Fetongi Tuinauvai, 30, who was then the Wagga Kangaroos centre, had earlier pleaded guilty to one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm. He was sentenced in Wagga Local Court on Wednesday.

The charge arose from an incident during a Group Nine match between the Kangaroos and the Temora Dragons at Wagga's Equex Centre on July 21, 2019.

According to facts tendered to the court, during the second half of the game a Kangaroos player was tackled high by one of the Dragons and, as a result, knocked unconscious.

After this occurred, there was an on-field scuffle involving players from both sides.

During this time, Tuinauvai swung his right arm at the victim, hitting him with a closed fist. The blow made contact with the side of the man's head and caused him to fall to the ground.

The court heard Tuinauvai incorrectly believed this man had been responsible for the tackle on his teammate.

The Temora player was off work for two weeks afterwards, but suffered no ongoing injuries, the court heard.

Tuinauvai's solicitor John Weir said that since the incident Tuinauvai had not been playing football and had been working as a personal trainer to earn an income.

Magistrate Christopher Halburd told the court it was pretty clear Tuinauvai knew he was "in the wrong".

He said said even if the player assaulted by Tuinauvai had been responsible for the other tackle, it was no way to behave anyway.

The court heard Tuinauvai was remorseful and had apologised straight away after the incident.

Magistrate Halburd warned Tuinauvai, who has been doing some work with young people, that this incident would not make him the role model he wanted to be.

"It is clear you are genuinely ashamed," he told Tuinauvai.

Magistrate Halburd said a clear message needed to be sent that players should "wait for the system" to deal with matters like the tackle on the Kangaroos player.

After the incident, Tuinauvai was barred for 21 games by the Group Nine judiciary, before having his sentence reduced on appeal to 10 weeks.