Relax, Brisbane fans.
The two competition points gained from the gritty win over the Roosters in round 10 were never in jeopardy despite suggestions hooker James Segeyaro played unregistered.
News Corp journalist Phil Rothfield revealed Segeyaro’s paperwork had not been finalised before he took the field, despite a verbal agreement from Newtown to release him to the Broncos.
The experienced dummy half scored the decisive try in Brisbane’s 15-10 win.
NRL Head of Football Graham Annesley acknowledged the NRL was still awaiting final paperwork before Segeyaro took the field but had cleared him to play.
“The Segeyaro story is quite a simple one,” Annesley explained on Monday.
“He signed a contract, that contract was lodged with the NRL salary cap auditor and the Integrity Unit.
“They were absolutely fine with the contents of that from a salary cap perspective.
“It was submitted for registration in the appropriate way.
“There were assurances given - and knowledge of the fact – that the player had been verbally cleared from the club (Newtown) he was leaving.
“The salary cap auditor has a broad scope to use discretion about registering players to determine whether more information is required or not.
“They were completely satisfied everything was in order subject to the remaining paperwork which was a mere formality.
“It was on that basis he was provisionally registered to play.”
Annesley claims there have been previous cases where players have been cleared to play despite the NRL waiting on paperwork.
He said: “It’s not uncommon for a player to be given provisional registration in order to play so the player or club are not disadvantaged.
“He (Segeyaro) didn’t play unregistered.”
