They are described as a footballing family, three brothers from Young who began as Canberra Raiders juniors.

But Jordan McLean's controversial seven-week NRL suspension on Wednesday was compounded by a court verdict against his brother, Tony, on Thursday.

Queanbeyan's Tony McLean had been looking to revive his own rugby league career in Canberra's second division George Tooke Shield competition this year, until a court ruling in Orange sentenced him to three years' jail for a single-punch assault in March last year.

While his 22-year-old brother Jordan has been in the NRL spotlight, opinions divided over the penalty imposed on the Melbourne Storm forward for his lifting tackle on Newcastle's Alex McKinnon, Tony McLean, 24, will miss his daughter's christening because he is in jail.

Tony McLean, who will not be eligible for release until October 2015, was found guilty of punching Orange's Adam Ford outside the town's Royal Hotel in March last year, after a trial match with the Queanbeyan Blues.

The McLean brothers – Steve, Tony and Jordan – grew up playing junior football with the Young Cherrypickers, in the Riverina. But all were identified by the Canberra Raiders and recruited to their junior system.

It was eldest brother Steve who progressed furthest through Canberra's ranks, although never to the NRL. He was a NSW under-19s representative prop in 2005, in the same junior team as NRL star Todd Carney.

In 2011 Steve won the Les McIntyre Medal as the best player in the Canberra Raiders Cup competition, playing with the Queanbeyan Blues.

Tony played under-18s SG Ball with the Raiders, while the Melbourne Storm recruited Jordan from Young after he had spent a year commuting to Canberra with the Raiders under-16s Harold Matthews squad.

On Wednesday, the day of Jordan's NRL tribunal hearing, and a day before his own sentencing, Tony McLean wrote on Facebook: "Good luck to the little bro ... hopefully the rite [sic] decision will be made, its a heart felt and terrible accident that no one can change. My heart goes out to Alex and the McKinnon family it's a very sad time and i wish them all the best. If the nrl think punishing Jord is going to justify what happened. Well it's not.. Make your decision on the tackle and not emotion. Get well Alex."

Tony McLean was a dominant player in the Canberra Raiders Cup, with Queanbeyan Blues, West Belconnen and Yass. Last year he had signed to return to the Queanbeyan Blues but was stood down after the assault in Orange. The club offered counselling and support but he never returned to the field.

Earlier this year Tony McLean showed up for training at Bungendore, looking for a game. He had sought a clearance from Queanbeyan through the Canberra District Rugby League to join Bungendore.

"It [the court case] was the first thing he came up and told us," Bungendore coach Dan Woodford said. "He wanted to make everyone aware of it. He was pretty upfront and honest.

"We all knew what had happened. He'd been trying to work on his behaviour."