The NRL's head of football, Todd Greenberg, has been cleared over allegations that he had knowledge of Ryan Tandy's gambling but turned a blind eye to it.

The NRL released a statement late on Friday saying an independent report "found no reliable evidence" that Greenberg was shown a betting ledger or text messages revealing that former Canterbury player Tandy bet on matches.

Then Bulldogs boss Greenberg, general manager of football operations Alan Thompson and jockey agent John Schell were all interviewed for the report, the NRL said.

"In my view there is no reliable evidence that Mr Thompson or Mr Greenberg were shown the betting ledger or relevant text messages revealing that Mr Tandy bet on rugby league matches," author of the report, barrister Dominic Villa, concluded.

The NRL's integrity unit engaged Villa to inquire into the matter.

The inquiry followed claims that Schell showed Greenberg and Thompson a betting ledger with details of a series of losing bets by Tandy on racing and rugby league matches during a meeting in August 2010.

Greenberg and Thompson denied Schell's assertions.

In the statement the NRL said that Schell had accepted to Villa that he was "quite unable" to say whether Greenberg or Thompson saw the betting ledger, whether they looked at it or whether they read it during their meeting.

Villa also pointed out that Schell couldn't be 100 per cent sure whether he had shown the pair text messages either.

Tandy's death last month from a drug overdose had put the focus back on the troubled former first-grader's life and the spot-fixing scandal over which he was convicted and given a life ban from the code.

He was found to have placed a bet on the first scoring play when his side played in a match against North Queensland in 2010 when he tried to make that outcome occur by giving away a penalty.

Tandy was sacked by the club.

Meanwhile, Mitchell Pearce's off-field dramas will only make the Sydney Roosters tougher to beat in the opinion of North Queensland's Matt Scott.

Pearce will serve a one-game club suspension and miss Saturday's NRL clash against the Cowboys in Townsville.

The NSW halfback was dumped after he was arrested during a boozy night out in Sydney's Kings Cross last weekend as the Roosters dealt with intense media scrutiny throughout the week.

Scott thinks that will galvanise, not distract, the NRL premiers.

"They might miss him a bit in the halves but it tends to bring a side together," Scott said.

"They'll be looking to hit back pretty strongly and put that behind them."

Pearce's absence means James Maloney will move to No 7 for the Roosters with Sonny Bill Williams shifting to five-eighth.

The New Zealand international will line up against Cowboys captain Johnathan Thurston in what will be the Queenslander's 200th game for the club. AAP