Luke Burgess says he can't believe the furore that erupted over the revelation of his arrest along with former NRL teammate John Sutton in Arizona last year.
But Burgess has refused to confirm whether or not South Sydney knew the charges against him were dropped because the bouncer he allegedly assaulted received "satisfaction" in the form of a monetary payment.
Speaking for the first time on the issue since it hit the news last month, Burgess said he had put the incident behind him last year, before his club switch from South Sydney to Manly.
"I just ignored it as much as I could really," said Burgess on Tuesday.
"To be honest I was surprised at how much attention it got for such a small incident.
"It's just not nice when your family see those sorts of things and people try and make their own stories up about things. That was the most disappointing part.
"It is all in the past now. I'm glad that it has been put to bed. I'm glad that it has been sorted out and I learnt the lesson from it."
South Sydney were fined $20,000 over the incident by the NRL Integrity Unit earlier this month after failing to inform them of the agreement reached for the charges to be dropped.
Then Souths CEO Shane Richardson, who is now with the NRL, was cleared of any wrongdoing, with the investigation finding no evidence to show any Souths official knew of the payment.
But Burgess wasn't prepared to shed any further light on the incident.
"That were put to bed in December for me, that's all I want to say about that," he said.
"I went through the right channels and do what I had to do. I have moved on and I think most people have too."
Burgess was willing to comment on a possible return to the NRL by his superstar brother Sam Burgess after Sea Eagles boss Joe Kelly indicated the cashed-up club was interested in the rugby union defector's services.
"I speak to Sam pretty much every day," said Burgess.
"There is always going to be rumours and I'm sure 15 other clubs would be interested in signing him too when he does decide to come back over to Australia.
"With the two boys leaving (star halves Kieran Foran and Daly Cherry-Evans) you would think that would free up some (salary cap) space here at Manly."
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