The sanction directed at the Dragons relates to the club’s handling of an injured Josh Dugan in last weekend’s 16-10 victory over Cronulla at Southern Cross Group Stadium.

Dugan was felled by an accidental elbow from teammate Russell Packer in the ninth minute of the local derby, leaving him motionless on the turf. He remained down as he was assessed by head trainer Nathan Pickworth but was not taken from the field for a Head Injury Assessment.

He subsequently played out the remaining 71 minutes, something NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg said left him “dismayed” as he watched on from home.

McGregor said post-match that he received a report that Dugan had suffered a possible jaw injury while there were also reports in the aftermath that club doctor Tom Carrigan was unable to view replays of the incident due to a malfunctioning sideline TV.

The Dragons are yet to formally respond to the breach notice but CEO Peter Doust told Fairfax on Thursday that the NRL risked medicos not wanting to be involved in the game if their integrity is constantly questioned.

McGregor also staunchly defended his medical staff in addressing the media on Thursday.

“The club’s still going through the process at the moment but I certainly, to the nth degree, back the integrity of my [medical] staff,” McGregor said.

“I’m very confident in the process that my staff took. That’s probably all I need to say there because a lot’s been said and the process is still being fought out.”

Gold Coast were slapped with a $150,000 fine for three separate incidents in their victory over Parramatta on Friday while Newcastle were also hit with a $100,000 fine for their handling of young fullback Brendan Elliot in their loss to South Sydney.

Knights coach Nathan Brown called for an 18th man system to be implemented where concussed players are unable to return to field after failing an HIA.

McGregor echoed the call of his former Dragons teammate, though he said such a move would need to be stringently policed.

“I think it’s a great idea,” McGregor said.

“It’s been mentioned before at the [NRL] coaches conference. Certainly it’s a part of the game that will be looked at more closely now with the regularity of interchanges being used because of the HIA.

“I think it’s important it’s not abused though, and it can be. You don’t want the interchanges going back up because of a fresh person being there and them being used wrongly.

“That’s not what the game’s about given the [interchange] changes that have been made in the game so I do support it but it’s got to be monitored pretty toughly.”

While most coaches appear to be in favour of the move, Brisbane coach Wayne Bennett dismissed the need for the 18th man on Thursday.

‘‘How many players do you want on the bench?’’ Bennett said.

“‘Where does it all stop? I am not pushing for 18 players. We will lose a player then another and people will say ’we need 19’, it’s like a piece of string - there’s no end to it.’’