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Brisbane, Queensland and Australian great Darren Lockyer played 458 rugby league games and never once saw any signs of drug taking.
And he was never approached to throw a match despite the influence he had on a game.
A 50-plus page report following a 12-month probe by the Australian Crime Commission (ACC) blew the lid open on Thursday exposing widespread use of drugs across all Australian sporting codes.
“Supplements are part of all professional sport,” said Lockyer, who retired in 2011 with a record 355 NRL games, 36 State of Origin games for Queensland and 59 Tests.
“At the Broncos, players put their trust in the club that they were providing them with legal substances. We all took them.”
Lockyer, who played until he was 34, said every athlete was looking for an edge.
But he said players were well informed and educated about what they could and couldn’t take and they put their faith in the people who worked at the clubs to advise them correctly.
“The Broncos always looked to be innovative but they were also honest and trustworthy,” he said.
“I think you can safely say they’ve always played by the rules there.”
He said if it was proven drug cheats were playing rugby league, he was confident it would only be a very small percentage of the overall code.
“We don’t know if there is going to be any guilty parties or not,” he told AAP.
“But it’s certainly something all codes would look to get on top of quickly and get it out of their game.”
Lockyer said he had no knowledge of match-fixing and had never been approached to throw a game.
“All the players know the consequences if they are involved in anything like that so match-fixing allegations really surprise me,” he said.
“I’ve never seen it and I was never approached by anyone.
“I don’t know how people would sleep at night if they played a part in anything like that.”
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