The NRL’s Las Vegas showcase was heralded as a major success for the league, opening the 2025 season with two games in the Nevadan city.
Two weeks since the NRL’s opening weekend, two players have been fined and a coach has been suspended and fined for separate incidents in Sin City.
Warriors coach faces suspension
Richard Agar, an assistant coach for the New Zealand Warriors, was deemed to have breached the NRL’s code of conduct after allegedly grabbing a journalist by the throat at the event in Las Vegas.
Agar confronted the English journalist, who it’s believed he knew from coaching in the UK’s Super League, during half-time of the Warriors’ 30-8 loss to the Canberra Raiders at Allegiant Stadium.
The NRL’s Integrity Unit has proposed that Agar is suspended from his role for the Warriors' next three matches against the Sydney Roosters, Wests Tigers, and Melbourne, fined $10,000, and that he complete education and training concerning the incident.
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The coach has five business days to respond to the NRL’s breach notice.
Raiders players let off with fines
In the week before their match against the Warriors, Raiders players Hudson Young and Morgan Smithies were briefly kicked out of a Las Vegas hotel for a scuffle regarding an issue with their rooms. The NRL issued a breach notice but, under its latest collective bargaining agreement with the Rugby League Player’s Association, did not disclose its terms.
AAP has been told the notice proposed a $2,500 suspended fine for each player. The NRL acknowledged that while the two players had “brought the game into disrepute,” they took responsibility and made a public apology.
At the time, Young said: "Things got a bit out of hand... I’m happy to move on. I’m embarrassed for myself, our teammates and the NRL. We've dealt with it internally as a club. [Coach Ricky Stuart has] been on the front foot and everything has been dealt with."
