Veteran broadcaster Ray Hadley has labeled the outcome of Jack de Belin's 'no fault stand down' policy suspension as the superior reason for the Dragons split within the club.
Speaking on 2GB Radio, Hadley claimed that the club can't move into greener pastures until de Belin's case is resolved.
“There’s a major problem at the club and it goes way beyond Mary McGregor,” Hadley said.
“Unfortunately it involves Jack de Belin, who has a very important court case that he’ll confront later this year.
“My information coming out of the Shire and out of St George is this: he’s part of the training group because he’s not been proven guilty of anything, but he’s facing very serious charges.
“There are players that support him, and there are players that do not support him. And it’s illustrated on the field that the players are divided.
“You’d need to be a combination of Wayne Bennett, Craig Bellamy and Jack Gibson to solve that problem.
“I think you’ve got a major problem. You can replace (McGregor) with whoever you like, but until this matter is finalised it’ll be a divided club.”
Dragons coach Paul McGregor has been noted by the club that he has four weeks to turn the nature and results of the playing group around following an emergency board meeting on Tuesday.
I remember posting comments last year about JDB training with the first grade squad, and one of the concerns I had was his court case, and that his presence at training could be a distraction from what was most important – the team. I went on to say that in my opinion JDB should be kept away from the playing group and any needs he had/has should be dealt with by the club’s welfare arm.
I only found out last week that he is still training with the big boys, and for this to be still going on is divisive and unprofessional. I thought the club had the JDB situation sorted out, but if what Ray Hadley has said is correct, some people at the club are very naive or immature. I can’t imagine any other NRL club allowing a situation like this to go on.
If the Dragons players, coach and club officials can’t get this sorted out, I can’t see their on-field efforts changing. If JDB really cares about the club and his team mates he should bite the bullet and remove himself from all of the first grade squad’s activities. This might seem heartless, but we need to remember what the charges are that he is facing, and the fact that he foolishly put himself into a toxic situation in the first place.