NRL player Jack de Belin committed for rape trial

Sidelined NRL star Jack de Belin has been committed to stand trial on charges he raped a teenager five times.

The 28-year-old St George Illawarra lock and another man each face five charges of aggravated sexual assault in company after the alleged incident involving a 19-year-old woman at a Wollongong unit in December.

One of the charges against De Belin and Shell Cove man Callan Sinclair, 22, alleges the pair recklessly inflicted actual bodily harm.

De Belin pleaded not guilty to rape in February. Sinclair has indicated he will also fight the charges.

De Belin, a former NSW State of Origin player, said nothing as magistrate Michael Stoddart on Wednesday committed him to the Wollongong District Court.

The matter is due back in court on 20 August, just days after an expected Federal Court appeal hearing over the NRL’s stand-down policy.

De Belin, the most prominent subject of the NRL’s controversial no-fault stand-down policy, is appealing a ruling that the code can legally prevent players facing serious criminal charges from playing while their matters are before the courts.

The Federal Court in June heard De Belin’s District Court rape trial may not take place until 2020.

source: theguardian.com