NZ Warriors chief executive Cam George admits he and assistant coach Richard Agar needed a full and frank conversation, before accepting the NRL penalty imposed on the Englishman for an incident in Las Vegas this month.
Agar was investigated by the NRL Integrity United for allegedly assaulting an English journalist at Allegiant Stadium, where the Warriors lost their season-opener against Canberra Raiders.
Last week, he was served a breach notice, detailing a proposed three-game suspension, A$10,000 fine (half suspended), and appropriate education to prevent a repeat of the incident, but he was given five working days to appeal.
George revealed Agar has accepted the punishment for the good of the club.
"We don't condone Richard's actions," George said in a statement.
"While he has a different view on some elements of the breach notice, he wants to put the club first and accept the decision."
George told media on Thursday Richard was very apologetic.
"It's one of those things that occurred and, at the end of the day, these are the repercussions and consequences we've got to deal with," George said.
"I've always been a person that tends to be brutally honest in these situations, be upfront and I was with him about it. He was with myself and we came to the conclusion pretty quick - we just want to move on."
Agar, 53, and Guardian journalist John Davidson share history from the former's English Super League career with Hull, Wakefield Trinity and Leeds. George said he did not know whether Agar had apologised to Davidson since the incident.
"It doesn't really matter whether he does or not," he said.
"He's put the club first here and apologised to fans, me, the owner, the players… the lot.
"What he thinks or does with the reporter is irrelevant. We're handling it as an employer and a club, so I'm not sure if he has reached out to him personally."
The process has taken almost a month to complete, as the NRL completed its probe, issued the beach notice and waited the required period for Agar's response.
Since the incident, the Warriors - through George and coach Andrew Webster - have tried to publicly support their man, without supporting his actions.
In the days after, George proclaimed: "We'll let the CCTV footage show us exactly what happened."
That feed apparently left few questions.
"It dragged on a little bit, but that was no fault of the NRL's or anyone's," George said on Thursday.
"They have their due process they have to follow, in terms of investigating it properly and interviews and all that sort of thing.
"If they had rung me on the Monday after we got back from Vegas and wanted to deal with it in the next two hours, we would have done it that way - it was that clearcut, in terms of what happened shouldn't have happened."
Agar's suspension begins this week, when the Warriors travel across the Tasman to face Wests Tigers and will next week's bye, then a road game against Melbourne Storm on 13 April and a home fixture against Brisbane Broncos on 19 April.
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