WHEN news of ARL Commissioner Mark Coyne's arrest in Singapore dropped on Wednesday no one was more surprised than former Dragons co-captain Paul McGregor.
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St George Illawarra great Coyne has been stood down from his position on the ARLC following revelations of an expletive laden tirade directed at Singaporean police that landed in him in a cell.
Court documents state Coyne called police "f---ing cocks" and "f---ing dogs" and threatened to "sue you through your f---ing arse."
His passport was also confiscated for seven weeks before the the matter was eventually resolved after the 51-year-old paid a $4000 fine.
McGregor and Coyne were co-captains when the St George Illawarra joint-venture was formed in 1998, with the Dragons reaching the 1999 grand final a year later.
He's obviously apologetic, he's a very good man and it's just not in his DNA.
- Paul McGregor
McGregor was only aware of media reports of the incident but said it ran contrary to the man he knows.
"I only know what I've read and it's just out of character," McGregor said.
"He's obviously apologetic, he's a very good man and it's just not in his DNA. I feel for Mark because he's obviously made an error in judgement but it's certainly not in Mark's character."
Coyne was stood-down by ARLC chairman Peter Beattie on Wednesday but he can only be sacked by the commission or by a vote from the 16 NRL clubs.
McGregor wouldn't be drawn on whether that should be the case, a touchy subject given the ARLC - of which Coyne is a member - stood Dragons lock Jack de Belin down indefinitely under its new "no-fault" stand-down policy in February.
"It's not a decision I'm going to talk about," McGregor said.
"He'll talk to the commission, I read Mr Beattie's said he's going to have a conversation in the near future."
De Belin's legal fight to return to the field will continue on Monday when he and his legal team launch an appeal against the NSW Federal Court's initial ruling in favour of the NRL in May.