NEWCASTLE, AUSTRALIA - SEPTEMBER 01: Jack De Belin of the Dragons in action during the round 25 NRL match between the Newcastle Knights and the St George Illawarra Dragons at McDonald Jones Stadium on September 1, 2018 in Newcastle, Australia. (Photo by Ashley Feder/Getty Images)

The NRL has awarded St George Illawarra special dispensation to cover the loss of Jack de Belin.

De Belin was forced to stand down from the Dragons, until a sexual assault case against him is finalised.

On Tuesday the NRL claimed the Dragons would be able to use $239,000 on a replacement for de Belin.

A spokesman for the NRL said the amount decided on was based on the salary de Belin will receive for the remainder of the 2019 season.

St George Illawarra were hoping that de Belin could return and play for the club, however, the federal court case against the ARLC ended with the courts ruling against him.

The NRL rules state that the Dragons must replace de Belin with a similar player, if they wanted to use the salary cap concession.

Leeds player Trent Merrin is linked with the club, with the Dragons also on the market for an outside back.

De Belin's court case is expected to conclude next year.

6 COMMENTS

  1. He’s stood down for the whole year. Won’t play an NRL game so why isn’t all his salary exempt?

  2. That’s a good question. I think the NRL has determined that half the season has almost gone that’s the reason all of his salary is not exempt.

  3. It’s jdb fault they can’t replace his whole salary, instead of taking his punishment like he should of he chose to fight it meaning nrl didn’t have to replace his salary yet until all other avenues were gone. May as well give drag queens cap relief for 2020 also as there is no way this grub will be back playing nrl

  4. Personally I agree that the Dragons should not get full cap relief. Debelin is stood down and that is not too dissimilar to a club that suffers a long term injury or suspension to a player. They have to take the hit with no relief. Not getting full relief encourages clubs to avoid the bad boys which is ultimately what the NRL (and all of us) should want. Personally, I would make any relief contingent on the player being proven innocent with the value of the relief being paid to NRL coffers should the player be found guilty.

  5. Players start getting paid for the new year on November 1st so over half a year has passed in terms of the footy season. So only the months that are left are available to be paid out. As bobfulton said above, it’s DeBelin’s fault for taking the NRL to court and not giving the club the availability to actually put through the paperwork earlier.

  6. It’s inconsistent with what happens in a court of law. In fact to say that it’s because he chose to fight it is a nonsense. When a person is arrested they get put in jail while going through the judicial process. If they are guilty they go to jail and the time they have spent getting to that point is taken off the sentence. It wasn’t de Belins choice to be stood down and he didn’t choose not to play. It was instilled by the NRL.

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