On Tuesday, St George Illawarra Dragons player Jack de Belin left Wollongong Local Court having pled not guilty to charges of aggravated sexual assault.
There have been some very serious allegations being levelled at De Belin, including that he repeatedly raped a 19-year-old woman while his mate Callan Sinclair (who is also accused) watched on. The details surrounding these allegations are very challenging to read – at one point it is alleged that De Belin asked Sinclair to join him in having non-consensual intercourse with the woman, inviting him to ‘come on, have a go’.
Following De Belin leaving court, the NRL came out and said that he is free to continue playing until the legal process is completed. While De Belin had been reporting to the police twice a week, this condition has been relaxed given that he has commitments with the Dragons that require him to travel so that he can play footy.
But, in my strong opinion, De Belin should not be seen on the field in the red and white jersey until his case has been closed. He should be stood down with pay and not allowed to play – but allowed to continue training with his team.
Earlier this month Todd Greenberg came out strongly in response to CCTV footage that confirmed that Ben Barba had a physical altercation with his wife on Australia Day. The North Queensland Cowboys also acted strongly, immediately terminating Barba’s contract, and Greenberg backed this up by making it very clear that there was no scenario in which Barba would be welcomed back to the NRL in the immediate future.
Ben Barba. (AAP Image/David Moir)
Many fans welcomed this tough stance too, given how many of us are feeling slightly disillusioned after the number of alleged incidents this off-season.
Standing down De Belin is a controversial view and I already know what sort of comments will be at the bottom of this article.
The first one is ‘innocent until proven guilty’, and I completely agree. Like anyone else, De Belin has the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty, and standing him down would not be making an assumption about the outcome of this case. It simply means he’d not play for the Dragons until a verdict has been reached.
I actually think that would be in De Belin’s best interests. I query how he can possibly take the field for the Dragons at the moment with this circus surrounding him and be completely focused on playing football. I query how he will handle potential taunts from other players and fans.
I query how well mentally and emotionally he will be able to handle playing football at the same time while he is under intense scrutiny.
Additionally, football, fitness and friends will be key to De Belin during this time; he should still be able to train with his teammates and be given the support that he needs as this process continues to go through the court system.
There have also been suggestions that if De Belin is stood down, it’ll set a dangerous precedent where people in the public will make false accusations to get players stood down ahead of important games.
How sickening is it that someone would potentially think about ruining a player’s reputation to that extent and would go to the extreme lengths of pressing false charges.
But this argument falls flat on its face. De Belin is currently in court and very serious charges have been tabled. For it to get to this point in the court system, there must be at least enough evidence for there to be a compelling case worth pursuing.
Police take these matters seriously. You simply cannot go to a station, make false charges and expect a charge to follow soon after. There needs to be evidence to back those allegations up.
And, of course, whenever an article like this is written the situation surrounding Brett Stewart is always raised. But that situation was completely different. The NRL made a decision to suspend Brett Steward for four rounds and charged him $100,000.
Stewart was eventually cleared, but immense damage had been done to his career.
My proposal here does not impose any financial penalties on De Belin. There is no suspension from the club environment, save from taking the field on gameday. De Belin should simply be stood down to handle the situation that he is currently in and be given the space, time and privacy to do that.
I do not envy the NRL. They are in a no-win position here.
They can take my approach and then, if he is found innocent, they can deal with the challenges of him potentially losing an Origin spot.
Or they can allow him to play, which he is legally allowed to do, and potentially alienate some fans who will find it very challenging to cheer on a team featuring De Belin in the current circumstances.
Either way, this off-season is one I would rather forget, but that doesn’t seem likely given the number of players who will face court in the coming weeks.
Sidah
Roar Rookie
The article makes the point that police need compelling evidence to lay charges in a situation like this. The fact that charges have been laid, and the nature of the charges should result in De Belin being stood down or him removing himself. What I find disturbing is die hard NRL fans who feel the game must go on regardless of the circumstances. De Belin makes up the face of the Dragons. Not a good look. If he's not stood down, what does this communicate to young people? There was an incident which De Belin will no doubt say was consensual. Given he has a pregnant fiancee at home brings big question marks over the moral compass of this man.
Michael Keeffe
Roar Guru
There are plenty of workplaces where if you are charged with a serious criminal offence you are stood down. In my workplace as someone who represents my organisation publicly I would be stood down for sure. Surely someone at NRL HQ has the brains to write it into every NRL contract that if you are charged with a serious criminal offence (especially violence against women) you are stood down with pay until the case is resolved. You have the chance to prove your innocence and can be reinstated if found not guilty. Another thing that people tend to confuse is it has gone beyond the allegation stage. It's an allegation when someone takes a complaint to the police. They police have found sufficient evidence to charge De Belin (and Hayne and Walker). At the very least they are stupid for putting themselves in a situation like this, particularly with their high profiles.
Forty Twenty
Roar Rookie
All the cases are different but it's exactly the same principle. I can see that point of view and it has merit but it's not as black and white. I think once the season starts and JDB plays that it won't be a big deal after a while. All these things run out of steam despite what people will imagine. The point that's being lost here I believe is that the damage is done whenever a charge like this this laid and whether the player plays the season or not will only make a smallish difference. All the talk of what else he was doing on the night and the disrepute he has bought to the game etc is a distraction. It's all about the charge and whether he is guilty or not and the fallout will happen regardless of any action that's taken before the verdict. Not everyone will agree but I accept that. The last NRL player to be found guilty of rape is? I don't know of one case and I could be wrong but the spate of fake allegations in recent years and the lack of history of this offence mean that they need to be careful destroying a season or more for a player and club when he could well be innocent.
Daz
Roar Rookie
Yes, and cant believe comments from fitler last week. They were stupid.
Daz
Roar Rookie
Again this is a much different case to el masri. St george will have no one to celebrate with if they let this guy play and win. Guilty or not letting him play is killing the game. He must stand down now.
Daz
Roar Rookie
Hate to ever agree with fitzsimons but there is only one course available here...
Daz
Roar Rookie
Its a pity greenberg isnt strong enough to stand him down now. I doubt the commissioners would disagree with him.
Daz
Roar Rookie
Youve completely missed the point.
Daz
Roar Rookie
These cases sound very different to me. He can't be allowed to play with these charges pending given what was aired in court last week. He should do the right thing and offer to stand down.
Daz
Roar Rookie
Its not an issue of bail. Its simply the case that he is charged with an offence of sexual violence and cannot therefore expect to be allowed to play. He should actually offer to stand down.
Daz
Roar Rookie
Agreed.
Daz
Roar Rookie
He cant play a family game like RL facing these charges. It is untenable.
Daz
Roar Rookie
Spot on.
Daz
Roar Rookie
Actually, no. His position is untenable. He may be guilty or not but the charges are very serious and tbe conduct alleged if proven true is despicable. The Magistrate also noted that the case against him is strong. I am in full agreement with the author. Stand down with pay and if hes guilty punish himthen with a life ban. If not guilty then he can resume playing.
Ben
Roar Guru
Nope. Letting Lodge play NRL again is showing that people can redeem themselves.
Big Daddy
Guest
Reesy, The dragon's lawyers know these cases can take 1 and up 2 years to get resolved and 1 in 10 cases are ever found guilt so they are probably willing to take the risk. Football clubs only make decisions that will benefit them. Not sure about Hayne as he has no club at moment.
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
Well if he’s guilty the courts will punish him and his Rugby League career will be over. So adequate punishment is covered.
Bunney
Roar Rookie
I was 30 and supporting a partner and two kids. The job was casual, so if I was stood down it would have been without pay. Just as serious a situation as JDB's in terms of living / surviving. And Mary argued that he should continue getting paid... Just getting charged when you're not guilty is a harsh price to pay. But what if he's guilty? What are the what ifs that relate to that Q? I don't think we'll ever make the right calls if the 'what ifs' take primacy in the decision making process.
Bunney
Roar Rookie
I agree 40-20. Don't confuse what I said...I didn't say they were the same, instead I pointed out that being stood down from your job without a conviction is far more common than some seem to believe. The situation has a lot of both obvious and nuanced differences to that of a community worker. My point is that what Mary has argued for isn't some pie-in-the-sky idea with no precedent in society.
Forty Twenty
Roar Rookie
You achieved your aim of an unbalanced post. If you Brendon meet the woman in a bar who were involved in the recent fake cases, my advice to you is ignore their gender and the sugar and spice stuff and do the bolt really fast. Read the articles and remember the names. If you have a sister who meets the wrongly accused males then there is no reason to worry at all.