Sydney and Geelong star Daniel Menzel has been charged with sexual assault over an alleged incident with a woman at Bondi Beach last year.
Menzel, 29, allegedly sexually touched the woman without consent in Sydney's east between 2.30am and 3.40am on November 23, 2019.
After an investigation, NSW Police charged him over the alleged assault on April 29.
Menzel had been out with Sydney Swans teammates on the same night before the incident is alleged to have occurred.
Daily Mail Australia understands that in conversations with the woman he bragged to her about being an AFL player.
The talented small forward had been delisted by the Swans just weeks earlier having been thrown a lifeline for 2019 after an injury-interrupted career at Geelong.
Former AFL star Daniel Menzel (right, pictured with ex-teammate Lance 'Buddy' Franklin) has been charged with sexual assault over an incident with a woman in Bondi last year, Daily Mail Australia can reveal
Menzel is understood to have been out with Sydney Swans teammates on the night before the incident allegedly occurred. He posted this on Instagram in the hours before the alleged incident
Menzel burst onto the scene in 2011 and was a Rising Star nominee before injuring his ACL in Geelong's first final.
It was the beginning of a horror stretch for the goal sneak, who did the same injury on another three occasions before finally managing to make his comeback in 2015.
Menzel once again established himself as a regular in the Geelong lineup, before he was unceremoniously sacked at the end of 2018.
Sydney offered him a lifeline but after just seven games in 2019 also delisted him.
The South Australian-born product signed a deal to play with Central Districts in the SANFL, but before that enjoyed a Sydney farewell with Swans players last November.
On November 22 last year he shared a photo to Instagram of himself with more than a dozen other other players embracing on a couch with beers in hand.
Among them were superstars Josh Kennedy, Dane Rampe and Isaac Heeney.
But police allege that in the early hours of the next morning Menzel sexually touched the woman.
A spokesperson for the Sydney Swans did not wish to comment on the matter and it is understood Menzel was not under contract with the club at the time of the alleged incident.
Menzel played a total of 80 games and kicked 143 goals across his 10-year career.
Menzel played just seven games for Sydney after a nine-year career at Geelong ended in 2018
After an investigation, NSW Police charged Menzel (right, pictured with ex-teammate Ryan Clarke) over the alleged assault on April 29
His matter was mentioned in Waverley Local Court on Tuesday afternoon but he did not appear in person and was represented by a lawyer.
In a statement, NSW Police said: 'On the 29 April 2020, a then aged 28-year-old man was charged with sexually touch another person without consent in relation to an incident at Bondi in November 2019.'
'He is next due to appear at Waverley Local Court on Tuesday October 27, 2020.'
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Menzel and the Central Districts Football Club for comment.
THE AFL'S TORRID 2020 SEASON:
May:
- The AFL moves teams into hubs out of Victoria amid COVID-19 spread
- Adelaide Crows are caught breaching rules, in bad start for the league
June:
- Collingwood star Steele Sidebottom and teammate Lynden Dunn break the rules by visiting a staff member who is not part of COVID hub
July:
- Jordan De Goey charged with sexual assault over 2015 incident
August:
- Sydney Swans youngster Elijah sneaks his girlfriend into the hub. He is sent home by the AFL
- Just a few weeks later he is charged with assault offences against her
- AFL players are filmed groping each other while singing the team's song, leading to outrage
- Retired player Josh Hill fathers two children in the space of a few weeks to two different women
September:
- Richmond players Sydney Stack and Callum Coleman-Jones get in fight at a Gold Coast strip club. They are banned and sent home by the AFL
- Melbourne player Harley Bennell sent home for leaving COVID hub to visit a friend, before later returning
- Video emerges of Gold Coast Suns coach Stuart Dew urinating in public
- Retired star Daniel Menzel revealed to have been charged with sexual assault after night out with Swans players
