South Sydney Rabbitohs player Sam Burgess tonight issued a public apology for comments he made about the NRL Judiciary last week.
The National Rugby League (NRL) also issued Burgess with a breach notice advising of a wholly suspended $10,000 fine.
NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg met Burgess who accepted responsibility and apologised for labelling the NRL Judiciary a “Kangaroo Court.”
“The chairman and members of the panel are of the highest integrity and it was never my intention to cast any doubt over their character. The point of my comments was to simply express concerns and frustrations I had about the processes,’’ he said.
“I unreservedly apologise for using the phrase 'Kangaroo Court’. I now understand it was the wrong choice of words."
Burgess thanked Mr Greenberg for also providing him the opportunity to discuss important issues in the game.
“Todd and I had an open and honest conversation. Todd talked me through the procedures and rules in place across both the match review committee and the judiciary and I spoke about some of the frustrations players felt about the current processes.”
Mr Greenberg said it had been made clear to Burgess that as a leading player in the game he had a responsibility to set the standard of public comment for players.
“To Sam’s credit he has apologised publicly and acknowledged his mistake,’’ he said.
“Sam and I have agreed to continue discussions about issues in the game during the off-season with a small group of other senior players equally as committed to ensuring our players are genuine partners in the game.”
