Penrith winger Dallin Watene-Zelezniak has been caught up in an altercation while volunteering as a touch judge during a junior rugby league match, the NRL club has confirmed.
Watene-Zelezniak was allegedly abused and man-handled on the sideline, just hours before playing in the Panthers' NRL win over Gold Coast on Saturday.
The incident is being investigated by the Penrith Junior League, however the Panthers cleared New Zealand international Watene-Zelezniak of any wrongdoing.
"Penrith Panthers is aware of an incident involving Panthers player Dallin Watene-Zelezniak, which occurred at a junior rugby league fixture in St Clair on Saturday morning," the club said on Sunday.
"Watene-Zelezniak was volunteering as a sideline official at the time and contacted Panthers Executive General Manager Phil Gould immediately following the incident."
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"Panthers can confirm Watene-Zelezniak was not the instigator of the incident."
