The Rugby League Players' Association says suspending Dylan Napa over the leaking of explicit videos would be unfair and could encourage blackmail or exploitation of players.
The Canterbury recruit is bracing to learn his fate from the NRL after videos of him performing sexual acts were made public last month.
"He's clearly embarrassed, ashamed and having to deal with the anxiety of how that has played out publicly, which is the real punishment in all of this," RLPA chief executive Ian Prendergast told The Sun-Herald.
"We need to remember this occurred five years ago, when a completely different climate existed. We don't think it's fair to hand down a 2019 penalty for something that occurred in 2013."
Prendergast highlighted the need to protect players' right to privacy, respect existing laws and ensure there was no incentive given to those with "an axe to grind" against a player.
"We need to make sure we don't encourage people to breach the law around this stuff. We don't want to get into a situation where we have players being blackmailed or exploited through illegally sharing of private videos," he said.
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