The Canberra Raiders are investigating grounds to appeal the massive $10,000 fine for their physiotherapist's minor involvement in a melee.
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The NRL issued the Green Machine with a breach notice on Wednesday night and the club has five business days to respond.
Raiders chief executive Don Furner was still considering his options on Thursday morning, with a decision potentially made before their blockbuster against the Parramatta Eels at Canberra Stadium on Saturday night.
Raiders officials were expecting a bumper crowd of at least 16,000 for the top-eight clash.
The fine was for a Raiders physio touching two Panthers players after Penrith fullback Stephen Crichton sparked a melee following a Charlie Staines try in the 65th minute of their round-five encounter.
Crichton grabbed Canberra lock Joe Tapine, who was standing on the sideline waiting to come on, and needlessly dragged him into the Panthers' celebrations.
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It sparked a melee and the Raiders physio touched Panther Tyrone May on the shoulder when the scuffle moved towards him.
He also grabbed Penrith prop James Fisher-Harris's shoulder.
The NRL operations manual states "under no circumstances are trainers permitted to approach or become involved in an altercation".
Crichton was fined just $1350 for being the instigator of the melee, with the Panthers players being labelled "arrogant" for their behaviour in the aftermath.
The Panthers only enhanced that view with a video they posted on Instagram, where Matt Burton and Staines celebrate a try at training by shaking hands with a caption of "Is this more acceptable?"
Furner said he would explore all avenues before deciding how to respond to the breach notice.
"We need to look at the rules. We've never had this happen to us before, we've never had a fine like this before. We'll work through it with the NRL," he said.
NRL ROUND SIX
Saturday: Canberra Raiders v Parramatta Eels at Canberra Raiders, 7.35pm.
Raiders squad: 1. Caleb Aekins, 2. Bailey Simonsson, 3. Jarrod Croker (c), 4. Curtis Scott, 5. Jordan Rapana, 6. Jack Wighton, 7. George Williams, 8. Josh Papalii, 9. Josh Hodgson (c), 10. Sia Soliola, 11. Hudson Young, 12. Elliott Whitehead, 13. Joe Tapine. Interchange: 14. Tom Starling, 15. Ryan Sutton, 16. Siliva Havili, 17. Emre Guler. Reserves: 18. Sebastian Kris, 19. Matt Frawley, 20. Corey Harawira-Naera, 21. Dunamis Lui.
Eels squad: 1. Clinton Gutherson (c), 2. Maika Sivo, 3. Tom Opacic, 4. Marata Niukore, 5. Blake Ferguson, 6. Will Smith, 7. Mitchell Moses, 8. Reagan Campbell-Gillard, 9. Reed Mahoney, 10. Junior Paulo, 11. Shaun Lane, 12. Ryan Matterson, 13. Nathan Brown. Interchange: 14. Oregon Kaufusi, 15. Isaiah Papali'i, 16. Keegan Hipgrave, 17. Bryce Cartwright. Reserves: 18. Joey Lussick, 19. Haze Dunster, 20. Wiremu Greig, 21. Jordan Rankin.
David Polkinghorne
Covering the Raiders, Cavalry, cycling and racing, plus everything else that involves sport in the ACT, for The Canberra Times. Basically I love sport and watching it is a full-time job. Email: david.polkinghorne@canberratimes.com.au
Covering the Raiders, Cavalry, cycling and racing, plus everything else that involves sport in the ACT, for The Canberra Times. Basically I love sport and watching it is a full-time job. Email: david.polkinghorne@canberratimes.com.au
