According to a report in The Australian, Topine has lodged a statement of claim with the NSW Supreme Court relating to his time at the Bulldogs.

Topine’s main issue surrounds a session last July, when he claims he was forced to wrestle the entire squad one-on-one as punishment for being late to training.

The 22-year-old has added to his 16 NRL games since for the Bulldogs, with the local junior no longer listed as a player on the club’s website.

According to the report, Topine’s legal team claim that he was subjected to “unlawful corporal punishment”, resulting in “psychiatric injury” as well as “physical and mental impairment”.

The Bulldogs have made clear they will deny some of the claims, while refusing to comment specifically on the Topine matter.

“The club does however have internal policies and procedures in place for employee conduct and a very sound review process that we stand by,” a Bulldogs spokeswoman said.

“We also take player welfare very seriously and place the best interests and welfare of our players and staff as our number one priority.

“As we do take mental health concerns very seriously and given the appropriate sensitivities that should be applied in matters concerning mental health, the club will not be making any comment at this time on any of the individuals at the centre of the allegations.”

Reports surfaced last year around player discontent at the Bulldogs over training methods, with former captain Raymond Faitala-Mariner raising them with management before later leaving the club.

At the time, Canterbury general manager Phil Gould backed the hardline stance of coaching staff under Cameron Ciraldo, without referring directly to the Topine incident given he was unnamed at the time.

“We’re the worst team in the competition right now and have been for some time,” Gould said on the Six Tackles With Gus podcast last August.

“The coach (Ciraldo) and the staff are certainly making no apologies for the intensity with which they train.”

Ciraldo also said last August that punishments had been dished out during his tenure, with the club desperate to turn things around after last playing finals in 2016.

“Nothing comes without hard work. We have one long day a week and if you get the last massage you’re probably leaving at 5.30pm,” Ciraldo said at the time.

“The days were longer at the place I was previously (at Penrith).

“One thing that won’t change is my attitude towards hard work and understanding that’s what’s going to get us to where we need to go.

“If there are people that don’t want to work hard and don’t want to tick every box to win NRL games then they don’t have to be here.”