NRL star Jack de Belin is set to test the code's new no-fault stand-down policy in the Federal Court after being suspended with pay as he contests a rape charge.
The St George Illawarra lock is one of three players currently banned from playing under new discretionary powers given to NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg for players charged with crimes attracting sentences of less than 11 years.
Lawyers for de Belin will face off on Thursday with those from the NRL and rugby league's governing body, the Australian Rugby League Commission, which last month granted the new powers.
ALRC Chairman Peter Beattie has stressed the no-fault policy didn't imply guilt but was needed to fix the code's broken culture.
De Belin has pleaded not guilty to raping a 19-year-old woman in company with his friend in a Wollongong unit on December 9.
A condition of his bail prevents him from travelling overseas.
De Belin lodged his statement of claim on Monday and the matter is listed for a case management hearing on Thursday afternoon.
He has returned to training with the club on full pay under the terms of the NRL's ban which keeps him from taking the field until his court case is finalised.
The Federal Court hearing will come hours before the NRL attempts to turn a new page following a horror summer with the season launch in Sydney on Thursday night.
Manly's Dylan Walker and Penrith's Tyrone May have also been stood down under the new rules.
May has been charged with four revenge porn offences that each carry maximum sentences of three years in jail.
Walker has pleaded not guilty to domestic violence-related assault occasioning actual bodily harm and the backup charge of common assault after his fiancee suffered grazes to her shoulder, leg and feet in December.
Australian Associated Press
