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.
“We 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,’’ Abdo said, per The Daily Telegraph.
“Our 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.”
Norman will also face a further one-game ban should another off-field incident occur and 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."