Dragons player Jack De Belin cried as he spoke publicly for the first time about his rape charge and two trials for an alleged sexual assault, but added: “I wouldn’t necessarily say I’m sorry.”

De Belina and co-accused Callan Sinclair were charged over the alleged sexual assault of a then-19-year-old woman at Wollongong unit in late 2018.

The two men said the encounter was consensual.

Their initial trial resulted in a hung jury and the second saw the pair found not guilty on one charge with the jury unable to reach a majority decision on five other charges.

De Belin spoke to media about the court case and the impact it had on him and his family on Wednesday.

Asked if he was remorseful for  anything that had happened, de Belin replied: “I wouldn’t necessarily say I’m sorry.

“Things have happened, and they’ve panned out the way they are.

“I’m sorry for putting my family through this whole situation, my friends. But I’m happy they all stood by me.”

De Belin’s partner at the time of the incident was pregnant and the pair have since had two children – he started to cry when asked about them.

“People are entitled to their opinion, that’s just life,” he said of public perceptions of him following the incident.

Jack De Belin of the Dragons is seen with partner Alyce Taylor. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

“But the people who know me and are in my inner circle certainly know for a fact I would never do anything like what I’ve been accused of.

“I’ve always stated from the get-go my innocence. I think that’s what gave me my strength, my innocence, knowing that I didn’t do the wrong thing.

“Three years is a long time. I’ve had to sit back and not say anything for a long time. That’s what you’ve got to do when it plays out in front of the courts I suppose.”

De Belin asked what he would change if he could revisit the last three years of his life.

“I’d say hindsight is a wonderful thing. There’s mistakes that you make, and that’s something I look back on,” he said.

“I suppose in the three years since I made that mistake I’ve learned a lot about myself. I suppose everything happens for a reason, and I’ve got to look at the positives.

“Because of this thing that’s happened to me, now I’m the father I am today, the partner I am today, the person I am today. I think I’m a little bit more responsible.

“I was a bit selfish for a bit there. I suppose a lot of football players are, you sort of have to be if you’re a professional athlete.

“I was a little bit consumed in my own life, what was best for me, without putting others first. Now that I have two children it’s not all about me.”