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March 07, 2019 6:15pm
Staff writers with AAP
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Dragons star Jack de Belin free to play Round one unless NRL enacts ‘no fault’ policy

St George Illawarra Dragons player Jack de Belin is taking the NRL to court over his playing ban.
The judge presiding over Dragons star Jack de Belin’s Federal Court bid to overturn his ban says the forward will be free to play round one unless the NRL enacts it’s ‘no fault’ policy.
De Belin claims he wasn’t validly suspended by the NRL after being charged with rape, contending the league engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct.
The 27-year-old’s matter was heard in court on Thursday for a preliminary hearing.

Justice Stephen Rares said NRL material had suggested de Belin had been stood down when in fact he had not.

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“There is no entitlement to stand him down from what you have told me,” he said.
“The truth is, nothing is in place at the moment. It is damaging to him as a professional and as an individual.”

Martin Einfeld QC Jack De Belin's barrister pictured as he arrives at Federal Court, Sydney. Picture by Damian Shaw
The case was adjourned to March 12 by which time the new rule may be in place.
Alan Sullivan QC, for the NRL and the Australian Rugby League Commission, said the proposed new rule and policy to stand down players charged with a serious criminal offence had not yet been enacted.
“There’s nothing to stop him playing rugby league from (between) now and the time the rule is enacted,” he said on Thursday.
NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg said on Thursday the league will have rules in place to stand down Jack de Belin within the next 48 hours, after admitting it had yet to enact its own edict.
“The commission endorsed a policy decision last week. We then need to write the rule, that will be done in the next 48 hours and from there we let the courts make their decision,” Greenberg said.
Sullivan told the court he expects the policy will be in effect before the Dragons’ opening clash against the Cowboys on Saturday week.

In documents filed with the court, de Belin states the bodies did not have the power to suspend him on full pay on February 28, purportedly under a new rule allowing players charged with a serious criminal offence to be stood down so they can’t take part in the NRL competition.

De Belin and Callan Sinclair, 21, have pleaded not guilty to raping a 19-year- old woman in Wollongong on December 9 and are due back in court on April 17.
De Belin claims the NRL and ARLC engaged in misleading or deceptive conduct by claiming they had the power to suspend him and by making a number of public comments.
They include suggesting they had “formed a view that de Belin was guilty” of the rape and had “engaged in conduct that warranted his immediate suspension as a player for the club”.
“The suspension representation was made in press releases, social media, on
www.nrl.com, in television, radio and newspaper interviews by Peter Beattie and Todd Greenberg published in every state and territory of Australia,” the court documents state.
The judge also reprimanded Beattie, a former politician, in his handling of the standing down.
“It’s not as though Mr Beattie is not an experienced man with words,” he said.
“It is suggesting that this player has been stood down and he hasn’t… that would be pretty damaging for anybody.”

Robert Tassell, Jack De Belin's lawyer, pictured as he arrives at Federal Court. Picture by Damian Shaw
The player says this caused irreparable damage to his reputation and financial loss.
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He is seeking an order that the NRL and ARLC immediately issue a press release and place corrective advertising in numerous newspapers stating: “The NRL has not suspended St George Illawarra player Jack de Belin. He is available to play for St George Illawarra”.

De Belin is seeking damages, compensation and legal costs, as well as a string of court declarations including that the two bodies engaged in misleading or deceptive conduct and unconscionable conduct.
He also wants an order permanently restraining them from inserting the new rule into the NRL Rules or NRL Code of Conduct, claiming it is unreasonable and contrary to public policy.
Under the old policy, players who pleaded not guilty to serious charges were allowed to continue playing until their case was finalised in court.
His lawyers say neither body had any material to enable them to determine de Belin was guilty of rape or in breach of the NRL Code of Conduct.
But for the “threatened suspension”, de Belin intends playing in the first 2019 match on March 16 and in matches through the year and 2020, and to make himself available for representative selection including for State of Origin, the documents state.
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