(Sports) Australian football stars charged with supplying cocaine

Australia's top football stars have been charged with supplying cocaine over the weekend in an event that has shocked local sports fans.

Representative rugby league player Greg Bird and fellow star Dave Taylor joined Gold Coast Titan teammates Beau Falloon, Jamie Dowling and Kalifa Faifai Loa to be stood down by the club and issued with notices to appear in court in relation to drug offenses.

Insiders say the charges against these players and multi-code superstar Karmichael Hunt last week are just the beginning, with other codes and players expected to be charged.

The five players will appear in court in March. Bird, the most famous of the players, was charged with two counts of supplying cocaine, Taylor one count of possession and one count of supplying and Faifai Loa one count of supplying.

The Queensland Crime Commission said on Monday the men were " identified contacting the (drug) syndicate and arranging for the supply of cocaine to friends and colleagues between August 2014 and December 2014."

Titan's chief executive Graham Annesley told reporters on Monday that the charges have caused serious damage to club's reputation.

"I apologize to everyone associated with the game and everyone that's trying to take this game forward from these setbacks which are holding the game back," he said.

"The club's reputation and the future of this club is bigger and better than one individual.

"No one is giving up. These things to go in cycles. The club will recover. The NRL (National Ruby League) have been enormously supportive and are still supportive. I've had discussions with them today. They are still 100 percent behind this club, this region." Endit