The NRL's new no-fault stand-down policy is one step closer to being enacted with ARL Commissioners to meet on Monday to approve the rule.
Just a day after the Federal Court ruled Jack de Belin was technically not yet stood down as the rule hadn't been enacted, the ARL Commission (ARLC) received a draft of it on Friday night.
Commissioners have spent the weekend considering the details of the new rule and will come together on Monday to discuss its approval.
"It will then be implemented. It will be in place before the season starts," ARL Commission chairman Peter Beattie said.
"When the Commission announced its stance on February 28, it had always intended that the necessary changes in the rules would need to be finalised in consultation with our legal advisors, recognising that the applicable new rules would be in place prior to the start of the season."
Beattie announced last month the rule will include players being automatically stood down if charged with a crime that faces a sentence of 11 years or more, while chief executive Todd Greenberg will have discretionary powers to sideline players charged with other offences.
Peter Beattie Source: AAP
Essentially, it means de Belin will again be stood down on Monday if and when the rule is approved, as will Manly's Dylan Walker and Penrith's Tyrone May under the discretionary powers.
All will remain on full pay and be able to continue training with their respective teams, as per the original details announced by Beattie and Greenberg.
It will come just three days before the season kicks off and before de Belin's case against the NRL returns to court on Thursday morning.
There, it's expected that de Belin will try and stop the ARLC and NRL from implementing the rule, in turn allowing him to play until his court case on an aggravated sexual assault charge is complete.
The NSW State of Origin lock has strenuously denied the charge from an alleged incident last December and pleaded not guilty in a Wollongong court in February.
The 27-year-old is also attempting to sue the league on the basis it did not have the power to stand him down late last month, and claims the NRL engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct.
Beattie last week admitted his job as ARLC chairman was on the line over his determination to fix the cultural and behaviour issues plaguing the game.
But the former Queensland Premier told sponsors at Thursday night's season launch to stick with the code as the new rules would work.
