NRL confirm no fault stand-down policy as James Maloney lashes out
The NRL has confirmed the no-fault stand down policy but Penrith star James Maloney has lashed out at the new legislation, claiming the players should have been consulted.
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James Maloney has accused the NRL of a token gesture in making the players partners in the game after they weren’t consulted on rugby league’s new ‘no fault’ stand-down policy.
The NRL announced Monday night the change to the rules that effectively bans St George Illawarra’s Jack de Belin, Manly’s Dylan Walker and Penrith’s Tyrone May pending the outcome of their court cases.
But Maloney said the governing body had failed to properly consult the Rugby League Players Association on the alteration.
“The fact they haven’t spoken to us … it’s disappointing because the NRL seem to flout the fact the players are partners in the game when it is convenient but obviously when it’s not, they do want they want and make the rules [without us],” Maloney said.
“There hasn’t been much consultation with the association.”
On Monday, the Penrith star and RLPA board member also claimed that the NRL had made the rule changes without due process.
“The player’s association, talking to them, we didn’t think they can change rules that alter the conditions of your contract without approval of the players association. They have gone and done that and haven’t got the player’s association approval,” he said.
Under the new policy players charged with an offence that carries a maximum jail term of 11 years or more will be stood down until their trial is finalised.
It can also be applied when a player is deemed to have brought the game into disrepute even if the incident or charge does not meet the 11-year threshold.
De Belin, who has pleaded not guilty to aggravated sexual assault, will challenge the legality of his NRL ban in he federal court on Thursday and seek an injunction to have it overturned so he can play while his trial is ongoing.
Maloney said the RLPA is unlikely to take any industrial action if there is an unfavourable outcome in de Belin’s federal court case.
“It’ll all go under the hammer when Jack challenges it, that will be part of his defence as far as I'm aware, that these rules aren’t allowed to be brought in the way they have been without the player’s association approval,” Maloney said.
“But I don’t think you want to be getting into class action or any sort of thing like that. That’s not the way to go.”
While Maloney said he understood that society’s standards had shifted with regards to incidents involving women he took aim at NRL CEO Todd Greenberg for not defying the wave of public opinion on the matter.
“I get that 100 per cent [that society is changing]. Todd and people like him that are in high-paying jobs because that’s what they do, make hard decisions. But at the end of the day our game is not run by public opinion either, it is run by the people making the decisions,” he said.
“Yes there are influences they need to manage. But I don’t think making an unpopular decision publicly is necessarily bad leadership if you have grounds to justify it and say ‘hold on we do respect and we do have strong values and we will come down heavily on any issues that tarnish our game but we won’t act until we have the facts”.
Originally published as NRL confirm no fault stand-down policy as James Maloney lashes out
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