‘One foot in the grave’: Ex-Roosters captain opens up on jail hell and looming sentence
Former Sydney Roosters captain John Tobin has laid bare his descent from NRL star to convicted criminal, revealing he woke to a gun pointed at his chest during a botched billion-dollar cocaine smuggling attempt that landed him in maximum security for three years – with more jail time potentially looming.
The 66-year-old, who played 125 games for the Roosters and featured in their 1980 grand final loss to Canterbury, served eight-and-a-half years behind bars after being caught in a 2016 Christmas night raid at the Sydney Fish Markets. An undercover officer had infiltrated the 15-man syndicate from the start, dooming Tobin’s bid to collect $2 million for helping bring 600kg of cocaine – allegedly from a Colombian submarine – to Australia after 21 days at sea.
“I thought we were in the clear,” Tobin told AAP, recalling the moment he saw a red dot from a gun on his chest as police swarmed. “Then I knew we were f***ed.”
His downfall began after his wife of 25 years abruptly left in 2014, emptying their Sunshine Coast home and leaving him to cover $60,000-a-year boarding school fees for their two teenaged sons. “Desperate men do desperate things,” he said of his decision to sell cocaine on the Gold Coast with an old football mate, following a failed business venture after retiring from rugby league in 1987.
After four failed smuggling conspiracies over two-and-a-half years, Tobin was jailed from early 2018 until July this year, spending time in Long Bay, Cessnock, Kempsey, Emu Plains and Macquarie correctional centres. He endured three bashings and two days in protection alongside paedophiles, describing his cellmates as “scumbags and pieces of shit” – but feels lucky to have escaped without broken bones.
Now staying in a Campbelltown motel paid for by friends, Tobin faces an ongoing supply charge and will return to Brisbane Supreme Court on January 22. “More than likely I’ll probably go to jail again,” he said. “I’ve got one foot in the grave and one foot out because I’ve got no money.”
Institutionalised and struggling to accept help, he is telling his story to deter others from following his path. “No one else did it, I’ve done it,” he said. “If I can help just one person, it’s worth it.”
