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Parramatta's NRL forward Shaun Lane says "I have left myself looking quite stupid" for a "joke" that has ultimately cost him $17,500.
Parramatta forward Shaun Lane has apologised for the photo that earned him a $17,500 fine and says he felt like an idiot after a costly joke backfired.
Lane was investigated by the NRL integrity unit and fined by his club after the photo from Manly's Mad Monday celebrations last year appeared on a newspaper's front page last week.
Quizzed by reporters on Monday about a substance in a bag he was shown holding, Lane said: "I went through a process with the integrity unit and told them everything.
"If there's suggestions that there was any illicit substances or anything like that, I didn't do anything wrong - that's what they found as well.
"I have made the game look very bad and brought it into disrepute, so on that basis, I was accepting of my punishment."
Lane, who left the Sea Eagles for the Eels after last season, said he had sent video footage to friends and did not know who was responsible for giving the image to media.
"It doesn't really matter. It starts and ends with me and my actions and I was the one silly enough to take the video and send it around," Lane said.
"I have left myself looking quite stupid and putting the game in a bad position so I take full accountability for everything."
Pressed on what he had learned from the incident, he said: "Just don't be an idiot, it's quite simple.
"It may have been a joke and everything but at the end of the day it has looked very bad, putting me on the front page of the paper, looking like that.
"It's brought the game into a position it doesn't need, and the club and Manly as well and I am very apologetic for everything I have done.
"There was an element of carelessness in me doing something like that. I haven't done anything else like that but it will definitely sway me not to do anything like that again."
Lane will address Parramatta's full list of staff and players about the incident as part of his punishment.
