Souths still probing Taylor incident

South Sydney officials will continue their investigation into an altercation involving coach Jason Taylor after viewing CCTV footage of the incident.

Souths chief executive Shane Richardson and chairman Nick Pappas on Tuesday viewed the footage after Taylor was reportedly knocked out by a punch from departing forward David Fa’alogo at an inner-city hotel in Sydney on Sunday night.

“We’ll be making comment after we gather further information,” Richardson told reporters.

“I don’t want to talk any more about it until such time as we’ve had the opportunity to be able to go to the people that witnessed it and to also talk to both Jason and David.”

A Rabbitohs official said the investigation was unlikely to be concluded until Wednesday at the earliest.

Fa’alogo’s manager Gavin Orr said he had not yet viewed the CCTV footage and was yet to hear from the club about a meeting.

“I’m just waiting for the club to give me a bell and they’ll let me know which way they’re going to take things and I’m just waiting to hear back from them,” Orr told AAP.

But Orr remained unconcerned for his client.

“I think if there was a lot in it I think I would have heard by now,” he said.

Earlier, Richardson had released a statement promising to take “decisive action” and publicly disclose the details of the incident once the investigation was completed.

“We don’t take this incident lightly and an investigation is underway to get to the bottom of what happened,” Richardson said in the statement.

“We have a strict code of conduct and we expect every person employed by the club to stick to that code of conduct.

“We have a great record off the field, and we will take decisive action once we know the full facts of what happened.”

Fa’alogo will leave the Rabbitohs to play for Huddersfield in the English Super League next season, but the club could refuse to pay the Kiwi international for the final two months of his current contract.

Taylor is contracted to the club until the end of 2010.

Media reported that Fa’alogo punched Taylor in the face in retaliation for the coach playfully hitting the forward in the stomach.

The players were out drinking following Souths’ last match of the season, a win over Cronulla on Saturday night.

According to the club, Taylor was feeling no ill effects on Tuesday. He welcomed the appointment of former St George Illawarra, Cronulla and Adelaide Rams assistant coach Kurt Wrigley to his coaching staff.

“We’re looking forward to Kurt joining the team for the pre-season and using his knowledge to improve our performances next year,” Taylor said in a statement.