The NRL says Jack de Belin has not been suspended as a new rule has not yet been enacted but it is expected to be brought in before the 2019 competition starts.
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St George Illawarra star Jack de Belin has not yet been suspended by the NRL despite widespread public statements to the contrary, a judge has been told.
Alan Sullivan QC, for the NRL and the Australian Rugby League Commission, said the proposed new rule and policy to stand down players charged with a serious criminal offence had not yet been enacted.
The truth is, nothing is in place at the moment. It is damaging to him as a professional and as an individual.
"There's nothing to stop him playing rugby league from (between) now and the time the rule is enacted," he said on Thursday.
De Belin is suing the NRL and ARLC in the Federal Court in Sydney over their representations that on February 28 he was suspended on full pay, having previously pleaded not guilty to raping a 19-year-old woman in Wollongong.
The NSW State of Origin lock claims they did not have the power to suspend him and that they engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct.
De Belin wants the court to permanently restrain the NRL and commission from inserting the new rule into the NRL Rules
Mr Sullivan said de Belin was not presently suspended although the new rule was expected to be brought in before the start of the 2019 NRL competition next week.
Justice Stephen Rares said NRL material had suggested de Belin had been stood down when in fact he had not.
"There is no entitlement to stand him down from what you have told me," he said.
"The truth is, nothing is in place at the moment. It is damaging to him as a professional and as an individual."
The case was adjourned to March 12 by which time the new rule may be in place.
Australian Associated Press
