Sydney Roosters great Jake Friend had to be restrained by five cops after the 'heavily intoxicated' retired footballer threatened to take his own life by throwing himself off a bridge.

The 36-year-old was in such a heightened emotional state following the episode he was 'scheduled' under the Mental Health Act and taken to hospital as an involuntary patient.

Friend is one of the Roosters' favourite sons, captaining the eastern suburbs club and winning three NRL premierships during a glittering career which also included representative honours.

He had several run-ins with the law in his early playing days but in recent years had stayed out of trouble, until the tumultuous evening he was found hiding in his back shed after threatening suicide. 

Friend has since given up alcohol, taken part in family counselling, performed community service by volunteering at an inner-city soup kitchen and been seeing a psychiatrist. 

His lawyer Paul McGirr had no trouble convincing a judge this week that Friend's night of mayhem was a result of his unstable mental condition due to intoxication, rather than it constituting any crime. 

Friend's wife Jenna Kallin was preparing to put their two children to sleep in their $3million Hunters Hill home in Sydney's north when he came home drunk about 12.30am on December 5 last year. 

According to a statement of facts tendered in court, Friend banged on the door loudly enough to alarm neighbours across the street and one later described the sound 'to be akin to muffled gunshots'.

Ms Kallin answered the door to find her husband 'heavily intoxicated by alcohol and highly agitated' and upon entering he 'immediately engaged in a loud verbal argument'.

'The subject of this verbal argument was [Friend's] grievances that [Ms Kallin] did not answer his calls or texts earlier that night when he was trying to find her,' the statement of facts said.

The dispute continued until about 1.25am when Friend rang Triple Zero but terminated the call amid a short discussion with the operator.

Attempts to resume contact with Friend failed and a request was broadcast over police radio for officers to attend the Hunters Hill address 'given the concerns for welfare raised in the brief phone conversation'.

About 10 minutes after the first call to Triple Zero, Friend rang again, this time stating there was no emergency 'and all was fine'.

Friend resumed arguing with his wife until about 2am, eventually leaving the house on foot and making a statement which implied he would not be seen again alive.

Police arrived at the residence at 2.18am, were met by Ms Kallin and taken inside.

'[Ms Kallin] initially downplayed the incident to attending police, saying everything was OK and thanking police for coming, before emotionally breaking down,' the statement of facts said.

'Police asked [Ms Kallin] again what had happened with her disclosing the above verbal arguments and [Friend's] comments about not being seen again, which [Ms Kallin] and police took to be veiled threats of self-harm.'

While police were obtaining further details from Ms Kallin - a well-regarded real estate agent in Sydney's inner-west - her husband called.

Officers overheard Friend being 'irate and irrational', shouting at Ms Kallin and 'explicitly stating he intended to commit suicide because of her'.

'Specifically, that he intended to throw himself off of the Gladesville Bridge and it was her fault,' the statement of facts said.

'This call from the accused caused police to have immediate grave concern for the accused's life, given his high level of intoxication and self-stated intent to imminently commit suicide at a location within brief walking distance of where he was last seen.'

Police at the house called for back-up from the Burwood and Ryde commands and crews including the dog unit began patrolling the surrounding area, including Gladesville Bridge.

'This was with the expressed intent to locate the accused in order to render aid, and to detain him for the purposes of a mental health assessment under Section 22 of the Mental Health Act,' the statement of facts said.

'For this purpose, NSW Ambulance services were also engaged, with ambulance officers staging nearby to the accused's home with the anticipation of their services being needed imminently.'

About 3.30am, the police dog unit found Friend inside the tool shed in the backyard of the house at Hunters Hill. 

Officers activated their body-worn cameras and identified themselves. 

'At this time, the accused was highly intoxicated, emotional and irrational, but was complying with simple instructions,' the statement of facts said.

'Police began to calmly explain the reasons for their attendance to the accused, being the domestic disturbance and the concerns raised by the accused's threats of suicide.' 

When police explained to Friend he was being detained under Section 22 of the Mental Health Act he immediately became hostile and began shouting at them.

‘No. F*** this,' Friend said. 'I'm not going anywhere. Honestly. I'm not going. I'm going to bed. You're not taking me anywhere.' 

'While saying this the accused has repeatedly attempted to push past officers and return to the residence,' the statement of facts said. 

'Police repeatedly informed the accused that he could not return home and would be going to hospital, with the accused continuing to escalate.'

Told police would be left with no choice but to handcuff him if he did not comply, Friend said:  'Tase me then! F***. No. No. Get out of my backyard. No!'

Friend then tried to charge through police towards the house and they took hold of him to prevent his escape.

What quickly followed was 'a chaotic ground wrestle lasting several minutes while police attempted to apply handcuffs, concerned for the safety of all parties'.

'The accused actively resisted police, flailing and tensing his arms, and trying to pull away from officers,' the statement of facts said.

The degree of Friend's resistance led police to request back-up, 'with engaged officers working to use as minimal force as reasonably possible to effect this detention, not wanting to cause any further harm'.

'Eventually and with great effort handcuffs were applied,' the statement of facts said. 

'NSW ambulance officers were able to safely approach and assess the accused's vitals, finding his heart rate and temperature to be concerningly elevated. 

'The accused was treated with external ice packs to alleviate his overheating, and administered a sedative to stabilise his elevated vitals and heightened emotional state, facilitating ambulance officers to better treat him.

'Following this, the accused was conveyed to hospital, having been scheduled under both S22 and S20 of the Mental Health Act by police and ambulance officers.'

Friend attended Gladesville police station the next day following his release from hospital and was served with an interim apprehended violence order (AVO) to protect Ms Kallin.

He was subsequently charged with resisting Sergeant David Fargg, Leading Senior Constable Joshua Petts, Senior Constable Benjamin Scrymgeour, Constable Noemi Hay and Constable Yeongmin Han.

Friend, who also played hooker for Queensland and Australia, was stood down from his role overseeing the Roosters' junior pathways program.

When the AVO application was listed to be heard in front of Judge Garry Still at Burwood Local Court last month, Ms Kallin did not attend and it was withdrawn.

Outside court, Mr McGirr said Ms Kallin had never wanted the order put in place and noted Friend had not been physically violent towards the mother of his children.

The resisting police charge was heard on Wednesday at John Maddison Tower in the city while the Burwood courthouse was temporarily closed for refurbishment.

Having tendered medical evidence on behalf of his client, Mr McGirr asked Judge Simon Joyner to handle the case under mental health provisions of the law.

The case Mr McGirr put to Judge Joyner about Friend's efforts to avoid a repetition of what happened in December was so strong the police prosecutor did not want to be heard.

A psychiatrist's report referred to the number of concussions Friend received in a long first-grade and representative career playing in the forwards.

However, Mr McGirr stressed Friend was 'old school' and did not want to blame rugby league for any damage that might have done to his brain because 'the game's been so good to him and continues to be good to him'.

Friend has been following a program run by Elite Athlete Wellbeing Services, a group founded by Jan Earl - the mother of former Roosters winger Sandor Earl.

That program has required him to undergo regular drug and alcohol testing, attend group meetings and one-on-one psychological therapy, and remain under the care of a psychiatrist.

He has been volunteering at a soup kitchen in Woolloomooloo and engaged in family counselling.

Judge Joyner is a former nightclub doorman turned handy amateur boxer who played First XV rugby for St Joseph's College at Hunters Hill when he was a schoolboy.

He found enough 'scaffolding' had been put in place around Friend to satisfy him the resisting police charge should be dismissed under the criminal law. 

Mr McGirr said Friend was grateful for his ongoing association with the Roosters, where he has resumed work as a defensive coach, and singled out club chairman Nick Politis for his support.

'Part of the problem - as I've always said for a long time, particularly in rugby league - is once these players are finished playing a lot of them are discarded,' Mr McGirr told the Daily Mail.

'Whereas Jake Friend and his relationship with the Roosters has been the total opposite.'

Friend played 264 games for the Roosters from 2008 to 2021, turned out once off the bench in a Test for Australia and pulled on a State of Origin jersey three times for a Maroons series win the year before he retired.