NRL CEO Todd Greenberg has provided an update, of sorts, regarding the South Sydney scandal that has rocked the NRL just days out from the preliminary finals.
Last week, the Rabbitohs were hit by claims made by a female fan that Rabbitohs allegedly players flashed her during a video call made from Sam Burgess’ Facebook messenger account.
Greenberg wasn't able to go into specifics of an ongoing investigation, something that is sure to annoy the NRL community considering the amount of publicity this issue has received.
Just two days out from rugby league's final match at Allianz Stadium where the minor premier Roosters take on arch nemesis' South Sydney in a blockbuster grand final qualifier, we still have no idea whether Burgess will be lining up for the Bunnies.
Todd Greenberg has refused to rule out the possibility of Sam Burgess being stood down before Saturday’s prelim final between @SSFCRABBITOHS and @sydneyroosters , also wouldn’t be dawn on a time frame re conclusion to NRL integrity unit investigation @FOXSportsNews
— cody kaye (@Cody_KayeFOX) September 20, 2018
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"The NRL integrity unit are investigating the incident, but it's not complete yet," Greenberg told reporters on Thursday.
"It will be completed as quickly as possible, but as I say on many occasions, it must be completed thoroughly, properly, professionally, that means talking to a variety of people of people, so I won't put a timeframe on it.
"I'm not going to comment specifically on who's being interviewed and who's not, but what I will say to you is that for us to be able to land at a conclusion and complete the investigation, it requires us to try and talk to as many people as possible, and that's what the Integrity Unit are doing at the moment.
"We will pursue a number of different people in the process, it's happening today, and I expect that will be done as quickly as possible.
"I'm not prepared to talk about individuals that are to be interviewed because it's not fair to the investigation. The Integrity Unit works on the process and provides a report to me, once I get that report, we (the NRL) provide an outcome, and I'll talk openly about it all at that time.
"Like a lot of the things we deal with, we dealt with a lot in the pre-season, you can never control the timing. What you have to do though is allow the process to run its course, and I know that frustrates people, but no one wants to get it done quicker than I do. But, what we want to do is get it right.
"I make this comment regularly: social media can be a great advantage for athletes, but, it comes with great risks and all of us need to be very careful.
"The reality is that I'd much rather be talking to you about what will be a full house in Sydney at Allianz Stadium to farewell what's been a great stadium, and a full house in Melbourne, but, I'm also a realist and understand that from time to time issues will come on our table.
"You will judge us on two things; the issue itself and how we deal with it. We've got a pretty strong track record in rugby league and the Integrity Unit when dealing with these issues methodically and professionally."
Earlier, South Sydney coach Anthony Seibold doubled down on Sam Burgess' assertion that he is happy for NRL investigators to ‘get to the truth’ of the sexting scandal, insisting only one side of the story has been told.
“I think we’ve shown we can handle the pressure, particularly last week there was a lot of stuff going on off the field and our guys and our group weren’t able to put their side of the story forward,” Seibold told Sky Sports Radio’s Big Sports Breakfast.
“The public’s only heard one side of the story and hopefully the investigation will conclude today (Wednesday) or tomorrow and then people can make up their own minds on the story that’s been out there in the press."
