Shane Richardson said that "he holds no fears about stepping into his new role" as the National Rugby League's head of game strategy and development, "laughing off suggestions he covered up an incident involving John Sutton and Luke Burgess" in the U.S., according to Michael Carayannis of the SYDNEY MORNING HERALD. Richardson said, "There was no cover up in any way shape or form. The fact we didn't unleash it to the media was because it was a breach of a code of conduct. The club made the decision. The board, the NRL's integrity unit, the coaching staff, the players, their managers were all told when the breaches went out." Burgess and Sutton "were locked up by police for eight hours before the charges were withdrawn." Both players "were fined a significant amount by South Sydney while Sutton has since had the captaincy stripped." Richardson: "We breached the players for breaking the code of conduct. For being out after hours. If the charges hadn't been withdrawn we would've announced it there and then. There was no brawl in a hotel" (SMH, 2/9). In Sydney, Phil Rothfield wrote Richardson phoned the Daily Telegraph to reveal "why he lied" over Sutton’s sacking as club captain. Richardson: "It’s not that I didn’t tell you about it -- we didn’t tell anyone except the NRL integrity unit. ... It can’t be a cover-up when the integrity unit is told immediately and kept up to date. We told them on the night it happened. There are emails there all the way through" (DAILY TELEGRAPH, 2/9).
