North Queensland on collision course with NRL over Scott Bolton ban

North Queensland prop Scott Bolton is expected to be banned for five matches as part of the NRL’s harsher sanctions on player behaviour but the Cowboys won’t take it lying down.

NRL player Scott Bolton arrives at Waverley Court in Sydney, Monday, January 7, 2019. The North Queensland prop, 31, remains on bail and has pleaded not guilty to the accusation he committed an indecent act against a woman in a Bondi Beach bar on a Saturday night in May 2018. (AAP Image/Jeremy Piper) NO ARCHIVE

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Cowboys prop Scott Bolton will on Friday be suspended for five matches as NRL bosses vowed to “repair” rugby league’s battered image with the toughest crackdown on player behaviour in the code’s history.

The Courier-Mail can reveal Cowboys hierarchy are at loggerheads with NRL CEO Todd Greenberg, who will front the media again on Friday to hand down a series of punishments that will include the banning of Bolton.

Bolton pleaded guilty to common assault in January following an incident with a woman at a Sydney bar on May 5 last year. The Cowboys forward will not be tested under the NRL’s No Fault policy as his court case was finalised six weeks ago.

However, the NRL’s crackdown on incidents involving women will see Bolton slapped with a five-match ban - wiping him out until North Queensland’s round-six clash against the Warriors on April 20.

Bolton pleaded guilty to common assault. AAP Image/Jeremy Piper.

Cowboys powerbrokers have been privately informed of Bolton’s suspension by the NRL.

That prompted a furious riposte from North Queensland chairman Laurence Lancini, who attended League Central on Thursday for a meeting with Greenberg, lashing the CEO over a suspension he labelled “ridiculous”.

Lancini argued Bolton did not have a conviction recorded, and pointed to his exemplary behaviour across 13 years of NRL service.

But Greenberg and Beattie have had enough, putting the NRL’s 400-plus contracted full-time players on notice following rugby league’s summer of shame.

Queensland State of Origin legend Trevor Gillmeister slammed the Bolton punishment.

The suspension, revealed exclusively in The Courier Mail, will include a tour of the NRL’s 16 clubs to show CCTV footage of him assaulting a woman in a bar last year.

Gillmeister, who played 22 Origin games for Queensland and won two first-grade premierships with the Broncos, fears the NRLmay have “jumped the gun” with the harshness of Bolton’s punishment.

Bolton could be suspended for five weeks. Picture by Zak Simmonds.

“He’s gone through the (court) system,” Gillmeister said.

“I know players have brought the game into disrepute, but I just hope they haven’t jumped the gun with this one.

“He’s got to go through all of it again, basically. I just can’t really agree with the double whammy.

“So I think they’ve jumped the gun a little bit, in that sense.”

Another former Queensland Origin great Ben Ikin expressed concern over Bolton’s suspension, which is expected to be announced by the NRL today.

“The sanction seemed to be a little strange,” Ikin said.

“I don’t understand what they’re trying to do.

“I find the while situation complex and I don’t envy anyone who is deciding what is best for the game.”

“The going’s on of the past six months have put the game in a very difficult position.”