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NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg is satisfied with Melbourne’s two-game ban for Jesse Bromwich after his involvement in a drugs scandal over the weekend.
New Zealand captain Bromwich and Kiwi teammate Kevin Proctor were accused of consuming an illegal substance in the early hours of Saturday following the Test loss to Australia.
Bromwich was stood down from the club’s leadership group and forced to donate his Test fee to a charity, while Proctor has yet to face sanction from the Gold Coast board.
He has already stepped down from playing duties for the Titans, as well as the captaincy.
“Both clubs spoke to our Integrity Unit over the weekend about the parameters of those decisions. Ultimately they’re decisions for the clubs,” Greenberg told reporters on Monday.
“But we were comfortable with that.”
A Canberra man is facing charges for supplying the players and while Proctor said he was too drunk to remember the incident, he could not deny the allegations.
Neither are expected to face police charges, however it is believed the NRL integrity unit is awaiting evidence of drug-use that would result in a strike under the game’s drug policy.
A player’s first positive return will land them a suspended fine with their identity protected, while a second positive test is punished by a 12-match suspension.
Third-time offenders face severe disciplinary action from the NRL.
Greenberg backed the game’s current drug-testing procedures but declined to confirm whether the Integrity Unit had tested either Proctor or Bromwich over the weekend.
“I’m not going to talk publicly about when we drug test players, and how we drug test players. But this year we’ll complete more than 2500 drug tests,” he said.
“That’s on top of performance-enhancing drug tests that come through ASADA. We spot-test players, we target-test players, we have done that and will continue to do that.”
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Who are the hardest working big men in the NRL?
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