Departing ARLC chairman Peter Beattie reveals Jack de Belin demanded an apology
The outgoing ARL Chairman opens up on how women are the future of rugby league — and how St George Illawarra’s Jack de Belin’s demands left him “stunned”.
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Australian Rugby League chairman Peter Beattie leaves a legacy of having done more for women in rugby league than any man before him in the game.
Beattie reveals the extent he had to fight to implement the no-fault stand-down policy and how this battle turned personal with Dragons player Jack de Belin. De Belin has pleaded not guilty to sexual assault charges.
Beattie tells this column that back in February he was stunned by a legal letter in which de Belin had drafted an apology for the ARLC chairman to read out publicly.
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“Mr de Belin demands that you immediately issue the following public statement to attempt to rectify the harm that has been caused by your conduct to his reputation,” reads the legal letter obtained independently by this column.
Dated February 27, the letter was sent to Beattie just a day before the Commission met to vote on implementing a no-fault stand-down rule. A rule de Belin vehemently opposed.
De Belin and his lawyers drafted a script they wanted Beattie to publicly to say to apologise. They proposed Beattie made the following statement:
“I need to clarify something very important: Jack is innocent unless proven guilty. And “Jack is entitled to have this matter determined by the Courts and that process should not be interfered with.”
“I apologise to Jack if my conduct over the last 7 days has led people to believe that I have formed a view about the allegations against him. I have not.”
The “Concerns notice” to Beattie from de Belin’s lawyers raised “defamation” and “contempt” issues as well. De Belin’s lawyers wrote: “there is absolutely no basis whatsoever to suspend him”.
Beattie tells this column he remembers receiving the letter and feeling taken aback. “I was stunned,” Beattie said.
“I had been very careful to not say anything defamatory. But it was part of the tough hurly, burly of this debate. I am not a shrinking violet. I took it on the chin. I kept moving.
“It just continued to make the journey a hard one.”
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Despite de Belin’s legal threat, enraged fans, feral online trolls, enraged commentators and club officials — all those who couldn’t quite drag themselves into 2019 and figure out criminal charges were a bigger deal than a footy game — Beattie stood tough.
Along with solid support from commissioners such as Megan Davis and Peter V’landys, the policy was announced on February 28. It is one of the moments the outgoing ARLC chairman, who finishes up in October to be replaced by V’Landys, is most proud of.
His legacy is implementing a stand-down policy that took a tough stance on player behaviour and showed criminal charges involving women and children were finally being taken seriously, despite the fact that those charged are innocent until proven guilty.
It was not only a watershed moment for the game but a history-making moment in Australian sport — no other footy code has made such a hard-line, public, uniform policy on allegations of violence against women.
“I am pleased that we stood up for women in the game, kids in the game, families in the game, to make sure player behaviour was appropriate,” Beattie said.
“It is a policy designed to protect women and children and to send a really clear message. It wasn’t the easiest decision, it attracted a lot of criticism and opposition, but I’ve got a thick hide.
“It was not about making a judgment about innocence or guilt but the reality was we needed to do it because whether people in the game accept it or not, we have to attract women to play this sport and support it.”
De Belin would go on to contest the policy in court twice.
The first time he challenged it in a landmark case in the Federal Court of Australia. It was dismissed after the judge defended the ARLC’s decision to ban him from playing.
De Belin appealed that decision in June but by August the lawyers for the Dragons player told the Federal Court in Sydney there was “no utility” in proceeding, as a decision would not be made before the end of the NRL season.
Ultimately, Beattie said he feels the policy has started to shift the culture for the better.
Since the introduction of the rule, there’s hasn’t been a single allegation or criminal charge involving a footballer alleging violence against women.
“There were sections of our culture that we had to change,” Beattie said. “And I think that changed throughout the year. Here we are, we are a week into the off-season for some — we’ve had one Mad Monday — and we haven’t had a problem.
“I think the message got through.
“Look, I know that’s only eight teams who have finished and there’s another eight to go, but half of them have been on their best behaviour.
“I think the message that came out of it has changed the culture of the game.”
As Beattie points out, the game would have “withered and died” if their no-fault stand-down rule not been implemented.
Showing respect to women, on many levels, is also good for business.
“If you look at the fastest-growing part of our game, it is women,” he said. “What I am most proud of in my time is not only the no-fault stand-down policy, but the advancement of the women’s game.
“We started the State of Origin last year, we have our second NRLW season starting this weekend … we’ve got two grand finals, women’s and men’s, on the one day. Eventually that will grow and grow.
“We are growing the women’s game and at the same time we are saying this is a game that doesn’t tolerate violence against women or children under any circumstances.
“I am pleased we bit the bullet on it.”
Beattie said the code had to face the reality that had they not created the policy, they would have lost “a whole generation of women”.
“What attracted supporters in the 80s, 90s and early century is totally different today,” Beattie said. “We have a whole population of empowered and determined women. Who are not only going to determine where they spend their dollar, whether they will buy a ticket or jersey — more importantly whether or not their children will pay the game.”
But there’s a long way to go, admits Beattie.
“We need more women on boards,” Beattie said. “We have Lynne Anderson (Bulldogs) and Rebecca Frizelle (Titans) in two of our clubs, but we need more women.
“I put Amanda Laing on to the commission. We now have two women on the ARL Commission.
“I think the game does have to have a target of at least 30 per cent being made up of women, otherwise in the long run they won’t get Government funding. In the end, we’ve got a long way to go.”
In the end, Beattie said it was a small but loud minority who opposed advancing the game when it came to the stand-down policy.
“The rugby league family are decent, hard-working people who overwhelmingly get it,” Beattie said. “If you do the right thing, good things flow. Decent people stuck with us.”
Originally published as Departing ARLC chairman Peter Beattie reveals Jack de Belin demanded an apology