Jack de Belin case tests NRL’s hardline stance on violence towards women
The NRL’s public vilification of all violence towards women is back in the spotlight after agreeing to support new bail conditions which enable Jack de Belin to continue playing and training with St George Illawarra.
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Polarising, torn and divided.
The NRL’s public vilification of all violence towards women is back in the spotlight after agreeing to support new bail conditions which enable NSW Origin forward Jack de Belin to continue playing and training with St George Illawarra.
The conditions were granted by a Wollongong magistrate on Tuesday after de Belin’s lawyer argued his client required to travel interstate for his employment, including to Townsville to face North Queensland in round one next month.
The change of bail restrictions coincided with shocking details emerging via Police documents of his alleged rape of a woman prior to Christmas.
According to the documents, the Dragons star forward is accused of raping a 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 and Sinclair, who both fronted court for the first time on Tuesday, have each pleaded not guilty to a charge of aggravated sexual assault in company with both cases adjourned until April 17.
However, the disturbing nature of the allegations laid against de Belin sent social media into meltdown on Tuesday with league fans torn and divided as to whether the Dragons forward should be suspended from all club duties by the NRL until his April 17 case is heard.
The NRL and Dragons said de Belin would receive the presumption of innocence and that there would be “no change to his eligibility” for St George Illawarra.
“The matter is before the courts and the player has pleaded not guilty,” an NRL spokesperson said.
The status quo approach from the NRL comes amid a disastrous off-season of shame which has impacted the code’s commercial appeal and of which as revealed in last Saturday’s Telegraph, has left the game’s revenue under threat.
There is no suggestion de Belin is guilty — yet the ugly allegations have emerged just one week after NRL CEO Todd Greenberg declared Ben Barba no longer had a place in the game after viewing CCTV footage of the Cowboys fullback’s alleged physical altercation with his partner Ainslie Currie.
“If you’re violent against women you can expect to be removed from the game. That starts now,” Greenberg said.
Barba has not been charged by police.
De Belin has spent the past two months reporting to Wollongong Police Station, each Monday and Friday.
However, his lawyer Mr David Robert Campbell SC asked for the court to delete that condition on account of his need to travel with the Dragons to interstate games.
The Dragons launch their 2019 campaign in round one against North Queensland in Townsville on March 16.
De Belin could feature in the club’s first trial match against Newcastle at Jubilee Oval on February 23.
“The proceedings have to take their course in the usual way and there’s really nothing more he can say,” Mr Campbell said.
“Obviously, it was an essential (bail) variation because he wouldn’t be able to continue playing football with the team, pursuant to his contract, if we didn’t get it.”
Unfortunately, de Belin’s case is just the beginning for the NRL with Jarryd Hayne due to appear in Newcastle local court on Wednesday where he will plead not guilty to rape.
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Originally published as Jack de Belin case tests NRL’s hardline stance on violence towards women
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