Knights coach Adam O'Brien has played down a reported training run-in between two of the club's NRL players as a "non-event".
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The incident, between halfback Jackson Hastings and English recruit Will Pryce, occurred more than a week ago but was first reported earlier this week.
The two playmakers are understood to have faced-off during a field session at the club's Broadmeadow training base but it's believed they did not come to blows.
"It's a non-event, really," O'Brien said on Friday.
"It would happen in every organisation that trains with any form of intensity, every day of the week.
"There was no punches. It was a push and shove.
"The training, the drill kept going, so half the group didn't even see it. Literally a push and shove that you see in a game that doesn't slow the progress."
O'Brien said the report, which emerged in Sydney media, was "a product of losing". Newcastle are 2-5 this season, and placed 15th ahead of facing the Dolphins in Brisbane on Sunday.
"You win footy games, no one is worried about that," he said. "We can expect that if we're not performing and getting results."
The coach joked he didn't expect either player to be appearing on a boxing undercard any time soon.
After being dropped following the first two NRL games this season, Hastings, 28, played alongside Pryce in two NSW Cup fixtures last month before returning to first grade in round five.
He has worn the No.7 jersey in the past three games.
Pryce, who joined the Knights in the off-season, is yet to feature in first grade but the 21-year-old Bradford product is a member of the top-30 NRL squad.
But Pryce has also been moved to fullback, where he played 17 of 45 Super League games, for the NSW Cup side's clash with South Sydney on Sunday, in a sign he may be considered for that role at NRL level in coming weeks.
