Two police officers have been charged following an investigation into an alleged assault on Canberra Raiders star Tom Starling.
Officers from the Professional Standard Command established Strike Force Homburg to investigate the alleged assault that took place at a Central Coast pub in December 2020.
Starling and his brothers Jackson and Josh were at the pub when a brawl broke out.
Starling and his brother Jackson were initially facing several charges but were cleared after magistrate Daniel Covington found police were not acting within their duty.
NSW police then launched an investigation into the officers last year.
After extensive inquiries, the two police officers were issued court attendance notices on Tuesday.
When approached by The Canberra Times, Starling's lawyer Samar Singh-Panwar said: "My clients have been advised today, by New South Wales Police Professional Standards Command, that advice has been received from The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions".
"As a result of this advice, two police officers have been charged.
"One officer has been charged with common assault on both Tom and Jackson Starling. The other officer has been charged with common assault on Tom Starling."
A 49-year-old male senior constable from the Northern region command was charged with common assault while a 37-year-old male sergeant from a specialist command was charged with two counts of common assault.
Mr Singh-Panwar said Starling and his family were relieved that police had finally been charged despite CCTV footage clearing showing the NRL start and his brother Jackson getting assaulted three years ago.
"Specialist criminal lawyers, including myself are somewhat surprised that they were only charged with common assault, which is the least serious offence these officers could have been charged with," he said.
He added this was even more so after a highly experienced magistrate acknowledged the actions of the two officers resembled "a street fight" rather than police acting in their duty.
"Police themselves are typically very quick to charge others with the more serious offence of affray in such circumstances. In fact, one of the original charges laid against Tom and his brothers was one of affray," he said.
"The Starling family hopes that the NSW Police now change their strict legal stance and agree to pay the Starling's legal costs of the criminal proceedings."
Last year, Starling said his family may have to sell their home to cover legal fees.
"Tom and Jackson were acquitted, police have been charged with assaulting them and now as a matter of fairness the family should not continue to face significant financial hardship, including the risk of losing their home, as a result of what occurred," Mr Singh-Panwar said.
Both officers expected to appear at Gosford Local Court on Thursday, March 7.
