Ben Barbaโ€™s NRL career appears over after CCTV footage from a Townsville casino showed the former Dally M Medallist physically assaulting his partner over the Australia Day weekend.

In the aftermath of the release of the vision, Barba has been deregistered from the NRL and seemingly wonโ€™t play again after an announcement by NRL CEO Todd Greenberg.

The announcement came after an investigation by the leagueโ€™s integrity unit into the alleged domestic violence incident.

โ€œIt was a physical altercation and that was plenty for me to make the decision Iโ€™ve made,โ€ Greenberg told reporters on Tuesday Morning.

The NRL boss didnโ€™t mince his words when addressing Barbaโ€™s prospects of playing in the league in the future.

โ€œI canโ€™t see a time, or any time in the future that heโ€™d be welcome back.โ€

Greenberg continued to put the rest of the league on notice.

โ€œWeโ€™re going to get tougher and stronger on players that do the wrong thing because we cannot afford the damage it does to our game.

โ€œItโ€™s a very clear message for a lot of players in our sport that itโ€™s a great privilege to play rugby leagueโ€ฆ But it comes with real responsibility.

โ€œIf you start to step outside the crease, you are going to put your livelihood at risk.โ€

Barba was sacked by the North Queensland Cowboys on Friday, having just joined the club from English Super League side St Helens ahead of the 2019 season.

He was on his final warning at the Cowboys after being booted from the NRL in 2016 for recording a second illicit drugs strike following his former club Cronullaโ€™s premiership.

Barba played 168 of his 202 career games in the NRL, spanning eight years from 2008 to 2016.

13 COMMENTS

  1. Sticking with the theme of the off season from hell , i wonder what will become of Jarrod Hayne ? Will we ever see him again ?

  3. About time Greenburge has stuck good with his word. A ban world wide is a very great result for this druggie woman basher. Now that his woman and kids wont be getting the luxurious money flowing in then perhaps it is the incentive for her to grow a backbone and get him kicked out of the family home.

  4. Sadly the NRL has no power to ban Barba worldwide. Even though the Superleague and Australian Rugby have followed with bans, Barba will find himself a payday in Japanese or French Rugby,

  5. It’s not a worldwide ban yet. While he has been banned by the NRL and the RFL (Superleague) and Rugby Union Australia say they will honour the decision made by the NRL, there’s no indication that other international codes will recognise the ban imposed on him.
    As for his partner growing a backbone and kicking him out of the family home, it’s not always so easily done. While I would like to see her leave him behind, for her sake and that of her children, life isn’t that simple and for some people even a bad partner is better than no partner at all.
    It’s not for us to judge the lady, but hopefully she will have someone to guide her through a dreadfully difficult time and help her find the best way forward for her and her children. She needs support, not criticism.

  7. True, however for the benefit of their children she needs to put an end to his belief that he has ownership over her and stop him thinking it is OK to lash out with physical anger. A barrier has been crossed in his mind and it will never get better until Barba reaches a rock bottom. Then he will seek professional help or self destruct to a place OF NO RETURN.

  9. At least Rugby League fans have seen the last of this mentally ill character. Wonder if he flips out on Whale fin soup in Japanโ“โ”โ“Hopefully she has had enough now, this lunatic will end up killing her.

  10. Haa Haa Ha, you gotta laugh don’t you. The Cronulla jersey was hypocritical but kinda understandable in a way but what’s with the dogs ? They will put a piccy up there of any club except the teflon cowies where he was contracted at the time of his offending.

    Well he is gone and good riddance though it was beginning to look like a witch hunt there for a while. A spell doing a real job and earning peanuts like the vast majority of fans who used to pay his wages should do him a world of good. I just hope this get tough policy continues and that the rest of the Rugby League world sits up and takes notice. We don’t need you idiots no matter how good you are.

  11. Silly to deregister him just send him back to DRUGNULLA hell fit in straight away

    The word is that they wanted to offer him 250k to come back

  12. Hayne’s court case is next Wednesday though that might not be the end of it. He has not been required to appear so it sounds like they might be expecting to refer it to a higher court. Then there is his American one which is much further out.

    Any conviction and he would have to get a life ban from Greenburg. The line has clearly been drawn in what could easily turn out to be the NRL’s Year of Retribution.

    So far, we have had
    Flanagan
    Pascoe
    Barba

    To come
    Hayne
    Napa
    deBelin
    Walker
    Musgrove
    Coleman
    and of course Cronulla’s SC

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