NRL player charged over pub fight

An NRL player stood down by his club over allegations surrounding a fight at a NSW pub has been charged with assault.

St George Illawarra player Craig Garvey, 21, is accused of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and affray over an incident at the Hotel Illawarra in Wollongong last Thursday, the Illawarra Mercury reports.

Garvey, who skippered the club's under-20s side last year, is accused of punching Christopher Allan "multiple times" on the dance floor.

Mr Allan and his friend James Stimson said they'd been on the dance floor about half an hour when a man acting aggressively approached them.

The report said the assailant, who Mr Allan and another witness identified as Garvey, allegedly first pressed his head against Mr Allan's before punching him multiple times in the face.

"I don't put my hands on someone else for no reason and I expect the same thing from other people," Mr Allan said.

"I was having a good night up until that point and I've been dealing with it ever since, not to mention the pain I'm in. It doesn't tickle."

Police said in a statement that the 26-year-old had to be taken to Wollongong Public Hospital "for treatment of eye and cheek injuries".

Garvey was granted bail and will appear before Wollongong Local Court on March 25.

The 21-year-old was stood down by the Dragons last Friday for what the club described as a breach of its code of conduct.