5

NRL Competition is in the same domestic market as the Australian Football League,

Test Match and 20/20 cricket, Super Rugby and the A-League Competition and each of

these competitions are seeking to attract broadcasters, spectators, viewers and

sponsors.

30. The recent growth in the revenue in the NRL Competition is no basis in my view to

assume that it will continue to grow or indeed maintain its current level.

31. Broadcasting and streaming revenue comprises approximately two thirds of the current

revenues of the NRL Competition and it is therefore vulnerable to any downturn in what

in my opinion is an uncertain future market for these rights for all professional sports in

Australia. It is important that the NRL Competition is able to maintain its competitive

position in this market by continuing to attract large viewing audiences and to generate a

positive assessment by broadcasters that paying substantial fees to acquire the rights to

NRL Competition matches will be a good investment.

32. The future commercial revenues that the NRL Competition generates are similarly

uncertain. The maintenance and growth of these revenues depends on spectators,

sponsors and advertisers continuing to regard the NRL Competition, and the Clubs and

players that participate in it, positively and worthy of their viewing and financial support.

33. One specific area of growth that the NRL's executive team under my direction are

focusing on is the number of female fans of the game, both as spectators, participants

and television viewers. One particular area that we often discuss is that there are many

female fans of the State of Origin series who do not watch the weekly NRL Competition,

so there is an opportunity to grow the female viewing audience of the competition.

Participation

34. A key priority of the NRL strategic plan is the growth in the number of participants that

are registered to play the game across all formats.

35. A significant element of this is increasing the level of female support of the game. It is

my view that mothers play a very significant role in determining what sports their children

play and that they will be more likely to involve their children as participants if they are

fans of the game.

36. Increasing female participation in the game is a particular focus of the strategy. The NRL

in 2018 introduced a women's premiership competition and a stand-alone State of Origin

match. Female participation in the contact format of the game last year increased by

29%. While the number of female partrcipants of the contact form of the game is still low,

there are over 300,000 registered female participants of the NRL touch format of the

game so there is great potential to grow participation.

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coverage of that Court appearance which purports to set out details of the alleged

conduct of Mr de Belin resulting in the charges.

63. Mr de Belin's Court appearance was also the subject of extensive newspaper reports

which set out the allegations of the complainant. At [41 and [5] of Exhibit TG 1

respectively are copies of the reports that were published in the Sydney Morning Herald

and Daily Telegraph on 13 February 2019.

64. The allegations made by the complainant as reported, which the Police have regarded

as sufficiently credible to justify charging Mr de Belin, are extremely serious. I was

extremely concerned at the reputational damage which would be done to the game and

to the NRL Competition from the media reports with our sponsors, broadcasters and

fans. In the past 12 months the NRL has undertaken a significant amount of work in

relation to women in rugby league including the introduction of the elite competition

NRLW and is seeking to make the game more attractive for women to participate in and

attend. I was extremely concerned at the effect that these allegations would have on the

female audience which we were trying so hard to retain and attract.

65. All of this has in my opinion caused significant damage to Mr de Belin's reputation. I

appreciate that Mr de Belin has pleaded not guilty to the charge. However, the reality in

my view is that many members of the public would be likely to conclude that he had not

been charged without cause and that the police who laid the charges reasonably

believed he had engaged in conduct that warranted him being charged with that offence.

66. One immediate consequence of the damage to Mr de Belin's reputation was that the

NRL determined to remove him from the NRL Player Marketing Fund. Prior to the charge

he had been selected by the NRL to be included in the Fund, which is one by which the

NRL directly contracts what it considers are the top 32 most marketable players in the

NRL to help promote the game. The NRL after the charge made the decision to no

longer offer Mr de Belin a contract because of the damage caused to his reputation and

the further damage that would be caused to the reputation of the NRL Competition if he

was publicly held out as one of its chosen representatives.

Reaction to criminal charges against players, including Mr de Belin

67. The number of criminal charges that were brought against players following the 2018

NRL season for offences involving women was a matter of serious concern to me. In my

role as Chief Executive Officer of the NRL I have a significant responsibility to protect the

integrity and reputation of the NRL Competition and the game of rugby league generally.

If the allegations against him are proven, then Mr de Belin has no place in the game and

if I was still the CEO I would cancel his registration because the NRL and the game

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