The Snapchat footage shows the two players exit the cubicle, drinks in hand, as the staff member says: "Oh, that's a surprise."

Newcastle officials later released a statement, which read: "The Newcastle Knights have been informed of a matter involving current players.

"Knights management has commenced a process to gather all the required facts.

"Until such time no further comment will be provided."

The NRL told the Newcastle Herald that its Integrity Unit were aware of the video and were liaising with the club.

The incident is reported to have occurred on Saturday night, when the Knights were in Brisbane, where they suffered a 28-10 loss to the Broncos. Both Ponga and Mann were unavailable for the game.

Ponga was stood down three weeks ago after a spate of recent concussions and confirmed in a radio interview on Sunday that he won't play again this season.

Mann hasn't played since July 8 because of a quadriceps injury.

NRL clubs generally have a policy whereby injured players are not supposed to consume alcohol.

Ponga's father and manager Andre attempted to explain the situation by telling News Limited that his son had been unwell and Mann had come to his aid.

"He made an exciting house purchase Saturday and celebrated with a few mates drinking," Ponga senior was quoted as saying.

"Sick in the toilet and his mate went in to help him."

The Queensland State of Origin star bought a house in Merewether at an auction on Saturday for $2.4 million.

The incident comes hot on the heels of a dramatic week for Knights management a fortnight ago.

First, enforcer David Klemmer was ordered to stand down, not selected for a game and banned from training with his teammates after an on-field run-in with Newcastle's high-performance manager Hayden Knowles.

The issue was eventually resolved four days later, when Klemmer accepted a suspended fine.

In the same week, the Herald revealed that Newcastle officials were investigating an alleged racist remark made by a staff member to a young Indigenous player during a recent lower-grade match.

That issue was also resolved after the staffer apologised to the player in front of his teammates and was involved in a mediation process.

The Knights' Aboriginal advisory group subsequently issued a statement to declare they were satisfied the matter had been "dealt with appropriately".

The off-field dramas could hardly be more poorly timed, given Newcastle's underwhelming performances this season.

The Knights are languishing in 14th position on the points table and, with three games remaining, are not yet safe in the race to avoid the wooden spoon.

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