Curtis Scott’s chances of playing in round one have received a boost after getting the green light to show the NRL crucial footage from his Australia Day arrest.
There were initial fears Scott would fail to deliver police bodycam footage from his arrest by close of business on Monday and be stood down by the league.
However, it is understood his lawyers had written to the integrity unit just before the deadline, informing them that they would have video access in coming days.
The development is crucial to Scott’s hopes of making his club debut for Canberra’s season opener against Gold Coast.
NRL boss Todd Greenberg will view the footage, before using his discretionary powers to decide whether to sideline Scott under the no-fault stand-down policy.
The former Melbourne centre is defending six charges stemming from his off-field incident, including two counts of assaulting police.
Greenberg last week described the charges as “extremely serious allegations”.
Scott’s case returns to court on March 20, which means should the 22-year-old be stood down by the game, he will miss at least their season opener.
The Raiders will participate in this week’s NRL Nines in Perth, and also have a trial match against Canterbury on February 29 in Port Macquarie.
Scott’s potential absence would force coach Ricky Stuart to deploy veteran Michael Oldfield in the centres or shift Nick Cotric in from the wing.
Scott’s off-field troubles came in the same week the club released long-time centre Joey Leilua to the Wests Tigers.