Former Melbourne Storm player charged with attempted murder
Shem Tatupu leaves the field after playing for Melbourne Storm's feeder club Easts Tigers in Brisbane - Image credit: X / Melbourne Storm
Former NRL player Shem Tatupu has been charged with attempted murder following his arrest last month.
The 29-year-old dual-code footballer, who had stints with both the Melbourne Storm in the NRL and Hawthorn in the AFL, is alleged to have been involved in a serious family violence incident, reported News Corp on Wednesday.
Victoria Police have not released details about the alleged offence, including when or where it occurred.
Tatupu appeared in court last month and is scheduled for a committal mention hearing at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court in August.
He also faces a separate charge of intentionally causing serious injury, which will be addressed at Moorabbin Magistrates’ Court later this month, the report said.
The son of former New Zealand Warriors foundation player Tony Tatupu, Shem was once considered one of the country’s most intriguing athletic prospects.
Tatupu started off playing rugby league and union in New Zealand before he switched codes after impressing at a junior AFL tournament in Auckland in 2009.
He played 22 games in the VFL with Hawthorn after being recruited as an international development player, but he walked away from the AFL in March 2016 to pursue a career in rugby league.
Tatupu was then signed by the Melbourne Storm later that same month, a move that attracted plenty of media attention in Australia due to the novelty of an AFL player switching codes to the NRL.
At the time, Storm football director Frank Ponissi said the club had reviewed footage of Tatupu playing top-level schoolboy rugby in New Zealand, but it was his “character, background and attitude” that ultimately won them over.
“Craig [Bellamy] and I met him a couple of times – his attitude was right, his desire to come here was clear, and he didn’t need much convincing,” Ponissi said.
The young center’s promising career in the NRL was stunted later that year when he was hit by a car out side the Storm’s headquarters in Melbourne.
Tatupu remains on bail as the legal proceedings continue.
