Sydney Roosters coach Trent Robinson is disappointed the club has been accused of being involved in the sexting scandal surrounding South Sydney and star forward Sam Burgess.
The Rabbitohs on Friday cleared their playing group of any wrongdoing after complaints by a woman that lewd images were communicated to her via social media in May.
It was reported the Facebook account belonged to Burgess but ahead of Saturday's NRL preliminary final between the rival clubs, there was speculation the Roosters had leaked the images to media outlets.
Speaking before the Rabbitohs' released their findings on the drama, Robinson emphatically denied the claims.
"If you want to shift blame to us, then you've got some issues," he said.
"It's sad if you want to deflect like that, we haven't been involved in this at all."
The conspiracy theory has added to the long-standing rivalry between the neighbouring clubs in a blockbuster match that also marks the final game at Allianz Stadium before its rebuild.
Robinson was unsure how the scandal would impact on the Rabbitohs.
"Only they can answer that. You're guessing about how they'll be. I don't know where they'll be with what's happened. That's up to them," he said.
Robinson's counterpart Anthony Seibold was pleased to shift the focus to the game and expected a strong showing from Burgess as the Rabbitohs strive to advance to the grand final and meet either defending premiers Melbourne, or Cronulla.
"I expect Sam to do his job. I don't expect him to do anything more or anything less. He's very determined, he's trained very well. The expectation from me is to do his job," Seibold said.
Meanwhile, Rabbitohs veteran Jason Clark - who moves to the Super League next year - has been ruled out with an ankle injury and been replaced by Junior Tatola.
For the Roosters, Sio Siua Taukeiaho and Blake Ferguson will share the goalkicking duties due to the suspension of Latrell Mitchell.
STATS THAT MATTER
* Since the re-introduction of the top 8 in 1999, the Roosters have the third best win percentage in week three of the finals winning six of nine matches, although they've lost their past three.
* The Roosters have won 20 of 21 finals matches in the NRL era when scoring 19 points or more, including 14 of 14 at Allianz Stadium.
* The suspended Latrell Mitchell has scored 41.9% (236 of 563) of the Roosters points this season, the highest percentage by any player for their team in 2018.
