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National Rugby league star Jarryd Hayne and his two Parramatta teammates, Weller Hauraki and Junior Paulo, had a lucky escape when gun shots were fired in their direction during the early hours of Monday morning after the trio had been out in Kings Cross in Sydney.
League players getting into strife after a night on the town is not exactly a new occurrence, however, there have been very few occasions where firearms have been involved.
Hayne and his buddies can be thankful they walked away unscathed, unlike some of the examples from other sports below.
Bernard Dalton
Hayne and his teammates aren't the only league players to be shot at on Sydney's infamous Kings Cross.
Although not involved in league at the time, Easts halfback Bernard 'Barney' Dalton remains the only league player to be shot and killed in the Cross.
Dalton, who won two premierships with the Roosters in 1911-12, was working as a bodyguard for underworld queen Kate Leigh when he was killed outside The Strand hotel.
Andres Escobar Saldarriaga
Colombian football player Andres Escobar Saldarriaga was murdered in 1994, many believing due to the own goal he scored in the 1994 World Cup.
The own goal contributed to Colombia failing to qualify for the second round and it is rumoured that Escobar was killed by a member of a gambling syndicate who lost heavily on Colombia's poor showing at the tournament.
Another theory is that his death was unrelated to football and was instead the result of a bar fight that left several people wounded.
New Zealand under-21s rugby team
Some of our most talented rugby players were lucky to escape with their lives after members of the New Zealand Colts rugby team were attacked by gunmen days after they were knocked out of the under-21 World Cup in South Africa in 2002.
Most of the team were asked to leave a Johannesburg nightclub when they were attacked in the carpark outside the bar.
A gunman broke the team's van windows while people were inside it. He discharged about 10 shots during the incident but no one was hit.
Injuries included Southland halfback Jimmy Cowan being knocked out twice and Manawatu player Lifeimi Mafi being hit in the head with a gun butt.
Coach Bryce Woodward described the scene as a war zone.
"quot; We had players with two black eyes, their faces smashed in with cut lips and broken teeth.
"It was terrible, absolutely gut- wrenching.
"We are lucky to be back alive - that's how serious it was,"Woodward said.
Trevor Berbick
Jamaican boxer Trevor Berbick briefly held the WBA heavyweight title in 1986 but was best known for being the last man to fight Muhammad Ali, beating the boxing legend by unanimous decision in 1981.
Berbick was beaten to death with a steel pipe by two men at a church in Jamaica in 2006, one of whom was his nephew.
Sean Taylor
Sean Taylor was a safety for the Washington Redskin in the American National Football League. Renowned as a damaging defender, he was nicknamed 'Meast', a reference to half man, half beast.
While recovering from injury in November last year, Taylor was shot during a home invasion and later died in hospital after falling into a coma.
- NZ HERALD STAFF
