NRL player gets lengthy ban over lewd act with dog

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - National Rugby League player Mitchell Pearce has been banned for eight games and fined A$125,000 (£64,866 pounds), with A$50,000 suspended, after he was filmed simulating sex with a dog, state media reported on Thursday.

The 26-year-old halfback was stood down by his Sydney Roosters club and stripped of the co-captaincy on Tuesday after spending a month in a rehab clinic in Thailand.

Pearce, who has sworn off drinking, was filmed during boozy Australia Day celebrations on Jan. 26.

The player has previously been in hot water with the NRL's disciplinary board.

In 2014, he was fined A$20,000 and stood down by the Roosters for a week after he was ejected from a Sydney nightclub following a complaint by a female patron.

In 2010, Canberra Raiders and Australia winger Joel Monaghan quit the NRL after a photo of him simulating a lewd act with a dog during post-season celebrations was circulated on social media.

(Reporting by Ian Ransom; Editing by John O'Brien)