Snapshot ... CCTV image of incident between South Sydney Rabbitohs NRL coach Jason Taylor (right) and one of his players David Fa'alogo during an end of season drinking session at the Forresters Hotel.
VIDEO footage of the lead-up to David Fa'alogo's knockout punch on Jason Taylor will play a central role in his appeal, with the sacked Souths coach to claim the back-rower was "the more willing participant'' in the infamous kung-fu play fight.
Taylor's lawyer Sydney Birchall has maintained the axed Rabbitohs mentor was adamant "he has done nothing wrong''.
Souths appear to have placed a significant weight on the CCTV footage from the Forresters Hotel, with a blunt CEO Shane Richardson declaring that Taylor's behaviour was not in the best interests of the club.
The infamous footage showed Taylor shaping up to Fa'alogo and then launching a kung-fu kick before the UK-bound back-rower lunged forward and knocked Taylor out.
But Birchall, who has yet to be engaged for an appeal, insists there is nothing in the footage to condemn the former Wests, North Sydney and Parramatta halfback.
"Our position is that the CCTV footage show that Jason's interaction with those around him was entirely appropriate for an occasion such as that and that includes what we describe as what we call pretend, lightweight kung-fu play and that's pretty much it,'' Birchall told The Daily Telegraph.
"There is a bit of that going on here and there ... and frankly we don't see anything untoward in the video, anything to be ashamed of until you see Dave Fa'alogo king-hit Jason.''
Birchall backed Taylor's claim that he was the victim. "I've seen the video 10,000 times and I can tell you the person who is the most willing participant in this particular little play skirmish is David,'' Birchall said.
"Our view is that if David Fa'alogo does not hit Jason Taylor, a) no one would ever have known about the function and, b) even if Souths had looked at the video just for the sake of it without the (king-hit), I would have thought they would look at it and say it's just completely normal behaviour for a young and physical coach.
"Someone like Wayne Bennett probably wouldn't be there engaging in lightweight kung-fu play, but Wayne Bennett is old enough to be the father to these blokes. Jason is a young man, a recent player, he trains with his players, he tackles them at training.''
Birchall said it was ludicrous to suggest Taylor seriously would contemplate attacking Fa'alogo in any fashion other than horseplay.