Warriors assistant coach Richard Agar. Photo: Photosport
Warriors chief executive Cameron George says the club's "rattled" assistant coach Richard Agar will not be stood down while an NRL investigation is undertaken to an alleged assault in Las Vegas.
Englishman Agar reportedly grabbed English journalist John Davidson by the throat during half-time of the Warriors' season-opening loss to the Canberra Raiders on Sunday.
The journalist said he was also verbally abused by Agar.
On arrival back in Auckland on Tuesday, George said they were waiting on CCTV of the incident and would not take any action until an investigation by the NRL integrity unit was completed.
He said there was no thought given to standing down Agar, who had an extensive club coaching career in the UK before joining the Warriors in 2023.
"Not at all, that's all jumping at shadows at the moment," George said.
"There's always two sides to every story and out job is to make sure we balance that out with the best process possible.
"He won't be stood down at this point in time - that hasn't even crossed my mind."
Assistant coach Richard Agar. Photo: Photosport
George said he gave Agar the chance to give his side of the story in an "extensive discussion" and said the 53-year-old was "a bit rattled" by the fallout from the incident.
"He's certainly very very concerned about the impact it's had on me, the club, Webby (coach Andrew Webster), the brand, that sort of thing," George said.
"He's given me his version and in fairness to everyone, we'll let the CCTV footage show what happened.
"I certainly believe and trust Richard's version.
"The NRL have got a job to do and their job is to certainly do a thorough and proper investigation into it. They'll come up with a proper determination.
"We're not here to guess about it. We'll work out what happened with the NRL and we'll move on."
Cameron George has signed off on the departure of Shaun Johnson. Will he be looking for a new coach come the end of the 2019 season? Photo: Photosport
George said he had no qualms naming Davidson in a statement on Monday, with the freelance journalist having previously asked that his identity not be revealed.
"We don't play that game, we're transparent. He wants to make the allegations and the complaint so I've got no problem naming the person," George said.
"We're investigating it thoroughly so you can't just throw a grenade and then just run off into a dark corner and be hidden."
George said the Warriors had not spoken to Davidson and would leave that to the NRL.
Media reports have said there was bad blood between Agar and Davidson related to a report the journalist had written while Agar was coaching in the UK.
"There is a lot behind it to be honest," George said.
The Warriors boss had asked the NRL to be "very quick, very prompt" with its investigation and said the club would help in any way it could.
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