NRL club North Queensland will employ minders for players after forward Scott Bolton admitted to drunkenly touching a woman’s upper thigh in a Sydney court this week.

Cowboys coach Paul Green said they would introduce extra safety measures for players when they go out socially in future after Bolton pleaded guilty to common assault in Waverley Local Court on Monday.

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Green said the Cowboys were also in discussions with the NRL over a possible penalty for the married prop regarding the charge.

Bolton avoided conviction and was put on a 12-month good behaviour release order after a charge of indecent assault was withdrawn over the incident at Bondi Beach Public Bar in May last year.

Green said players would also be educated on ways to better “look out for each other” when in public.

“Unfortunately it’s the world we live in these days,” Green said. “We need to be well prepared from that point of view. We have taken steps to make sure that when we do go out in public it’s a safe environment for everyone.”

Asked if the Cowboys would employ minders in future, Green said: “It’s a lot of different things. It’s having people there [minders], it’s making sure we have people looking out for each other. Making sure that when we can see a situation unfolding that we don’t want to put ourselves in we try and nip that in the bud.”

Bolton has returned to Cowboys pre-season training after his court appearance. Following discussions with police, an indecent assault charge was withdrawn and the 31-year-old pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of common assault. Green could not confirm whether the NRL would also penalise Bolton.

“It’s been a really tough period for him understandably. It’s been fairly stressful but he’s come back pretty well,” Green said.

“But we have to remember that initially the charge was indecent assault and that charge got dropped,” Green said. “I think that has been a bit lost in all this. People need to remember that.

“But there’s no doubt it affected everyone [at the Cowboys]. But right from day one he denied any indecent dealings from his point of view. The club has supported Scott on that. It’s been our stance the whole way through. It was not ideal but I think it was a good sign of the culture that we stuck by him here.”