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Bulldogs cop $250,000 fine and police charges over Mad Monday

The Bulldogs have handed down fines to four players and will conduct a review of their team's Mad Monday behaviour after being hit with a $250,000 fine from the NRL.

Bulldogs CEO Andrew Hill said the club was "disappointed" with the extent of the fine from the league but described their players' behaviour as unacceptable.

"The club accepts that the images and behaviour from the team get-together on Monday were unacceptable and an extremely bad look for the game," Hill said on Thursday.

"As a result of those actions the police are continuing their investigation into the behaviour of a number of the players on the day."

Two hours after Hill addressed the media, wwos.com.au reported that NSW Police have charged two men with wilful and obscene exposure to appear in Downing Centre court on October 24. It is understood the players charged were Elliott and Fine.

In a statement, NSW Police said, "Following inquiries by Sydney city LAC [Local Area Command] two men aged 23 and 26 were issued with court attendance notices for wilful and obscene exposure".

Police said a third man had been issued with an infringement notice for offensive conduct and the licensee of the hotel had been issued with five penalty notices, including two for licensee permit indecent behaviour on licensed premises.

The club handed down their own fines to the players involved, with Elliott and Fine fined $25,000 (with $10,000 suspended), while Marcelo Montoya and Zac Woolford were both fined $10,000 (with $5000 suspended).

"These are good people who have acted in an immature and juvenile way. They have accepted responsibility for their actions and have apologised to the club for their behaviour," Hill said.

"The club will now work with them from an education and player welfare point of view and we will continue to support our players through this time.

"In regards to the breach notice handed down by the National Rugby League earlier this afternoon, while the club is disappointing at the severity of this fine, it accepts that the images and the behaviours on the day were unacceptable and a poor reflection of both the club and the game," Hill said.

"The club will now hold a full review and put steps in place to make sure that this situation never happens again."

Hill said it was unlikely that the club would sanction any Mad Monday events in the future. 

"We will review our processes, it's fair to say that it's highly unlikely that post-season celebrations such as what occurred on Monday will happen again," he said.

"The room that we had used is the same room that the players had booked for the past three seasons and quite clearly going out on the balcony and the behaviour is unacceptable and inappropriate."

Earlier this week NewsCorp published photos of a player vomiting outside the Harbour View Hotel, as well as another of a player who appeared to be asleep outside plus others who had removed their clothing inside the establishment.

NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg said the proposed $250,000 penalty reflected the seriousness of the behaviour and the damage which has been caused to the game.

"The club organised the event and failed to implement the most basic of measures to ensure it was conducted in an appropriate way," Greenberg said.

"The club's failure to manage the event followed specific directives to all clubs to ensure these type of events do not damage our game.

"The players' behaviour embarrassed themselves, their club and the game on the eve of the finals series."

The NRL said the heavy punishment was influenced by the fact the club had organised the event, senior club officials were present and the players' actions took place in an area which was in view of the general public.

"The actions of some players and officials was inexcusable and we are determined to send a message that it will not be tolerated on this occasion – or in the future," Greenberg said.

"There has been a real improvement in player behaviour this year – and we should all acknowledge that.

"But to have this kind of incident on the eve of our finals is more than disappointing and there has to be a deterrent to ensure we have no repeat of this behaviour."

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