St George Illawarra Dragons' recruit and former South Sydney Rabbitoh George Burgess has been formerly charged with malicious damage.
Burgess will face court for the incident on October 19, about two weeks after the NRL grand final, and roughly six weeks before he will be due to front up for Dragons' training for the first time.
The charge is not of a significant enough nature to attack the NRL's no-fault stand-down policy, which rubbed one of George Burgesses new teammates Jack De Belin out of the sport for over two years, and is currently being applied to young Manly Sea Eagles' hooker Manase Fainu.
Burgess allegedly became involved in a verbal altercation on the roadside on Monday night with a 32-year-old man before grabbing the man's phone and throwing it on the road.
The alleged incident was reported to Wollongong police on Monday night, with the veteran front rower, who has been signed by the Dragons on a two-year deal, charged yesterday.
Burgess has only just arrived back in Australia following a stint in England. He played in the Super League following his time at the Rabbitohs, but lasted just a handful of games before retiring due to a serious hip injury.
With medical procedures running their course though, he is set to return and battle for a spot in the Dragons' top 17 come Round 1 of the 2022 season.
The Dragons have also signed Francis Molo and Jaydn Su'A to bolster their forward pack, while other front rowers Paul Vaughan and Kaide Ellis won't be at the club in 2022.
