Former Canberra Raider Todd Carney found himself on the wrong side of the law again at the weekend when the half-back was arrested in a Goulburn pub.

Police picked up the 22-year-old in an Auburn Street hotel about 10.50pm on Saturday about an incident earlier that morning.

Carney was initially accused of smashing the window of a mobile phone shop early on Saturday morning.

NSW Police confirmed Carney was taken into custody at Goulburn Police Station, questioned about the incident and then released "pending further inquiries".

They would not say if the wayward playmaker was drunk at the time of his detention.

The arrest, two days before he flew to Africa on a trip designed to help him "turn his life around," is another blow to Carney's efforts to rehabilitate his image.

His agent, David Riolo, said yesterday he was not aware of any incident involving his client. The player, who was sacked by the Raiders in July after a string of off-field alcohol-related incidents, flew to Rwanda on Monday.

The trip to the war-ravaged central African nation with four other league stars Nathan Hindmarsh, Todd Payten, Justin Moore and Jarryd Hickey to help widows build an orphanage, was organised by former Raiders player Paul Osborne, and was intended to help Carney rebuild his life after the dismissal.

Osborne, a committed Christian, said last month that he thought the 10-day trip to Rwanda "would be a very good chance for him [Carney] to turn his life around".

The Raiders tore up Carney's contract, rumoured to be worth up to $400,000, after the incident at O'Connor's All Bar Nun nightspot, where he allegedly urinated on a customer.

Carney's teammate, Bronx Goodwin, is set to front the ACT Magistrates Court tomorrow, charged with two counts of assault over the alleged incident.

It was the final straw for the club after a series of off-field incidents involving Carney, who made his senior debut with the Raiders aged just 18, and they confirmed his sacking early the next month after another drink-related incident at the Goulburn Workers Club.