St George Illawarra welcome certainty surrounding de Belin trial

It was there in February when the NRL introduced the no-fault stand down policy. And it was there when de Belin lost his Federal Court appeal in May.

With the Dragons out of finals contention, and just three games left to play, the shadow loomed large over the side yet again this week.

But this time, it came with a silver lining.

This time, the Dragons know exactly when that shadow will finally clear.

With a court date set for March next year and de Belin withdrawing his Federal Court appeal on Thursday, St George Illawarra can finally look forward with some certainty.

That certainty is the most pleasing aspect of this week for Paul McGregor, with the Dragons coach relieved the 2020 season won't be derailed by the rape allegations.

"We won't be able to escape that (the situation) until the final decision," McGregor said. "The beauty of what happened this week is obviously the timing of Jack's hearing for the criminal case.

"The scheduling of that will be before the season starts, so it won't interfere and impact on 2020, because it should be finished a week into the competition, not throughout the whole year.

"We'll get pre-season going next year and know before a ball's kicked, or within a week of a ball being kicked whether he's available or not."

Read more: Cameron McInnes tipped to lead St George Illawarra to future success

The de Belin developments came in a week that should have been a celebration for the club, with both Gareth Widdop and Jeremy Latimore playing their final games at Kogarah when the Dragons take on the Roosters on Saturday night.

McGregor acknowledges his team faces a challenging assignment against the defending premiers, however he said everyone in the squad is determined to send Widdop and Latimore out on a high.

"It's the last game for Gareth here, with his next journey being overseas, so it's a really big day for Gaz, and it's one of the home grounds that Latimore's played at, it's his last one here.

"For the team, we love playing here, it's a real ground that we look forward to playing at each and every time we do throughout the year. It's been a challenging season and we'd like to finish off on a high here."

After going through a lean period in which they suffered a number of heavy defeats, the Dragons have produced some much-improved showings in recent weeks.

The past month, however, has seen the side claim just one victory, with St George Illawarra struggling to produce a complete performance.

For McGregor, the side needs to combine last week's defensive effort with the attacking display from a fortnight ago if they are to defeat the Roosters.

"We haven't been playing the right type of footy to enjoy ourselves. We've been putting ourselves under a fair bit of pressure due to a low completion rate and possession rate.

"Defensively the last three losses, we've played teams in the top eight and only conceded one try, when I say only, it's still one too many, but one each in the second halves.

"We need to make sure our defence is on song and really play at speed and execute well and still have that excitement to us."

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