St George Illawarra playmaker Corey Norman will miss the Dragons' opening game of the season, has been fined $20,000 and will undergo education programs following a street brawl in Sydney last month.

Norman and former Brisbane player James Segeyaro were involved in the altercation in Cronulla, with Segeyaro revealing the pair were provoked after being racially vilified by a group of strangers.

The NRL Integrity Unit has now handed down a breach notice for Norman, with league boss Andrew Abdo stating the he had taken all aspects of the matter into consideration.

โ€œWe accept there was a degree of provocation which led to the incident, but as a game we have been very clear that provocation is not an excuse to engage in a street fight,โ€™โ€™ Abdo said, perย The Daily Telegraph.

โ€œOur players are role models for younger people in our community and they need to set the example for how to respond in such circumstances. We will always support our players who are subject to any form of abuse, but any form of violence is not an acceptable response.โ€

Norman will also face a further one-game ban should another off-field incident occur andย will have five days to appeal the NRL's decision.

St George Illawarra released a statement following the NRL's penalty:

"St George Illawarra have received a breach notice from the NRL Integrity Unit regarding an altercation involving Dragons five-eighth Corey Norman in January.

"The notice dictates Norman be fined $20,000 and suspended for two matches (with one game suspended).

"The Dragons will work closely with Corey over the coming week to determine a position on the breach notice imposed.

"The club will make no further comment."

2 COMMENTS

  1. All things considered, these penalties seem harsh to me. It’s an injustice. The morons who provoked Corey Norman & James Segeyaro started the physical stuff, and what where the two players supposed to do? Stand with their hands behind their backs and have the crud beaten out of them?
    I hope the Police have caught these mugs and prosecuted them.

  2. I can see your point but It’s about the situation where you put yourself in. If your not at night clubs and pubs getting on the drink you won’t have as many knuckleheads provoking you. Because it’s a place they chose to be it’s cost him a match and 20K. Don’t go there and reduce the chances of getting into strife. They are on HUGE money and you have to adjust your lifestyle to minimise risk. Otherwise don’t play NRL and do as you please without the massive pay cheques.

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