Ben Barba partying with friends in pictures posted on Instagram and with new girlfriend Lauren Tweddle.
Ben Barba sporting the EBC tattoo. Source: Facebook
THEY'RE proudly known as the Epic Bender Crew, a tight-knit band of party-hard Gen Y mates who binge their way through most weekends.
And just before Christmas last year, Ben Barba decided to join them.
Barba's association with the Cronulla-based group, known locally and online as EBC, provides plenty of clues as why he could no longer be the game's clean-skinned poster boy.
While a painful split with childhood sweetheart, Ainslie Currie, and problem gambling are the other significant reasons, excessive drinking and partying have conspired toward Barba's downfall.
Those pastimes are also the driving force behind EBC's charter, with the group known around the Sutherland Shire for its extreme commitment to having a blast.
The link to Barba appears to be Daniel Folkes, the son of former Bulldogs coach Steve Folkes. Daniel Folkes also featured on the short-lived TV show The Shire.
Barba and Folkes were teammates in Canterbury's under-20s team and were photographed together in EBC-themed parties over the Christmas period.
There's also a telling SMS exchange that Folkes posted on his Facebook site, in which Barba pledges to join EBC by getting a tattoo with the group's initials.
"I think it's safe to say you are part of the famous EBC welcome aboard," Folkes texted on December 14 last year.
"That's it, I'm getting the tatt," Barba replied.
Shortly afterwards Folkes posted another picture, this time of a shirtless Barba getting the initials E-B-C inked on to his lower torso.
A close friend of Barba last night said the superstar has toned down his partying with EBC since resuming training last month.
"He did spend a bit of time with those guys before and after Christmas," the friend said.
There's no suggestion EBC enjoy anything more sinister than having a good time - for a long time.
Furthermore, Reni Maitua and John Sutton have carved out long careers as members of the Bra Boys, an infinitely more notorious gang.
And in the end, Barba will not be cured should he stop drinking or have the EBC tattoo removed.
His problems extend back to the split with Currie, his childhood sweetheart from Mackay and the mother of his two baby daughters.
Barba's association with EBC occurred around the same time he and Currie ended their eight-year relationship.The couple purchased their first home in Caringbah last year, but Barba didn't move out until early last week.
In the first indication that his life was falling apart, Barba requested a few days away from training last week.
Canterbury boss Todd Greenberg gave him the green light and was receiving daily updates about Barba's welfare from Currie.
"Moving out was a big thing," the friend said.
"Suddenly Ben was on his own and I don't think he expected it to be so hard without the kids."
Friends are confident that Barba will be restored once he and Currie patch up their differences.
But he also has deeper demons to confront, including a worrying gambling habit.
While Greenberg dismissed suggestions that Barba had fallen into debt, Bulldogs insiders have been concerned for some time about the proportion of his salary that's frittered away through TAB terminals and poker machines.
"He bets on the horses," an inner-city publican said.
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