The NRL slapped the Bulldogs with fines totalling half a million dollars over the Coffs Harbour sex scandal as police said evidence existed that a young woman could have been raped.

But the Bulldogs hierarchy said the rugby league club had been vindicated after police decided no-one would be charged over the 20-year-old woman's claims she was gang-raped by six Bulldogs players at a Coffs Harbour hotel.

Police closed the case on Tuesday because there was not enough evidence to charge the six accused players, but they said that some evidence substantiated the woman's initial claims.

Detective Chief Inspector Jason Breton, who headed the investigation, was asked if police had evidence of rape.

"Yes," he told a packed media conference in Sydney.

But Insp Breton said holes in witness accounts, timeline inconsistencies and the trauma of the alleged victim collided to bring the case to a standstill.

"Rape's an offence, sexual intercourse isn't, but the evidence can be the same," he said.

"What I'm saying is, even today there is evidence that could substantiate (her claim)."

The young mother at the centre of the scandal was "understandably distraught" at the news, Insp Breton said.

She maintained her silence and was understood to be considering her options, including the possibility of civil action.

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