The National Rugby League is in what may well be the most tumultuous week in its history. Amid a vast ocean of rumour and speculation, tiny bubbles of detail are slowly surfacing.
Six NRL teams have been implicated in the findings of the Australian Crime Commission’s (ACC) report into Organised Crime and Drugs in Sport. It may be weeks or even months before we understand how far reaching the impacts of the report will be.
Once all of the ACC’s findings are handed down, the big consideration facing the NRL will be how to go about penalising those found guilty of the felonies.
No doubt the NRL will want to take a hard line to prevent such matters happening again. Whilst purely hypothetical at this particular juncture, the consideration of said bans is paramount.
The drugs issue is not new to the NRL.
In 1998, Melbourne prop Rodney Howe copped a 22 match ban for his use of the banned steroid stanozolol. Bans should be equal or more than that at the very minimum. A multi season ban would certainly send a clear message.
In the case of match fixing, life bans would befit the crime.
It is deception of the highest order and a complete blight on the game. Put simply, there is no place for those who have participated in such a devious activity if the game is to maintain any modicum of integrity.
Rest assured, the NRL will be confronted with many interesting defences. A common theme already emerging is that players were not aware of what they were taking. Such an excuse is tantamount to blaming your mates for you being drunk or blaming your car for speeding. Ultimately you are responsible for every single thing that enters your body and to blame anyone else is a cop out.
Unless there is a zero tolerance approach with no flimsy excuses gaining excessive leniency, then we can expect such problems to keep emerging and the belief in the integrity of the sport to plummet.
Let’s hope for the sake of our game that the findings are far from a “worst case scenario” and that the aforementioned predicaments are not something the NRL has to consider.
peeeko
Roar Guru
i think the NRL is limited like all sporting organizations in what they can do to stop match fixing and drug taking above what they already do. Even when caught, generally if the matters are of a severe nature, punishment is not decided by the NRL its by WADA or the police
Wotsit
Roar Rookie
I would like to see a clinic in Sydney or even Brisbane be more pro-active and test for these drugs that we dont seem able to test. To be honest, if we could find the culprits, would they not already be named and shamed. World class practise in drug testing would be a good idea. At the moment we seem to have clubs being cleared of any wrong doing. 150 have been named as being looked at, so if you take away the 3 clubs who think they are clean, that would leave 3 clubs. So even if every player was taking drugs, let us say 20 players in each leftover team. That is 60 players being looked at. 150 is what the CC and Asada has said they are looking at, minus 60 if every single NRL player is involved, that is 20 players in 3 teams, so that leaves 90 players not in the NRL being looked at, something is not adding up to me.
MMADoggzofwar
Roar Rookie
Its unfortunate but the reality is that PEDs whether they be legal or illegal are now part and parcel of professional sport. We would love to think our game is untouched but the pressure to perform from Fans, sponsors, competition etc is so intense that to stay in the game an edge is required and when it cannot be found thru legal methods this is what happens. Whats required is not so much a knee jerk reaction and a public outcry and blame, the NRL need to implement a solid policy with consultation from internationally recognized orgs, in an attempt to close any loop holes that teams may consider using.
Benno
Guest
A friend who played in the NRL told me years ago he was taking steroids prescribed and administered by club doctors and med staff. He made it clear he was never told directly what he was taking "vitamin injections" was the usual label apparently. He knew however what he was being given was helping him increase lean muscle, made him stronger and faster and decreased his recovery time. He also mentioned a clause in his contract that "he would take whatever 'supplements' were prescribed by the medical staff without question". This was in the mid 90's I doubt the situation has changed much since then. -- Comment left via The Roar's iPhone app. Download it now [http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/the-roar/id327174726?mt=8].