Richmond coach Damien Hardwick says premiership pair Shai Bolton and Daniel Rioli have the club's support after a nightclub altercation over the weekend.
Hardwick said the club did not condone violence and had cleared the pair of wrongdoing in the circumstances after a thorough investigation.
"A player's partner was put in a situation she didn't feel comfortable with and Daniel stood up and tried to eradicate the situation and was punched in the eye," Hardwick told Fox Footy.
"Shai was the same. It was a difficult situation. It's not one we ideally want to be in. But the reality is we are where we are."
Hardwick said football chiefs Tim Livingstone (General Manager - Football Performance) and Blair Hartley (General Manager - Football Talent) had led an investigation into the incident and were satisfied with the players' explanation.
"We've got to the bottom of it and the evidence we've got and the story we have," the coach said.
"From our point of view, we back in the players. We're disappointed it's come to that situation. We don't condone violence but we understand these situations happen from time to time."
Richmond CEO Brendon Gale said on Tuesday morning he would have preferred Rioli and Bolton to have have walked away from the situation.
“It’s something we’d prefer not to be having to deal with,” Gale said on SEN's Breakfast program.
“At the end of the day, Daniel and Shai responded to what they deemed to be inappropriate conduct.
“They took what steps were necessary, we’d rather they didn’t, we’d prefer they didn’t but they did.
“They’re young men and sometimes you can’t put old heads on young shoulders.
“We’ve got a very strong culture based on care and connection and I think that’s worked very well for our entire group over the years and they responded, they took steps for what they deemed to be (appropriate) when you want to look after your partner, you want to look after your friends, but as hard as it is... we’d prefer them (to) just walk away.
“It’s a lot easier said than done and we don’t condone violence in any way, shape or form.
“We understand why they took the action they did, but we don’t condone it.
“I’m encouraged by the fact they’re looking after each other, they’re looking after their partners, they’re looking after their friends and I’m encouraged by that and of course we understand that.
“But I guess it’s regrettable that they found themselves in that position and I reckon the appropriate step, but the very difficult step, would be to simply turn a blind eye and walk away and that’s the environment we live in unfortunately with some of these high-profile athletes.”
