private equity means for grassroots cricket, and the Josh Addo-Carr roadside drug test allegation, including why sports treat illicit drugs so differently to prohibited substances under anti-doping rules. Follow

⁠The Field of Law⁠ so you never miss an episode, and send us your questions or topic ideas on⁠ LinkedIn⁠, ⁠Instagram⁠ and⁠ Facebook⁠

The Field of Law provides general commentary and education only. Nothing in this episode is legal advice.

You paid for a ticket. In law, that buys you a licence, not a right, and it can be revoked on the spot.

Tim Fuller and Matt Krog open the doors on what really governs a day at the sport.

In this episode of The Field of Law, two practising sports lawyers decode the week in sport and the law behind it.

They unpack Club Kayo and the content-creator boom reshaping broadcast rights, the second-hand smoke doping question raised by the cannabis haze at the US Open, and the almost ninety-year-old High Court case, Cowell v Rosehill Racecourse, that still decides your rights when you walk through the gate.

They also cover pitch invaders and player liability, Braith Anasta stepping away from his player-agent accreditation and the conflicts of interest behind it, the Football Australia and APL referees' strike, and the transgender-eligibility fight moving through the US courts and toward Australia.

Follow The Field of Law on Spotify so you never miss an episode, and share it with someone who loves sport and argues about the rules.

The Field of Law offers general commentary on sport and the law. It is not legal advice.

Tim Fuller and Matt Krog put the week's biggest sports law stories under the legal blowtorch, starting with former Test cricketer Will Pucovski's concussion claim against Brighton Grammar School and what a school's duty of care to a minor actually covers.

They break down the landmark Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling in Göthberg v Lazio, where a pregnant footballer won compensation despite never signing a contract, and what FIFA's maternity regulations, the Masters v Cameron principle and the privacy of medical information now mean for clubs.

They also weigh UEFA's criminal mismanagement move against FIFA through the Swiss and US courts, the field of play principle behind a controversial QAFL finish, and the consent questions running through sports documentaries, from Danny Rose at Spurs to the Ettingshausen defamation case.

This podcast is general commentary and analysis, not legal advice.

The Sydney Swans have stood five players down for the rest of the season.

Tim Fuller and Matt Krog leave the police investigation where it belongs and dig into the sports law question everyone is asking: how can a club stand down players who have not been charged with anything?

The answer sits in one clause.

Tim and Matt break down the disrepute clause, sometimes called the morality clause, how it is drafted, why the wording decides everything, and why sponsors can hit pause on a deal long before a court says a word.

They cover the two parallel tracks of a police matter and a contract matter, the illicit drug policy questions circling the story, and the very real defamation risk for anyone posting their own version of events online.

Then the money. Swedish private equity giant EQT is set to take a controlling stake in the Melbourne Storm at a reported $150m to $200m valuation. Tim and Matt unpack what a capital raise actually means, why global investors are buying into Australian sport, and what the Wrexham story tells us about treating a club as just another asset.

Plus, natural justice in sporting tribunals, the Van Royen biomechanics appeal, and whether NRL coaches should move to standard employment contracts.

This is two practising sports lawyers talking shop.

Follow The Field of Law on Spotify so you never miss an episode, and tell us where you land on the Swans stand-down over on Instagram and LinkedIn.

The Field of Law is general commentary on sport and the law. It is not legal advice.