Norman claimed that he became involved in the fight<\/a> after fellow NRL player and friend James Segayaro was racially abused. The pair also claimed that there was the threat of a knife being produced.<\/p>\n Weidler reported that there was evidence Norman could have defused the fight, but instead re-engaged with combatants. He also reported that despite the apparent threat, there was no evidence of a knife being present.<\/p>\n "The police are seething that Norman and the Dragons are portraying the half (Norman) as the victim," Weidler wrote<\/a>, noting that police had not yet closed their investigation and that the club had provided 15 pages of information defending Norman.<\/p>\n Norman copped a $20,000 fine and two-match ban<\/a> (one game suspended) from the NRL over the brawl.<\/p>\n Weidler said that new Dragons coach Anthony Griffin, who worked in newspapers and radio between coaching jobs, had been influential in pushing the narrative of Norman being a victim in the brawl.<\/p>\n Griffin, the former Broncos and Panthers coach, has had a difficult start to his Dragons tenure aside from the Norman incident.<\/p>\n St George Illawarra made the surprise call to part ways with popular captain Cameron McInnes, their best player of the past two years.<\/p>\n The Dragons then launched a failed pursuit of controversial superstar Israel Folau.<\/p>\n On Saturday, the Red V looked well off the pace as they were hammered 48-16 by South Sydney in the Charity Shield in Mudgee; their final trial before the NRL season begins.<\/p>\n For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0clicking here!<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n