Trapperazzi Trick Sends Stars Into Hiding

Sydney Morning Herald

Wednesday June 18, 2008

Brad Walter

FOR years, players going on Kangaroos tours of England have been warned to be wary of any situation that could be a carefully laid trap by one of the country's notorious tabloids or an enterprising member of the public looking to cash in on their brush with fame.

Now the "trapperazzi" phenomenon, like "happy slapping", appears to be spreading here - as Benji Marshall and a number of other sports stars and celebrities can attest.

John "Chow" Hayes, the manager of the Australian teams that toured England in 2004 and 2005, said players were reminded before and during each tour of the tabloids' unquenchable thirst for scandal and gossip - and the lengths they were prepared to go to to satisfy it.

"We tell them at the start of the tour to be careful about getting themselves into what could be termed as a compromising position, and they are reminded of that throughout the tour," Hayes said. "It's not just the tabloids but what I suppose you would call 'salacious women'. Young blokes with a bit of money in their kick attract the crabs, for want of a better word."

The closest anyone can remember to one of the Kangaroos becoming the victim of an English tabloid was in the lead-up to the 2000 World Cup final when Jason Stevens was ambushed by two busty page-three models seeking a photo with the born-again Christian, who penned a book about celibacy.

The stunt, organised by The Sunday Sport, failed to come off after team management intervened but not before the women had removed their tops to bare their breasts.

In comparison to some of the other efforts by the British tabloids, the attempt to set up Stevens was a harmless prank. The demise of former England football coach Sven-Goran Eriksson can be traced to the interview he unwittingly gave to News of the World's famed investigations editor, Mahzer Mahmood, better known as the "fake sheikh".

Lured to a meeting in Dubai in the belief that he was being offered a lucrative new job, Eriksson told Mahmood - posing as an Arab businessman - that he would quit if England won the 2006 World Cup, even though he had two years to run on his contract with the FA.

Mahmood also managed to tease Eriksson into a number of indiscreet remarks about various star members of his squad. Amid calls for him to be sacked, Eriksson announced he would resign after the World Cup.

The same paper also trapped England rugby captain Lawrence Dallaglio into unwittingly boasting about taking cocaine and ecstasy and how he had been a teenage drugs dealer during an elaborate sting in 1999 known as the "honey trap" that involved concealed tape recorders, hidden video cameras and reporters posing as representatives of a well-known toiletries manufacturer who had been offering him a #500,000 sponsorship deal.

Dallaglio later denied the allegations and said he had been lying but was forced to step down as England captain.

Australian cricketing great Shane Warne has also found himself the centre of several scandals in the English tabloids. The News of the World set up the leg spinner with two models last year, and their threesome was captured by hidden camera.

In Australia, Queensland man Christopher Kent was found guilty of a blackmail attempt on the Australian Cricket Board after his teenage niece had kissed Warne. Along with Brett Lee, Warne was leaving a Gold Coast nightclub when 16-year-old Aleasha Black asked for a kiss from the spinner.

"She said just one on the cheek and I said OK and she lent over and kissed me on or near the mouth," Warne told police. "I pulled away. I was a bit annoyed at this stage because she was being very insistent and seemed to be pissed."

The incident occurred in January 2002 and the following month, Kent phoned ACB media chief Brendan McClements asking for $5000 or free match tickets to keep the story out of the press, which he claimed was offering the same amount for an exclusive. Kent eventually pleaded guilty to attempting to obtain financial advantage in Melbourne's County Court and was fined $11,500.

Another cricketer, Andrew Symonds, was targeted at last year's World Cup in the West Indies, in an incident with similarities to the latest incident involving Marshall. As the Australian team was dining at a restaurant, a man approached another patron - who turned out to be the Australian team's security manager - asking him to take a photo while he started a fight with Symonds and offered to share the profits once the image was sold to a media organisation.

It cannot be entirely certain if Marshall was the victim of a similar opportunistic bid to cash in on his standing in the NRL, but the fact that someone was able to react quickly enough to photograph the incident seems to support that theory. So do the calls to media outlets the following day seeking $6000 for pictures of Marshall involved in a brawl at a Kings Cross nightclub.

© 2008 Sydney Morning Herald

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