John Sutton and Luke Burgess involved in incident during South Sydney Rabbitohs pre-season camp in US
Michael Carayannis
Published: February 8, 2015 - 4:22PM
Dumped South Sydney skipper John Sutton and new Manly recruit Luke Burgess were involved in an off-field incident during the Rabbitohs pre-season training camp in the US.
The defending premiers travelled to Arizona at the end of November for an 18-day high altitude training camp.
Souths announced on January 21 that Sutton had been axed as Rabbitohs captain in favour of Greg Inglis while Burgess, a day earlier, made a late off-season switch to the Sea Eagles.
South Sydney released a statement on Sunday afternoon, which read: "Two South Sydney Rabbitohs players, Luke Burgess and John Sutton, were involved in an incident in Arizona at the end of the team's high altitude training camp last year.
The Rabbitohs informed the NRL Integrity Unit of the incident straight away and have kept the Integrity Unit informed along the way. It related to alleged disorderly behaviour of the two players, who were charged. Charges that were laid have since been withdrawn.
Despite the charges being withdrawn, the players were disciplined internally by the club for breaching the club's code of conduct, in consultation with the NRL, and the NRL is completely satisfied by the actions taken by the club."
An NRL spokesman said: "The Integrity Unit had been advised by the Rabbitohs about a matter involving two of its players. However it was subsequently advised that charges against the players had been withdrawn. The Integrity Unit determined the matter should therefore be dealt with by the club in consultation with the NRL. The NRL is satisfied with the way the club has handled the matter."
