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9.59am BST

Here's the main news on Monday, 5 July:

9.42am BST

Circling back on that story involving the NRL penalties handed out to St George Illawarra players for attending a party in breach of Covid-19 restrictions.

Sure, there's enormous fines totalling $305,000 for the 13 players. But the suspensions are also fairly significant, ranging from eight matches handed down to Paul Vaughan, who hosted the party, to one match for some of the attendees.

The NRL alleges that player Paul Vaughan invited players to a gathering at his home on Saturday 3 July which was attended by 12 teammates, in breach of NSW Public Health Orders and the Game's biosecurity protocols. It's alleged a number of players hid or fled the residence when NSW Police attended the home after complaints from neighbours.

It's also alleged that a number of players gave or were involved in giving misleading information about the event during the NRL's investigation into the breaches and that some of the players conspired to withhold key information from the NRL. The notices allege that all players involved knowingly breached the game's biosecurity rules by attending the premeditated gathering. They were made aware of the game's Biosecurity Protocols by the club and admit they knew they were breaching the game's rules.