Gold Coast NRL club are investigating the possibility of taking defamation action against builder Alex Simpson.

The NRL has cleared the club of a breach of the salary cap despite claims from Simpson that halfback Scott Prince was offered a free house as part of a new contract with the Titans.

And Titans chief executive Michael Searle says legal action against Simpson, who is in dispute with the club over payments relating to the construction of the club's multi-million dollar centre of excellence, was still under consideration.

"The salary cap assertions have been disposed of, but there are still some serious issues at hand and they will be dealt with by the court," he said.

"It's (defamation action) something we'll consider, clearly we've been talking to our lawyers about that.

"We consider the matters to be serious but we'll deal with that in the appropriate forum and at a time when we're happy to make that decision.

"We can now concentrate on playing rugby league and hopefully winning some more games, and reaching the semi-finals again in season 2010.

"There was never any substance to any of the allegations of a salary cap breach by the Titans, and personally I'm just sorry to see a good man like Scott Prince and his wife Kristy Prince, who I think are people of immense credibility, dragged through the mud as they have been, for no reason at all."

Prince says he's concerned the allegations may damage his reputation and future career prospects, and has also placed the matter in the hands of his lawyers.

"The hardest thing is being sort of tarnished with that sort of allegation, it's something I'm worried about as far as my future prospects I guess with sponsorship and all that," he said.

But Prince said he'd been buoyed by the strong support from his club and his team mates.

NRL salary cap auditor Ian Schubert, who investigated the claims, found there was no evidence Prince expected a $400,000 house to be built free of charge.

Coach John Cartwright said the professional approach of the players has been outstanding since the issue erupted.

"I've been here from day one and I've seen the work that's gone in, not only to the football team, but also the work we've been able to do in the community, and to see anything that detracts from that, as I say if I was just a coach it probably wouldn't bother me," he said.

"But you get to the stage where I was at boiling point just seeing what was happening to these guys who you care about but we all had to be patient and as I said all along time will tell, and it did."

Brought to you by AAP © 2024 AAP