MELBOURNE - While Greg Inglis awaits his day in court, he will be free to play league.
The test and State of Origin superstar will be rushed into Melbourne's NRL side to play the Sydney Roosters at Olympic Park this weekend after the Storm yesterday lifted Inglis' club-imposed suspension.
Inglis
had been under an indefinite playing ban for the past fortnight after he was charged with assaulting his former girlfriend Sally Robinson.
The 22-year-old appeared in a Melbourne court on Wednesday and, while his lawyer called for the charges to be dropped, the case was adjourned until October 14.
But the Storm board - and the NRL - have given Inglis approval to return to the playing field while he waits for judgement.
Melbourne have slumped to two successive defeats since the star centre was suspended, and their hold on a top four berth is looking decidedly shaky.
But Storm chief executive Brian Waldron said the decision to allow Inglis to resume playing had nothing to do with the team's form or the importance of their clash with the bottom-placed Roosters tomorrow night.
Waldron said the club's primary concern had always been the welfare of Inglis and his ex-girlfriend.
"Given all the information we have received at this stage, we believe in fairness, and [it is] in the best interests of Greg Inglis' wellbeing that he resumes his playing responsibilities," Waldron said.
NRL chief executive David Gallop had accepted the decision.
"In no way do we expect this decision by the board to influence or interfere with the current judicial proceedings relating to the matter."
Gallop said the league would not stand in the way of Inglis playing, and said the Storm deserved credit for their handling of the matter so far.
"Clearly it's not all over and there's an important court process that has to happen but, at this stage, we don't believe it requires us to step in and stop him from playing."
- AAP
