The NRL have ruled that St George Illawarra Dragons prop George Burgess will be allowed to continue playing while he faces legal proceedings for an alleged incident in early March.

New South Wales Police last week charged Burgess with "sexually touching another person without consent" following an investigation.

"The National Rugby League (NRL) has advised the St George Illawarra Dragons that player George Burgess will be permitted to continue playing in the NRL Premiership while subject to criminal proceedings," the NRL's statement read.

"So as not to prejudice Burgessโ€™ criminal proceedings case, the NRL will wait the outcome of that case before taking any action for possible breaches of NRL rules.

"The decision in no way forms a judgement on the allegations against Burgess which are serious and the NRL reserves the right to impose a No Fault Stand Down in the future."

A police statement released last week said the incident occurred on Tuesday, March 8, and that the 29-year-old had been granted conditional bail to appear in court on April 13.

"A man has been charged over an alleged sexual touching earlier this month," the police statement said.

"Earlier this month, officers from South Sydney Police Area Command commenced an investigation following reports a woman had been sexually touched by a man known to her on Tuesday 8 March 2022.

"Following inquiries, a 29-year-old man was arrested at Mascot Police Station about 4.40pm today.

"He was charged with sexually touch another person without consent and granted conditional bail to appear at Downing Centre Local Court on Wednesday 13 April 2022."

The St George Illawarra Dragons dropped Burgess from their Round 3 team for last Thursday's loss to the Cronulla Sharks, the Englishman having played Round 2 from the bench after playing the opening weekend in the NSW Cup as he returned from a long lay off due to hip surgery.

1 COMMENT

  1. “The decision in no way forms a judgement on the allegations against Burgess which are serious and the NRL reserves the right to impose a No Fault Stand Down in the future.”

    TRANSLATION:
    “The NRL copped plenty of criticism over its failure to acknowledge ‘innocent until proven guilty’ in the Jack De Belin case, so the NRL will do nothing now, but reserves the right to change its mind and suspend Burgess if the squealing on social media gets too loud.”

Comments are closed.