Canberra teammates Hudson Young and Morgan Smithies will not face dismissal following the NRL’s worst fears—a late-night brawl in Las Vegas.
The altercation occurred in the lift of their luxurious hotel after a night of revelry on Thursday.
This incident unfolded due to a glitch in the hotel’s computer system, which resulted in frustrated players waiting for hours in the check-in line.
During the chaos, one player found himself without a room and requested to share a bed with a teammate, leading to a scuffle involving a plastic baseball bat in the hallway or elevator, disturbing several guests.
“We returned after a night out on Thursday and ran into a problem with the room,” Young recounted as the duo faced the media early Tuesday morning AEDT.
“We’re not going to delve into the specifics. There was some agitated pushing in the elevator, nothing in the hallways.”

Hudson Young and Morgan Smith in front of media in Vegas. Nine
“We came back as a group, and one of the boys had picked up a toy baseball bat from somewhere. That was mistaken for a weapon in the lift, but it had no part in the scuffle.”
The two players maintained they resolved the issue on their own, without the need for hotel security.
“Security didn’t intervene,” Young clarified.
“We went downstairs to sort out the room issue, and that’s when they reviewed the footage and asked us to leave.”
Tune in to the 2025 NRL premiership live and free on Nine and 9Now.
“The club handled it, and we’re really grateful to still be here at Resorts World.”
Raiders officials are certainly upset about the incident that has tarnished the club’s reputation, but they will not send the players home just days before their crucial season opener against the Warriors.
However, both players are likely to face substantial fines and penalties.
Young reassured fans that there is no lingering animosity between them, attributing the incident to jet lag and frustrations regarding the room situation.
“We’re a tight-knit team, and Morgan and I are good mates. That’s common knowledge,” he stated.
Smithies, from England, also confirmed there were no hard feelings about the event.
“Ricky was upset, as were we. We’ve expressed our apologies and are keen to put it past us and concentrate on this week,” Smithies added.
“It’s a significant week, so we want to move on from this.”
Compiled by SportArena.com.au.
Fanpage: SportArena.com.au.
LiveScore – Live Sports Results & Odds.