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From what I've seen, ESL pretty much run their own ship (rightfully). Only threat to signing players "tends" to come from UK immigration regarding allocation of visas.
Mate I don’t care if he ends up the greatest front rower of all time and devotes allhis spare time to helping the homeless, the fact is he should have done a long stretch in jail and be banned from the game for a long stretch. His crime was horrendous and the NRL stuffed up big time once again
That is the US justice system for you. Rather than bear the cost of accommodating him in prison for whatever time, they determined that he had a reasonable prospect of earning a good income in future years and so decided to award a considerable chunk of it to those aggrieved. A seven figure payout for getting scared witless doesn't seem all that bad. If he was in the pokey they'd get nothing. Whether that is a better system is a matter of opinion, but that's the way it is. The NRL appears to be holding him to paying the damages as a condition of playing, having confined him to 2nd tier for a year, I don't know what more they can do. Obviously he's in the same boat as Barba was, one slip and you're gone.
You should try seeing with your eyes open.
So the NRL impose a suspension on Barba and then at the completion, refuse to register him a la Todd Carney. The ESL honour his suspension, but at conclusion of same, it is up to them whether they allow him to play in their league, and when all this dies down, and charges are not laid or do not bring a conviction because the victim doesn't co-operate, or even if he gets done for common assault, that is what I expect will happen. Unless of course the UK won't let him enter their country.
