South Sydney boss Shane Richardson stands by his claim that George Burgess suspension is ‘a tragedy’

South Sydney boss Shane Richardson moved to clarify his comments about George Burgess’s judiciary hearing, explaining that his main concern is the welfare of the Souths star’s family.

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South Sydney general manager of football, Shane Richardson, has defended his controversial comments after George Burgess’ judiciary hearing, declaring: “You don’t cast family aside.”

And the eye gouge drama has placed Burgess’ wife, Joanna, due to give birth to the couple’s third child on Thursday, under stress.

Richardson was lambasted for a brief post-judiciary statement after Burgess’ eye gouge suspension where the Rabbitohs boss claimed it was a “tragedy for George and his family. I want to say this though, George is a loving father, brother and son.”

Burgess fronted the NRL judiciary on Tuesday night and received a nine match suspension. He won’t return until the NRL finals.

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Shane Richardson has tried to defend his comments following the George Burgess judiciary hearing on Tuesday night. Picture: John Grainger

Richardson came forward to tell The Daily Telegraph why he chose to speak out in support of the disgraced Burgess.

“My comments were based around George’s family and the affect this has had on his family. He is about to have a baby within the next day or so and will have three kids under the age of three years old,” Richardson said.

“I don’t think he worries about the vitriol and criticism as much as what affect this has had on his family. He has a lovely wife, which is difficult for her when she’s about to have a baby.

“There is also the situation with his brothers and mother, what has happened is a tragedy for him. It wasn’t a matter of backing off on the incident — it was actually about trying to take care of the welfare of the player.

George Burgess’ eye-gouge on Robbie Farah. Picture: Phil Hillyard

George Burgess after ban was handed down. Picture: Getty Images

“My point was that this had taken a toll on him and his family. It is a difficult time for him but he is part of our family, it’s as simple as that. Like all families, you don’t cast them aside when they have done something wrong.

“He wasn’t feeling recriminations about being charged. He was feeling so down about letting his family down. That’s the bottom line. You can talk about anything you want to but the Burgess family care about each other. That was the whole point of my statement.

“He is a good human being, a great father, a wonderful brother and a wonderful son to his mother. He is an inherently decent person. But he has made a mistake which he has owned up to.

“He knows he let people down. All I was trying to point out was this was a tragedy because I don’t believe he is that sort of bloke.”

Burgess has been described as everything from a “dog” to a “grub” — terms rife on social media.

“Grub is a terrible word to use. He’s made a mistake and did the wrong thing but that’s not his character,” Richardson said. “He has paid a price and has to learn from it. I wanted to make the point that I don’t think this will define George’s career.

“As I said at the start of the interview (at the hearing), we accepted the decision and we thought we got more than a fair hearing. He pleaded guilty and showed remorse for it.”

Souths officials were privately concerned about a gutted Burgess leading into the case. There was even a fear he may elect against attending the hearing. George is known to be the quietest of the three Burgess brothers.

The pre-judiciary pressure took a heavy toll on Burgess but the players wasn’t attempting to secure sympathy.

Reminded he too had copped a whack on social media, Richardson said: “It’s not about copping a bashing, that doesn’t worry me. I’m not talking to you because of that. I’m talking to you just to make sure there is clarity.

“He doesn’t want to be seen as the victim. He owned up to it, fronted up in a very emotional situation and told the truth. He made a bad error and has accepted the decision.

Souths coach Wayne Bennett was in Brisbane while Souths have the bye and didn’t attend the hearing. He spoke to Burgess before and after the verdict. The Rabbitohs were represented at the hearing by Richardson, football manager Mark Ellison and media manager Jeremy Monahan. Bennett returned to Sydney on Wednesday.