Jack de Belin becomes latest Dragons player fined over COVID breach
Jack de Belin is the latest member of the St George Illawarra Dragons to be fined over a house party that breached COVID-19 restrictions in New South Wales.
Key points:
- Twelve men and one woman have been hit with $1,000 fines for the party at Paul Vaughan’s house
- NSW Police said they only found out Jack de Belin was at the party “following inquiries”
- In addition to the NSW government’s lockdown, the NRL has put players under strict biosecurity protocols
One woman and 12 men had already been fined over the party at the home of prop Paul Vaughan over the weekend, which police were called to after a noise complaint.
On Monday morning, NSW Police announced De Belin, who recently returned to the Dragons’ NRL side after being found not guilty in a long rape trial, was the 14th person slapped with a $1,000 penalty infringement notice.
NSW Police said they found out De Belin had been at the party “following inquiries”.
The Dragons won their eighth game of the season on the weekend and have a bye coming up.
The team said on Sunday it was aware of the breach but was not commenting further while the investigation continued.
Players are currently subject to the NRL’s level four biosecurity protocols which means they must stay at home and can only leave the house if it is to go to training or to the supermarket.
Under the current NSW lockdown, which covers Shellharbour where Vaughan’s house is, people must give a sufficient reason to visit someone else’s home.
As well as the $50,000 fine for the club, five Bulldogs players were slapped with almost $10,000 in fines between them.