On 25 February 2025, NRL reporter Steve Mascord reported on an incident involving Canberra Raiders forwards Hudson Young and Morgan Smithies during the NRL’s Las Vegas venture.

According to Mascord’s report, the players had been given a night of rest and recreation. After returning to their hotel, a room-access problem developed. The players subsequently became involved in a scuffle inside an elevator.

Hotel staff later reviewed elevator surveillance footage, and the players were temporarily asked to leave the property before the matter was resolved.

Both men later publicly apologised. Young specifically apologised to the club, sponsors, members and the NRL. Smithies similarly acknowledged that the pair had made a mistake. The NRL Integrity Unit was informed, and possible club sanctions remained under consideration.

There is a particularly relevant lesson in this incident.

The conduct did not occur on the playing field. It happened during downtime, inside a hotel, after a night out.

And it was captured.

Modern professional athletes operate in environments filled with CCTV, phones, hotel surveillance, venue cameras and social media. Behaviour that once might have remained private can now become evidence, footage and a news story.

The incident illustrates why the period between the game, the social activity and the return to accommodation deserves as much risk awareness as the formal event itself.

Read the original NRL article: https://www.nrl.com/news/2025/02/25/raiders-stars-apologise-over-scuffle-in-vegas-hotel-elevator