Shock new details on Wendell Sailor’s alleged pub attack as bar manager reveals what footy legend said and why staff were ‘petrified’

The manager of a Sydney bar where Wendell Sailor allegedly assaulted a member of the public on Wednesday has revealed new details about the incident and how the former NRL player left his staff ‘petrified’.

Jack Butcher, the manager of Pappy’s bar, located in Sydney’s CBD, revealed The Daily Telegraph that the ex-Broncos star allegedly “bumped” his shoulder before having a face-to-face altercation with a patron at the bar.

When recounting the incident, the bar manager, who claimed Sailor had been drinking for four hours before police arrived, had shouted, “Do you know who I am?”

The bartender later claimed the Kangaroos winger ‘couldn’t even get a sentence together’.

He added: ‘One of my colleagues was in hiding because she was terrified.’

It was alleged on Thursday that the former NRL radio personality allegedly assaulted two people and intimidated another on Wednesday evening.

Police arrived on the scene and arrested the 50-year-old around 11am. The Daily Telegraph adds that he was charged with five offences, including common assault.

The outlet has since contacted Sailor, who claimed: “Nothing happened, bro. Nothing happened.’

Mr Butcher claimed Sailor arrived after 7pm. He claimed the former NRL player drank alcohol purchased by others.

“He tried to start conversations with everyone,” Butcher said. He then claimed he heard “an alarming noise” around 11pm from the wife of a couple the ex-Broncos and Dragons star had spoken to earlier in the evening.

“I looked out the window and saw the man and Wendell chest-to-chest and I ran downstairs and by the time I got there the couple were walking away,” Mr Butcher said.

“Wendell started walking towards them and I told him to move on,” Mr Butcher said, before claiming the rugby star “began to become aggressive”.

“He got in my face and was talking and spitting (but not on purpose),” he said. ‘I was wiping my face and he reached out and pushed my face and smeared the spit into my hair and face.’

After threatening to call the police, the bar manager said Sailor told him, “Call the damn police.” What are the police going to do?’

He claimed that Sailor continued to yell at him, “Do you know who I am?” before saying, “You’re fucking done.”

He also claims the former NRL star said: ‘You’re kicking me out because I’m black. You’re kicking me out because I’m indigenous.’

The bartender claimed the former Broncos star followed him into the bar and began hitting his chest against the side of his shoulder.

“If I hadn’t held on, I would have fallen on the stairs,” he said. “He did it about three times while insulting me.

“He repeatedly told me, ‘You’re done.'”

Mr Butcher then revealed that several regulars in the bar had tried to intervene to ‘protect’ bar staff from the former footy player before police were called.

When officers arrived, Mr Butcher claimed Sailor ‘refused’ to leave the bar when police asked.

“He only left when they threatened to restrain him,” he added.

A NSW Police spokesperson said Sailor was taken to Day Street police station before being released on conditional bail.

The former Queensland and Wallabies star – who quit his radio job at Triple M with immediate effect in July – is also due to appear in court over an assault warrant issued against him by a woman, the publication reported.

He is due to appear before Downing Center Local Court on November 28 on the five charges, while AVO is due to appear before the same court on November 13.

NSW Police issued the following statement to Daily Mail Australia: ‘At approximately 11pm on Wednesday 6 November 2024, police were called to a licensed premises on Erskine Street, Sydney, following reports of an alleged assault.

‘Officers from the Sydney City Police Area Command attended and were advised that a 50-year-old man had allegedly assaulted two people and intimidated a third person.

“There were no injuries.”

Sailor explained his shock decision to leave his job at Triple M – which he has held since 2015 – saying: “My main focus now is spending more time with my children and pursuing grassroots interests.

‘Balancing my career and family life is my priority, especially as I celebrate my 50th birthday this week.’

The former Kangaroos star said his “son and daughter need me.”

In April, Sailor revealed his anguish over his footy star son Tristan’s rape case.

In 2020, the NRL Young Gun was charged by NSW Police after a woman claimed she was so drunk she woke up naked with no memory of what happened after a night out in Sydney.

The footy star was accused of having sex with the woman while she was unconscious or too drunk to consent.

In March 2022, he was found not guilty.

The alleged incident happened just two weeks after Sailor was released by the Dragons, and his father – who also played for the club in the twilight of his career – felt they had unfairly led his son out the door.

“Only his immediate family understands what he went through a few years ago,” Wendell said.

“I have shed tears from time to time about the journey he has been on.”

In June of this year, it emerged that Wendell was facing a lawsuit from the law firm Madison Marcus for allegedly unpaid legal fees of more than $100,000.

The company defended Tristan against the rape allegations and the case was dropped in July.