Wallabies' Dublin drama the latest in line of Australian sport's "Contiki tours"
EWEN McKenzie's decision to suspend or caution 15 members of his Wallabies squad after a boozy night out in Dublin shouldn't have come as a surprise.
From Olympians to cricketers to members of our three winter football codes, Australian athletes have frequently found themselves in the headlines for poor off-field discipline.Here, we take a look at some of Australian sport's "Contiki tours" of the UK and Ireland over the past 18 months and the sanctions that ensued.
Swimming
The Aussie men's 4x100m relay team arrived at the London Olympics with a big reputation - and the self-styled nickname "Weapons of Mass Destruction".
But they ended up bombing, and became better known as weapons of mass distraction following an ill-fated bonding session involving a prescription sleeping drug before the Games.
Five of the six relay swimmers - Eamon Sullivan, Matt Targett, James Magnussen, Tommaso D'Orsogna and Cameron McEvoy - admitted they took Stilnox on the infamous night just weeks after it had been banned by the Australian Olympic Committee.
Cameron McEvoy, James Magnussen and Eamon Sullivan address the media.
Source: News Limited
They were later fined and given suspended sentences by Swimming Australia.
Cricket
Dave Warner has been hit and miss at various times during his Test cricket career, but he was on the money ahead of the most recent Ashes series in England earlier this year. The only problem was his target wasn't an opposition bowler - it was an England batsman (Joe Root), and they were at a pub.
Warner was suspended for a month and fined $11,500 for punching Root at Birmingham's Walkabout Inn after a night out following a heavy Australian Champions Trophy loss.
The incident came a month after Warner was fined $5750 for an expletive-laden Twitter rant at two NewsCorp cricket journalists.
Warner hasn't been the only Aussie cricketer to find trouble on tour, with four players including Shane Watson suspended in India over "homework-gate".
International Rules
The Australian International Rules team also made headlines - on a slightly smaller scale - following an all-night party during their tour of Ireland last month.
The team was cautioned over a late-night drinking session, when hotel staff in Limerick told them to keep their noise down in the early hours of the morning.
Deputy AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan, travelling with the team, addressed the players along with AFL operations manager Mark Evans and coach Michael O'Loughlin at a team meeting following breakfast.
Billy Slater in action against USA at the weekend.
Source: Getty Images
NRL superstar Billy Slater found himself in hot water just last week following a nightclub incident in Manchester during Australia's Rugby League World Cup campaign.
Slater was detained by police after an early morning altercation but released without charge.
CCTV footage was later released of the incident, showing Slater cop an open-handed shove from a man lining up outside Mojo nightclub and respond swiftly with a strong right-hand punch.
Slater wasn't sanctioned by Kangaroos officials and lined up at fullback for Australia's quarter-final clash with USA at the weekend.
McKenzie explains sanctions handed to boozy Wallabies 4:32
Ewen McKenzie explains why he stood down six players for the
Scotland and Wales Tests and cautioned nine other Wallabies after a
boozy night out before the Ireland match.
The Wallabies became the latest Aussie outfit to fall to the "Contiki curse" after a large chunk of the side's Spring Tour party had a night out in Dublin.
There were no police incidents or complaints from the public but coach Ewen McKenzie decided to come down hard on players who kicked on after a Tuesday night team dinner.
Six players - Adam Ashley-Cooper, Nick Cummins, Benn Robinson, Tatafu Polota-Nau, Liam Gill and Paddy Ryan - were handed one-match bans while a further nine copped either written or verbal warnings.
McKenzie's tough stance came after the Australian Rugby Union cut wayward Wallaby James O'Connor adrift following an incident at Perth airport.
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