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Ben Barba will never "be welcomed back" to the NRL after its integrity unit investigation found he had been involved in a physical altercation with his partner.
Key points:
- The NRL says Ben Barba has no place in the league after being involved in a physical altercation with his partner
- The NRL integrity unit viewed CCTV footage of the Townsville casino incident
- Barba had already been sacked by the North Queensland Cowboys last Friday
The finding came after the NRL integrity unit viewed CCTV footage of the incident involving Barba and his partner at a Townsville casino over the Australia Day weekend.
NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg said he did not see "any time in the future" when Barba would play in the league again, having confirmed his deregistration.
Barba had already been sacked by the North Queensland Cowboys without having played a match for the club.
"There was a physical altercation between the player and his partner," Greenberg said today.
"I can't see a time at any time in the future when he'll be welcomed back."
Greenberg said Barba would have to look for a career outside rugby league, although he stopped short of instructing the English Super League to ban the 29-year-old.
"I'm not going to call for [a worldwide ban] but there's no place for him," Greenberg said.
"It's time for Ben Barba to find a new vocation."
Greenberg said Barba needed to reflect on the consequences of his behaviour.
"These decisions affect people's livelihoods, they affect families, children, so they're big moments and you want to make sure you get them right," he said.
"This is an enormous outcome, because this is a guy who now loses his livelihood, and his career in the game."
Barba's sacking the latest chapter of a chequered career
Barba had been set to return to the NRL after a stint in the Super League with St Helens, with whom he won the Man of Steel award for the player of the year in 2018.
He has had a troubled history since making his NRL debut in 2008, having first made headlines the following year when he was involved in a drunken fight with two of his team-mates.
His career began to unravel in the season after he won the Dally M Medal in 2012 while playing for Canterbury.
Barba was stood down indefinitely by the Bulldogs in early 2013 due to his off-field behaviour, with the star full-back said to be struggling with the breakdown of his relationship with his long-term girlfriend.
In the same season the Bulldogs asked the NRL integrity unit to investigate media reports that Barba punched a woman in the face.
Barba had an unsuccessful season with Brisbane in 2014 before moving to Cronulla where he played a key role in its 2016 premiership victory.
But he again made headlines for the wrong reasons after he tested positive for cocaine following the grand final.
He was released from the Sharks and accepted a deal offered by French rugby union club Toulon, but he was sacked in 2017 prior to joining St Helens.
ABC/AAP
Topics: sport, rugby-league, nrl, townsville-4810, qld, australia
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