NSW State of Origin lock Jack de Belin is taking the Australian Rugby League Commission to the Federal Court after it banned him from playing while he answers sexual assault charges.
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The case will be a significant test of the league's new rules introduced last week by chairman Peter Beattie who claimed the NRL needed the power to fix the code's broken culture.
Players facing criminal charges which carry a maximum jail term of 11 years or more can now be stood down under a no-fault policy which Beattie stressed didn't imply guilt.
De Belin, 27, was stood down last week under the new policy after he pleaded not guilty to a sexual assault charge from December.
"I am innocent and will vigorously defend the charge against me," de Belin said in a statement last week.
The commission received legal documents on Wednesday with a case management hearing listed in the Federal Court for Thursday afternoon.
The St George Illawarra player lodged his statement of claim with the Federal Court in Sydney on Monday.
The action is believed to have been launched by de Belin himself, without the financial support of the Dragons, who are preparing for their opening-round clash with North Queensland on March 16.
He has returned to training with the club on full pay under the terms of the NRL's ban which keeps him from taking the field until his court case is finalised.
The Federal Court hearing will come hours before the NRL attempts to turn a new page following a horror summer with the season launch in Sydney on Thursday night.
Both Manly's Dylan Walker and Penrith's Tyrone May have also been stood down under discretionary powers given to NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg for players charged with crimes attracting sentences of less than 11 years.
It's understood the Rugby League Players' Association has been in constant contact with de Belin's legal team.
The association says it will support any member who wants to explore their legal options following the introduction of the no-fault policy.
De Belin in mid-February pleaded not guilty to sexually assaulting a woman in company with a friend.
The 27-year-old was charged with aggravated sexual assault after the alleged attack on a 19-year-old woman in a Wollongong unit in the early hours of December 9.
Australian Associated Press
