EXCLUSIVE: Rich offers for accused Jack de Belin 'very premature', Phil Gould says
By Tim Elbra
6 hours ago
Clubs should await the outcome in Jack de Belin's court case before throwing big money at the sidelined Dragons forward, Phil Gould says.
A report over the weekend revealed that de Belin was set for a huge pay rise should he avoid conviction over sexual assault charges, with offers of $800,000 per season from rival clubs touted.
De Belin's current $595,000 per season deal ends this year and the Warriors are reportedly willing to offer top dollar for the 2018 NSW Origin forward. St George Illawarra reportedly offered about $700,000 per season.
Gould, Penrith's general manager until last season, told Wide World of Sports that it was premature to be discussing a new contract for de Belin. The 29-year-old hasn't played since 2018 and will face trial later this year, having pleaded not guilty.
Dragons forward Jack de Belin. (Getty)
"I don't know, and I have not been briefed at all as to where his court case is, so far as confidence in the final result and what may come from there," Gould said on The Final Whistle.
"Then I've got no idea what the reaction of the league might be, given that verdict when he comes out of that court case, positive or negative.
"I think it's very, very premature for clubs to be talking about, 'We'll make an offer to this player'. A, he may not be available.
"I think football-wise, he'd probably take half a season to get back to where he was, even though he's been training with the Dragons all the way through it. So I think it's a bit of a gamble.
"We've just got to wait and see what happens with the court case at the end of the year. Certainly if I was in charge of a club, I wouldn't be going down this road until I knew the result of that court case."
The Dragons are bracing for the loss of Test forward Tyson Frizell to Newcastle next season, depleting a roster that is already struggling to compete in the NRL.
De Belin was one of the NRL's most damaging middle forwards before being stood down before last season over the sexual assault charges, relating to an incident involving a woman in Wollongong during 2018.
He was prevented from playing by the NRL's then-new no fault stand-down policy.
https://wwos.nine.com.au/nrl/dragon...il-gould/57a4239c-cfd3-4b6f-8599-79479f135c1c
6 hours ago
Clubs should await the outcome in Jack de Belin's court case before throwing big money at the sidelined Dragons forward, Phil Gould says.
A report over the weekend revealed that de Belin was set for a huge pay rise should he avoid conviction over sexual assault charges, with offers of $800,000 per season from rival clubs touted.
De Belin's current $595,000 per season deal ends this year and the Warriors are reportedly willing to offer top dollar for the 2018 NSW Origin forward. St George Illawarra reportedly offered about $700,000 per season.
Gould, Penrith's general manager until last season, told Wide World of Sports that it was premature to be discussing a new contract for de Belin. The 29-year-old hasn't played since 2018 and will face trial later this year, having pleaded not guilty.
Dragons forward Jack de Belin. (Getty)
"I don't know, and I have not been briefed at all as to where his court case is, so far as confidence in the final result and what may come from there," Gould said on The Final Whistle.
"Then I've got no idea what the reaction of the league might be, given that verdict when he comes out of that court case, positive or negative.
"I think it's very, very premature for clubs to be talking about, 'We'll make an offer to this player'. A, he may not be available.
"I think football-wise, he'd probably take half a season to get back to where he was, even though he's been training with the Dragons all the way through it. So I think it's a bit of a gamble.
"We've just got to wait and see what happens with the court case at the end of the year. Certainly if I was in charge of a club, I wouldn't be going down this road until I knew the result of that court case."
The Dragons are bracing for the loss of Test forward Tyson Frizell to Newcastle next season, depleting a roster that is already struggling to compete in the NRL.
De Belin was one of the NRL's most damaging middle forwards before being stood down before last season over the sexual assault charges, relating to an incident involving a woman in Wollongong during 2018.
He was prevented from playing by the NRL's then-new no fault stand-down policy.
https://wwos.nine.com.au/nrl/dragon...il-gould/57a4239c-cfd3-4b6f-8599-79479f135c1c
