SPORT Dragon faces trial delay
JACK de Belin’s rape trial is suddenly at risk of being delayed until August – if legal argument can’t be resolved.
The threat of the case being dragged out for a further six months is a potential public relations nightmare for both the NRL and St George Illawarra.
De Belin and his co-accused, Callan Sinclair, formally pleaded not guilty to five counts of aggravated sexual assault in Wollongong District Court last Monday.
Their trial was then expected to begin but it was delayed by legal argument.
The legal debate remained unresolved on Friday.
News Corp has learnt that presiding Judge Andrew Haesler has indicated to all parties that if the legal argument can’t be resolved, the nearest possible date for trial would be August.
A crucial update on the legal argument is set to be received in Wollongong tomorrow.
The Dragons, who are eager for the case to be resolved so that de Belin can potentially return to playing and be part of their 2020 season campaign, are aware of the potential delay in the trial – and so too, is the NRL.
De Belin and Sinclair are accused of sexually assaulting a 19-year-old woman at a Wollongong unit in December 2018.
De Belin was stood down by the NRL after he was charged more than 12 months ago.
His case was a major driver in NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg and then ARL
Commission chairman Peter Beattie introducing the game’s “no-fault” stand-down policy.
De Belin became the first player to be sidelined under the rule, which allows the game to stand aside players facing serious criminal charges.
At the time, de Belin had earnt a reputation as one of the game’s premier back-rowers.
He’d made his NSW State of Origin debut in 2018 and was being touted as a future Australian representative.
His Federal Court challenge against the NRL and ARL Commission was dismissed in May 2019.
De Belin, 28, has been allowed to train with his teammates while he awaits trial.
If found not guilty, he will likely be allowed to return to the field in time for the Dragons’ NRL campaign.