ARL Commission chairman Peter Beattie says the NRL would have “withered and died” if their no fault stand down rule had not survived a legal challenge.
As the league looks set to introduce a proposed “punishment matrix”, Beattie admitted the game was still feeling the effects of a horror off-season but commended the administration’s stance toward player behaviour.
Beattie said the matrix’s new set of player punishment guidelines would build on their no fault stand down policy introduced at the start of the 2019 NRL season.
Beattie made no apologies for the league’s hard-line approach to player behaviour after Jack de Belin unsuccessfully challenged the no fault stand down policy in Federal Court in May, predicting dire consequences if the suspended St George Illawarra star had been successful.
De Belin was the first player stood down under the policy earlier this year after being charged with aggravated sexual assault amid a string of off-field incidents by NRL players in the off-season.
“It was critical. I don’t want to be melodramatic, but let me be frank, had we not got this no-fault rule in place and had it not stood the test of challenge, this game would’ve withered and died,” Beattie told Fox Sports’ League Life.
“It might’ve taken 20 years it might’ve taken 30 years, because you’ve got to remember this game is about families.
“This game is about growing the women’s game as well as men and I don’t want to be sexist but the truth is mums still make the decision as to whether their little boy or little girl plays this game.
“If they think there is something wrong with it, it’s repulsive in some way because of off-field behaviour, they will not allow their child to play the game.
“And what does that do? The game withers and dies. It doesn’t matter how many superstars you’ve got, if you’re not growing from the bottom up you do not have a game.”
Beattie said the commission was still consulting clubs and the Rugby League Players’ Association over the proposed matrix which will provide a new set of punishment guidelines for poor off-field behaviour.
The NRL has already revealed to clubs a draft plan for a stringent penalty regime in an attempt to introduce consistency.
“We knew this wasn’t going to be universally popular but we need consistency – you can’t have a different penalty for a different offence on a different occasion,” Beattie said of the proposed matrix.
“What we want is a set of rules that everyone understands…(so) bring the clubs in, bring the players’ association in and say ‘what is your view’ and change it accordingly.”
Beattie hoped the new punishment matrix would be in place by the start of the 2020 NRL season.