Broncos officials are investigating an expletive-laden video that they received on Sunday night depicting a brawl allegedly between teammates Payne Haas and Albert Kelly.
Already reeling from two straight defeats, the Broncos were plunged into further drama on Sunday night when footage showed the pair engaged in a tussle.
“The matter has been referred to the NRL Integrity Unit and the club will investigate the matter further,” a Broncos spokesman said.
The NRL has confirmed the Integrity Unit has been alerted by the club about the footage and will also be seeking answers about the players’ behaviour.
Kelly and Haas are seen grappling with each other in the clip and the veteran five-eighth tries to grab the taller prop by the throat.
Haas reacts by delivering a left jab to Kelly before pushing him away with a shove to the face as they move away off camera.
The NSW and Australian representative forward calls Kelly as a “f—– c—” while Kelly repeatedly claims he didn’t step on Haas’ shoes.
Broncos football and performance director Ben Ikin told the SMH that they were unaware of the video until Sunday night but would try to quickly get to the bottom of it.
Brisbane teammates Jordan Riki and Tom Flegler were involved in a stoush during the team’s Mad Monday celebrations last season.
Riki suffered cuts that needed stitches in that incident which was explained as playful wrestling which went too far and Flegler reacted aggressively.
Haas has been fined a total of $70,000 and banned a combined seven weeks in the past three seasons for separate incidents which attracted the attention of the NRL Integrity Unit.
The 22-year-old was last year handed a good behaviour bond over an altercation with police in Tweed Heads, where he was accused of intimidating a female officer.
He was fined $50,000 by the NRL and suspended for three matches.
It came after the NSW State of Origin prop was also suspended for four games and fined $20,000 at the start of 2019 for failing to cooperate with an NRL integrity unit investigation.
Kelly suffered a Lisfranc injury in his foot during the surprise 20-6 defeat at the hands of to the Warriors in Redcliffe on Saturday. He is expected to be sidelined for 3-4 months.
It is unclear when the video was taken, with Kelly not appearing to show signs of the foot injury he suffered in Saturday’s loss to the Warriors.
Brisbane officials also had to deal with assault allegations against star five-eighth Anthony Milford at the end of last season. He has since left the club and the NRL has refused to register a contract for him to play at South Sydney this year.