NRL star Victor Radley and his fiancée, Taylah Cratchley, have joyfully welcomed their second son, Cruze, into the world. This happy news follows a tumultuous year for Radley, who faced a significant penalty in connection with a cocaine scandal.

The overjoyed parents made a joint post to Instagram on Wednesday, showing off two photos of their newborn along with the caption, ‘Vinnie got to meet his brother yesterday. Cruze Nigel Radley, big 10.2 pounder. Go on my son.’

The couple’s first child, Vinnie Cash, was born in January of last year. In a heartfelt gesture, Cruze’s middle name honors Victor’s father, reflecting the family’s close ties.

Radley found himself at the center of controversy in August when his name surfaced in a drug-related investigation involving his former teammate, Brandon Smith. The incident marked a major scandal in Radley’s otherwise successful career.

Authorities have accused Smith, who currently plays for the South Sydney Rabbitohs, of unlawfully supplying cocaine to Radley in Currimundi, located on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, on June 7.

Roosters star Victor Radley and his fiancée Taylah are pictured with their newborn son Cruze and their eldest boy, Vinnie

The overjoyed couple announced the birth with a post to Instagram that was captioned, ‘Cruze Nigel Radley, big 10.2 pounder. Go on my son’

Pictured: Radley, Taylah and Vinnie in the photo they used to announce that she was pregnant with Cruz

The investigation unearthed alleged text message exchanges between Smith and Radley, further fueling the controversy surrounding the case.

Radley has not been charged with any offence and the Daily Mail does not suggest any wrongdoing on his part.

The 27-year-old was hit with a record penalty by the Roosters as a result of the drama.

He was suspended for 10 matches without pay and told to donate $30,000 to Sydney’s St Vincent’s Hospital as part of his punishment, which initially meant he could not return to the field until round 11 of the 2026 season.

However, the penalty was later changed to make him available in round six after Roosters coach Trent Robinson and chairman Nick Politis agreed to count the recent three-Test Ashes series and two pre-season matches.

Radley had also been set to feature for Shaun Wayne’s England side during the Ashes matches against Australia earlier this month, but ruled himself out of the series.

The lock forward publicly expressed his gratitude to Cratchley, who was also affected by the incident when the couple postponed their wedding due to the sanction from the Roosters, which was originally believed to have cost him around $200,000.

‘I felt embarrassed, to be honest,’ Radley told News Corp.

Radley’s former teammate Brandon Smith (left) has been accused by police of unlawfully supplying the Roosters lock (right) with cocaine   

Radley revealed that he and Cratchley (pictured together) had to postpone their wedding when the drugs scandal surfaced

‘The club and my family were the two I had to worry about. I didn’t want the people I love to feel the way I felt. I want to make sure the people I love are all right and I made them feel like s**t. That hurt the most. That was disappointing.

‘It was a negative spotlight on the club and that’s something I don’t want to do…and it’s something I will learn from and move forward.

‘My fiancée is getting bombarded, but she has been the rock for me. As hard as it is for her, she hasn’t shown it too much.

‘She is 32 weeks pregnant but has still stood there and made me feel safe and that everything is going to be okay.

‘We’ve (also) canned our wedding – we were meant to get married at the end of next year.

‘We were organising it, but we’re gonna struggle to come up with it anyway now with how expensive they are. We’ll put it on the back-burner.

‘I will be [in the bad books] in a few days, but she’s got my back for the minute.’