NRL CEO Todd Greenberg makes ban admission during Jack de Belin appeal
NRL boss Todd Greenberg has admitted he had no evidence a new hard-line policy would curb off-field scandals before he introduced it, a court has heard. Dragons star Jack de Belin is fighting his ban after being accused of raping a 19-year-old.
NRL boss Todd Greenberg has admitted he had no evidence a controversial new policy would curb off-field scandals before he introduced it, the Federal Court has heard.
And the day before the league unveiled its no-fault stand down rule, Mr Greenberg said he drafted Dragons star Jack de Belin a media statement declaring he would voluntarily stand down after being charged with rape.
“I prepared something that I thought might assist him,” Mr Greenberg told the hearing on Tuesday.
“I was hopeful in my discussions that he would see merit in making the decision himself and if that was his position, that I could help him with the narrative publicly.”
The offer was rejected and de Belin was benched, sparking a legal challenge to overturn what he claims is a “draconian” rule that will ruin his career.
St George Illawarra was ready to play the 28-year-old this weekend should he win however de Belin’s hopes of being named for the club’s clash against Manly on Saturday night have now been dashed.
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Mr Greenberg defended the hard-line provision, saying it was critical to roll out before the 2019 season began to crackdown on player misconduct.
“It creates untold headlines and very significant damage to the brand reputation of the game,” he said while giving evidence.
“There’s no doubt there was a desire to have this rule in place by kick off … it was urgent.”
But Mr Greenberg admitted he had no proof the unprecedented policy would address poor player behaviour.
“You knew didn’t you, that you had no evidence of any conduct of Mr de Belin at the time you introduced this new rule?,” barrister Martin Einfeld QC asked in cross examination.
“All we looked at was the charge he was facing, not his conduct,” Mr Greenberg replied.
De Belin left the court before Mr Greenberg gave evidence, but his lawyer has slammed the code’s “unfair” policy he says is unique in Australia, if not the world.
Mr Greenberg agreed that since the NRL’s inception in 1908, players had always had a right to a hearing in such decisions, which has now been removed under the automatic and retrospective rule.
In February the NRL and Australian Rugby League Commission vowed to clean up the code following a spate of scandals with immediate bans for any player charged with an offence carrying a maximum prison term of 11 years or more.
They argue the game has taken a battering following a hellish off-season marred by alleged domestic violence, drug use, leaked sex tapes and Mad Monday public nudity.
Mr Greenberg predicted the number of women playing league and touch footy across Australia won’t grow in 2019, adding he could give examples of those who have quit in the wake of the off-field incidents.
The NRL and ARLC note that the new rule reflects the expectations of fans and sponsors which protects the game’s revenue base, adding its impact on de Belin is “justified”.
The court heard revenue for the 2018 season was nearly half a billion dollars, the lion’s share of which came from matches.
De Belin hasn’t run out for the Dragons since being charged with aggravated sexual assault in December.
The NSW State of Origin player, who last week welcomed the birth of his daughter with partner Alyce Taylor, vehemently denies the allegations and faces up to 20 years in jail if convicted.
The Blues forward allegedly raped a 19-year-old woman inside a Wollongong apartment in the early hours of December 9 last year, while his friend and co-accused, Callan Sinclair, watched on.
De Belin is entitled to full pay but can only train with his team for the duration of that criminal case, which may take up to two years to conclude, Mr Einfeld said.
On Monday the lock’s manager Stephen Gillis testified that the ban is likely to extend past his October 2020 contract and he’ll be virtually unemployable if sidelined for that long.
De Belin’s ruling will have huge ramifications for the game after Mr Greenberg used his discretionary powers to bench Manly’s Dylan Walker and Penrith’s Tyrone May for off field incidents.
De Belin’s immediate playing future is not the only career at stake with ARLC chairman Peter Beattie’s own leadership on the line pending the result of the landmark case.
The hearing before Justice Melissa Perry continues.
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