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The sister of former Warriors league star Michael Crockett - cleared on Friday of rape allegations - says the female complainant has tarnished his reputation in pursuit of money.
"That's Michael's career half gone because of her silly allegations - she was just wanting money," Melissa Crockett told the Herald on Sunday yesterday.
She said the saga was a cautionary tale for top sports stars, and certain women who targeted them.
"Now his reputation is tarnished. The thing I find disgusting about this whole thing is how she can make all these allegations and they hold back her name and her photo."
She said her brother was relieved but the saga had impacted on the entire family.
Crockett, whose contract with the Warriors finished at the end of this year's NRL, had all three charges dropped after a magistrate found there were "conflicts" between her evidence and that of her sister, the other main witness.
The offences were alleged to have happened at the woman's apartment in Sydney following a night out in Kings Cross on August 6 last year.
Her 21-year-old sister, who also lived in the flat, told a previous court hearing she saw Crockett lying on her sister when she entered her bedroom. She agreed there were no signs of distress and told the magistrate she was "shocked" by the rape claims.
Discharging the matter, Deputy Chief Magistrate Helen Syme said the sisters' differing versions of events made some of their evidence "not really credible".
"There are a number of inconsistencies that raise real problems in the prosecution case," she told Downing Centre Local Court.
"A jury properly instructed... would not convict the accused."
Crockett's lawyer Geoff Bellew told the Herald on Sunday that he now hoped Crockett would pick up a contract with a new NRL club.
