NRL boss Andrew Abdo willing to break bread with Jack de Belin

NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo stared down Jack de Belin in a federal courtroom last year and now he has offered to meet him in person.

St George Illawarra forward Jack de Belin. Picture: AAP

NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo stared down Jack de Belin in a federal courtroom last year and now he has offered to meet him in person as the St George Illawarra forward prepares to return to court for a hearing that could determine whether he plays rugby league again.

De Belin has been sidelined for over a year thanks to the NRL’s no-fault stand-down policy, after being charged with aggravated sexual assault over an incident in Wollongong in late-2018.

Abdo, at the time the NRL’s chief commercial officer, was one of the NRL’s key witnesses when de Belin attempted to have the policy overturned in the federal court. Since then, Abdo has stepped up as chief executive following the departure of Todd Greenberg and insists his door is open to all stakeholders, including de Belin. The Dragons forward, who has entered the biosecurity bubble with St George Illawarra and continues to train and be paid by the club, wanted to meet with Greenberg before COVID-19 forced the game into lockdown.

“I think it is important that we as custodians of the game to be connected to the stakeholders,” Abdo told The Australian.

“I would be willing to meet with any player that would like to discuss something. We may not agree on everything, we may not have the answer they want, but it is important to listen and connect.

“There is obviously a full level of empathy for Jack. We need the full justice system to be working and we need to respect that process and let it unfold.

“At the end of that there will be an outcome either way.”

De Belin has had his case adjourned until June 22 — by then, it will have been more than 18 months since he was first charged and almost two years since he played a game of rugby league.

The legal battle has already cost him a fortune, although the no-fault stand down policy means he continues to be paid by the Dragons — he is in the final year of a deal that is due to pay him $595,000 in 2020.

The Dragons are yet to open talks over a contract extension as they wait to see the outcome of his court hearing, and other clubs are known to be hovering with intent as they explore the option of signing de Belin should he avoid a lengthy prison sentence.

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Money will no doubt play a decisive part in the 29-year-old’s decision. While he has continued to be paid by the Dragons, he has also been confronted by significant legal costs.

He also missed out on the prospect of earning State of Origin payments last year, costing him close to $100,000.

Abdo, who took the witness stand in the federal court to discuss the impact of the de Belin charge and other off-field incidents on the game’s commercial viability, remains unapologetic over his support for the no-fault stand down policy.

Arguably no one in the NRL had as much capacity to understand the damage that was being done to the game by negative publicity off the field. Arguably no one played a more significant role in ensuring the game retained millions in corporate support during that period.

And arguably, no one will play a more significant role in rebuilding the game’s commercial strength in the wake of COVID-19 than Abdo.

“I think it was important for us to have a mechanism in that we were able to protect the game,” he said. “It is an incredibly competitive landscape and we have ambitions for the sport to grow. The positioning of our brand is so important.

“That no-fault stand down policy, without playing any judgment on the individual, was brought in to protect the game and to protect the game’s interests more broadly.

“While I can understand the frustration for a player who is perhaps on a delayed basis in terms of waiting for the backlog of the legal system to run its course, it was brought in for a reason.

“That reason is still valid. We have to protect the game and the game’s image.”