Curtis Scott’s already slim chances of making a return to the NRL this year have evaporated, with the troubled star not set to face a court on historical domestic violence offences until August.
The former premiership-winning centre was sacked by Canberra last year but was hoping to resurrect his career after signing a train-and-trial deal with Parramatta for the 2022 season.
However, NRL head office stepped in after Mr Scott was in January charged with domestic violence offences alleged to have occurred in 2018.
The NRL refused to register his Eels contract while he had the charges hanging over his head, blocking his path back to the field.
Mr Scott’s lawyer Sam Macedone had previously told the court that he would plead not guilty to multiple charges, including two counts of intentionally choking a person and two counts of assault occasioning bodily harm.
Mr Macedone previously said that the alleged assaults “did not happen” and his client would defend the charges “quite vigorously”.
The 24-year-old’s matter was briefly mentioned in Sydney’s Downing Centre Local Court on Tuesday afternoon. It has been set down for a three-day hearing over August 22-24.
By that time, the Eels will have two games remaining in their regular season, leaving Mr Scott with effectively no chance of being sighted on an NRL field this season.
Police have alleged that the former Melbourne Storm and Canberra Raiders centre assaulted his ex-partner Tay-Leigha Clark on multiple occasions in 2018.
He was arrested in January on a golf course in southern Sydney and anxjmtzyw apprehended violence order application has also been made by NSW Police on behalf of Ms Clark.
Mr Macedone has also lashed the NRL’s decision not to register Mr Scott’s contract with the Eels that would have allowed him to play and train.
The prosecution is set to call 10 witnesses at Mr Scott’s hearing.
The matter will return to court on August 1 before the hearing later that month.
