SYDNEY - Australian National Rugby League side Gold Coast Titans have defended their decision to use a former porn star as a trainer for their under-20 players.

American Kortney Olson, the 31-year-old wife of Titans chief executive David May, joined the club a fortnight ago as a volunteer working on strength and conditioning.

Olson is a qualified personal trainer and international bodybuilding competitor.

May sent an e-mail late on the weekend to all Titans staff explaining his wife's past and why he believes she is fit to be at the club, the Gold Coast Bulletin reported. But since the news became public, several staff have reportedly voiced concern about whether she should be involved with the side's youth and there have been calls for her and May to be sacked.

May said he was standing by his wife and was prepared to answer accusations of nepotism with the National Rugby League.

"It would be nepotism if she was employed and getting paid, but she's a volunteer. If anybody is unhappy with it, the NRL, our fans, players or sponsors, I will deal with it," May told the newspaper.

"Everyone does things they aren't proud of but she has put it behind her."

The NRL said it was not a matter where it should intervene because "she is not an employee of the club and has no official capacity beyond volunteering in an area where she has some expertise".