Elijah Taylor’s girlfriend has spoken about her rendezvous to see her husband in Sydney’s quarantine zone in Western Australia on Friday night.
Taylor, 19, was on his way through 14 days of isolation with teammates at Joondalup Resort when he snuck in his girlfriend.
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According to veteran AFL reporter Caroline Wilson, 18-year-old Lekahni Pearce is said to have crossed a golf course and jumped several fences to be with Taylor.
But on Tuesday night, Pearce spoke to Channel 7 and confirmed the real events surrounding the meeting, saying there was no scaling of fences.
“No security, I didn’t see a security guard,” she said to Channel 7. “I just went through and went to his room. It was that simple.
“I didn’t jump any fences.”
Pearce reportedly spent about eight hours with Taylor before the pair was caught by two older teammates. The quarantine violation resulted in Taylor being banned for the remainder of the season and a fine of $ 50,000 on Sydney, of which $ 25,000.
Pearce apologized for the couple’s actions, which sparked widespread backlash and could have put the season at risk.
“I’m sorry for everything,” she said. “And how, we made a really big mistake.”
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However, the couple is expected to face violations by the West Australian police over the quarantine violation.
The duo were believed to be able to escape police sanctions, but WA Police Commissioner Gary Dreibergs said during a press conference Tuesday that both would receive fines.
The good news for Taylor and Pearce is that they avoided criminal charges that were reportedly under scrutiny by Washington police The daily telegraph.
Criminal charges for the violation could have resulted in a maximum fine of $ 50,000 and a prison term of up to 12 months.
Sydney coach John Longmire said the club is still in the process of deciding whether to impose additional penalties on Taylor in addition to his season ban.
“It’s obviously sinking in and he’s very calm as you can imagine and no doubt thoughtful,” Longmire said at a press conference.
“It is a very bad decision that he made. If you step down, it is an immature decision and not every player you get visiting the national draft is of the same level of maturity and background.
“You have to work through these problems and help educate yourself and hopefully you get to the other side and make a difference in these young people’s lives. It’s not just about football. You sit down and talk to them about decision making and their life skills.
“What you don’t know is something like COVID showing up and straightening his head, and in Elijah’s case, he’s not at the football club for three months during the shutdown period. He didn’t come to our club until December.
“That doesn’t change anything about the seriousness and responsibility that is absolutely with Elijah, it just provides a context for these things.”
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