SYDNEY: Reigning champions South Sydney were fined Aus$20,000 ($15,500) by the National Rugby League (NRL) on Monday following an investigation into an incident in the United States involving two of their players.
Former club captain John Sutton and English forward Luke Burgess spent the night behind bars during the team's trip to Arizona for a training camp in November after they were ejected from a bar.
Both players were charged with "disorderly conduct, fighting", a misdemeanour offence, while Burgess was also hit with an assault charge, media reports said.
Under the disciplinary action from the NRL's Integrity Unit neither player will miss any matches in the new NRL season, which starts later this week.
Burgess, the brother of English internationals Sam and George Burgess, made an off-season switch to Manly in January.
NRL chief operating officer Suzanne Young told reporters a misdemeanour compromise payment had been made to a security guard that allegedly fought with Burgess, and that there was a confidentiality agreement between the players and the security guard.
Young said the South Sydney club "did not follow the matter to its conclusion" but insisted the disciplinary action taken had been sufficient.
"I should stress that the Integrity Unit relies on the clubs to provide reliable and accurate information about any incidents involving their players," Young said.
"If clubs withhold information or fail to disclose the full details they face sanctions as we have seen in this case."
Young conceded the case could have been handled better by the NRL, after it was reopened only after further details of the arrest were discovered by the media.
Shane Richardson, who was South Sydney's chief executive at the time and is now the NRL's head of game strategy and development, was cleared of any wrongdoing.
The club fine continues a troubled lead-up to the new season with seven current and past Gold Coast Titan players, including representative stars Greg Bird and Dave Taylor, to face court this month on charges of supplying cocaine.
The Titans -- already in serious financial difficulty when the cocaine trafficking scandal broke -- have been put into voluntary administration, their licence terminated and the NRL has taken over the club.
Queensland Reds Super Rugby star Karmichael Hunt has also been charged in the case.
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