The lawyer of disgraced rugby league star Ben Barba has signalled his client is considering fighting his lifetime NRL ban in court, revealing the former Dally M medallist will ‘explore his options’.
Barba was rubbed out of the game indefinitely by NRL boss Todd Greenberg for allegedly assaulting his partner Ainslie Currie at Townsville Casino over the Australia Day weekend.
The 29-year-old reported to Mackay police station on Tuesday where he was hit with two public nuisance charges and ordered to appear in Townsville Magistrates Court on March 22.
Currie, the mother of the couple’s four daughters, did not press charges against Barba despite allegedly sustaining injuries in the incident that was reportedly captured by CCTV cameras.
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Cowboys officials immediately terminated Barba’s one-year, $300,00 contract after viewing the CCTV footage, with Greenberg last month handing the former Canterbury, Brisbane and Cronulla star a virtual life ban.
"I can't see a time, at any time, in the future that he will be welcomed back," Greenberg declared in February.
But Barba’s lawyer, Campbell MacCallum, told The Courier Mail his client could take the governing body to court to challenge his ban.
“He wants to explore his options in relation to challenging the NRL ban and hopefully play rugby league in some sort of capacity,” he said.
“I don’t think he’d play NRL but certainly local football, and that’s going to help his focus.”
MacCallum added Barba is feeling the pressure of not being able to play rugby league.
An angry Barba, who now works as a labourer in Mackay, verbally abused a journalist on Tuesday in a clear sign the stress of his predicament is weighing heavily on the father-of-four.
