Warriors centre Konrad Hurrell is under investigation by the NRL integrity unit over a video posted on social media of him involved in a sex act with New Zealand television actress Teuila Blakely.

The video, which appears to have been filmed on a phone, was uploaded and has been circulated on Instagram. It features Hurrell driving a car while Blakely performs a sex act on him.

It is not clear whether Hurrell himself uploaded the video but it appears it was originally circulated on the app Snapchat, which deletes photos and videos after a set period of time determined by the user.

Blakey, a star of the New Zealand TV soap Shortland St, confirmed she was the woman in the video, titled TeuilaHurrell.

While Hurrell and Teuila are consenting adults, the timing of the video’s emergence could hardly have been more embarrassing for NRL officials as they launched Women in League round.

NRL chief operating officer Jim Doyle confirmed Hurrell was under investigation, and said the video was potentially damaging to the game. ‘‘You get mothers who are deciding if their kids should play the game, you get a club who is potentially on the verge with some high-profile corporate who wants to get involved in the game, and something happens that puts them off,’’ Doyle said.

‘‘It puts a mum off from their little kid playing, it puts a potential sponsor from spending millions of dollars in the game, and that has a negative impact on the whole game.’’

The Warriors are compiling a report for the NRL integrity unit.

Blakely said the video was never meant for public viewing. ‘‘Yeah it was me, but it was a private video between me and ‘Koni’ [Hurrell] and it wasn’t meant to have been leaked,’’ Blakely told the NZ Herald.

The 39-year-old actress has been dating the 22-year-old NRL star but said the relationship was casual. ‘‘I am not in an exclusive relationship with Koni ... We are good friends and are very close.’’

Blakely said the selfie video was filmed ‘‘about two months ago’’.

‘‘Koni filmed it as a joke, but neither of us knows who uploaded it. But I accept what I do in my life, and neither of us are bothered about it. It was a tape between two people who have a lot of fun together. It’s not like I’m Kim Kardashian,’’ she said.

Doyle said he only learnt of the existence of the video as he was driving to the Women in League launch.

‘‘You can’t just ignore it, you have to deal with it, and you gain some more credibility rather than potentially if you don’t deal with it properly,’’ he told Channel Seven.

‘‘It is actually the players themselves who are saying there are certain things that are acceptable and certain other things that are unacceptable, and it is putting pressure on all the other players because it always seems to be the minority.

‘‘I think at the end of the day you don’t change things overnight, it takes time to evolve.’’

Warriors chief executive Wayne Scurrah said: ‘‘We have heard social media reports and are investigating. We can’t say anything more until we have more facts.’’