League bosses stop a plan for disgraced star to re-enter the game.
The Sydney Roosters have been dealt a blow for the 2014 NRL season with the news their application to register Blake Ferguson for this season has been rejected.
Chief Operating Officer, Jim Doyle said the decision was based on an assessment of Ferguson’s record of conduct over the last two years.
In addition, he said Ferguson had given an undertaking that he would undergo a program of clinical support and counselling before the NRL would consider registering him and this is not yet complete.
Doyle said the NRL would consider any future application for Ferguson to return to the NRL.
However, he warned that a relevant factor in the decision would be whether he has engaged in and completed an appropriate clinical support and counselling program.
Ferguson left the game disgraced after he was charged with indecently assaulting a woman while at a Cronulla night spot and was found guilty of groping a woman during a boozy night out in southern Sydney but his conviction was not recorded.
The 24-year-old was found guilty in December last year of indecently assaulting the woman during a night out at Cronulla’s 2230 Bar, where he was celebrating his NSW Origin selection with teammate Josh Dugan.
He was sacked from the Canberra Raiders and has spent the 2014 season in limbo without a playing contract while recuperating from ankle surgery.
Ferguson failed to convince a judge he was innocent during a court appeal on Thursday but he will walk away with a clean criminal record after he was placed on a 12-month good behaviour bond.
Ferguson argued during his appeal before the Downing Centre District Court this week that he put his hand up the dress of the victim at a Cronulla bar thinking it was a woman he had “hooked up with” earlier. His barrister Greg James, QC, argued his client thought his advances would have been welcomed.
Ferguson is currently working for the Roosters in a off-field capacity and it will now have to wait until 2015 to play for club on the field.
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