Updated September 14, 2018 19:50:55

South Sydney coach Anthony Seibold admits being blindsided by the club's investigation into a lewd video scandal that has rocked their NRL finals series.

One day before their NRL semi-final against St George Illawarra, the Rabbitohs are looking into accusations two stars exposed their private parts without consent in a video chat in May.

An NRL spokesman told AAP the organisation was still waiting on more information from South Sydney.

News Corp reported a 23-year-old woman emailed the club about the incident in May following the club's win over the Warriors in New Zealand.

But Seibold said he was only informed about the situation on Thursday, while the NRL wase only told this week.

"I was briefed on the story yesterday and the accusations yesterday. Obviously the club's just put out a statement this morning, which I've just been briefed on," Seibold said.

"Our club treat the accusations seriously, as do the NRL integrity unit. In consultation between the integrity unit and the club, my understanding is our investigation's ongoing."

The coach threatened to walk out of the press conference when he was repeatedly questioned over the incident, saying he "didn't want to play judge and jury".

The report said the woman emailed the club the day after the alleged incident, saying a "funny" FaceTime chat had become explicit, leaving her feeling "violated and disgusted".

The woman is believed to own screenshots of one player pulling down his pants to expose his genitals, while the other showed his backside.

After a club spokesperson replied assuring the woman the matter was being taken "seriously", she decided to go public after follow-up emails to South Sydney went unreturned.

There are suggestions the follow-up correspondence was inadvertently tagged as spam.

Second scandal to rock NRL

Seibold confirmed independent contractors were investigating the email trail, while the club said on Thursday it had only received the woman's contact details on Thursday.

They have since attempted to make contact.

Seibold said he had not seen any photos and was unsure about the players' mindset as he had yet to address the group about the matter.

"It's a little bit of chaos thrown in front of us," Seibold said.

"It's not ideal that these accusations come out and they're front page news. It's not what anybody wants. It's not what I want. It's not what our game needs or wants either."

On Friday evening the club released a statement dealing with the allegations.

South Sydney stated that the initial contact had come via email in late May 2018 — without any identification of the player allegedly involved or the person making the complaint — and that the Rabbitohs had replied on June 1 seeking further information.

The Daily Telegraph newspaper had contacted the club yesterday saying Souths had failed to respond to two further emails in early June and late August regarding lewd player behaviour.

An email audit subsequently discovered the emails from complainants had been tagged as spam and had not been seen by the club.

"Rabbitohs [chief executive] Blake Solly has had a discussion with the person making the complaint this afternoon," the club said in the statement.

"Mr Solly gave her a commitment that the club would undertake its investigation of the complaint with the utmost confidentiality and respect.

"The club will deal with the complaint thoroughly and will move as quickly as it possibly can to conclude the investigation."

The Rabbitohs have put together a five-person panel to investigate the complaint, including Souths chairman Nick Pappas and Karyn Murphy from the NRL Integrity Unit.

The scandal is the second off-field incident to rock the NRL in as many weeks, after the Bulldogs' Mad Monday drama last week.

Dragons coach Paul McGregor admitted the scandal could play into his side's hands ahead of Saturday's do-or-die match.

He attempted to steer away from questions on the matter on Friday, but when asked whether the drama worked out well for the Dragons, he replied: "Absolutely."

"Well you [the media] are imagining it will be a distraction, so obviously a lot of people will imagine it will be a distraction."

AAP

Topics: nrl, rugby-league, sport, redfern-2016

First posted September 14, 2018 11:48:38