Former Sharks player and New Zealand skipper Richie Barnett says Cronulla captain Paul Gallen is “tainted” and should be struck from rugby league’s record books.
And Barnett has slammed his former NRL club over their 2011 supplement regime, saying it “goes to show you how desperate the club were to achieve success”.
NSW skipper Gallen has been banned from this year’s Dally M Awards and been told he’s ineligible to win the Brad Fittler Medal after being one of the present and past Cronulla players to accept a backdated one-year suspension from ASADA.
But Barnett – who played at Cronulla from 1994-97 – demanded league powerbrokers go further.
“Paul Gallen must now go down in history as a drugs cheat,” Barnett wrote in the New Zealand Herald on Friday.
“Gallen’s name has no place in the record books and it would be a lack of leadership if the NRL allowed this to happen.
“I thought he epitomised what league was about; players who achieve success through hard work … now he’s tainted.
“The NRL need to take a hardline approach on the issue and send out the right message.”
Barnett was also furious with his former club.
“I used to play for the Sharks and it’s a club that will always hold a special place in my heart, but this whole sorry episode shows how broken and disjointed they have been and the lack of leadership,” he said.
“They clearly looked at ways they could try to bring success and improve their profile – and thereby bring in more sponsorship dollars – and were prepared to go down this road.
“It doesn’t make sense but, at the time, they must have thought the risk was worth it.”
Barnett also feared the supplement saga would tarnish players who succeeded through hard work in the future.
“I also feel for players who improve because, as a result of the actions of a few, people will now question how they did that,” he said.
Barnett added that ASADA’s backdated ban “sends the message to young players now that (doping) risks are worth taking”.
Hammerhead
Guest
Do people know what the peptides do ? I thought they were more soft tissue recovery, and not an upper or steroid to make you stronger, faster, for longer.
Casper
Guest
so Barnett, as a cronulla past player & international can't have an opinion without getting blasted by the opinionated Roar bloggers but nobody is bagging Brad Fittler for his campaign to stop Gallen being eligible for his medal & other SOO awards, seems to have double standards there? Melbourne players can't officially claim to have 2 premierships they won during the salary cap scandal & there weren't any performance enhancing drugs involved then, so lets get it in perspective. Gallen only started to get the lengthy field times during the 'supplement' period so I'm all for sticking an asterisk beside his exploits to explain it. Is anyone else concerned with the smug grin that Wade Graham has displayed throughout this whole supplements period? To me, he epitomises the disrespectful & untouchable attitude the players had to the ASADA inquiry. I agree that the first time any player comes out with a statement that they weren't really guilty & only took the plea to get a cushy deal, they get suspended for a full 12 months from that date. I think we need a bit of indonesian justice like Shappelle Corby is facing, where she can't claim innocence or she goes back to the slammer.
Casper
Guest
Unknowingly? jury is out on that one.
Ra
Guest
Sharks feed on squid, well, squid is a mere appitiser tis all..
Renegade
Roar Guru
Not disrespecting him just because he is from NZ.... read this comment. “I thought he epitomised what league was about; players who achieve success through hard work … now he’s tainted" What the f*** is he talking about.... in 2011 - Gallen was 10 years into his career. He had been playing for NSW for 5 years and Australia for 4. This guy is trying to say he didn't get to where he was through hard work.... that is why he is out of touch!
Jackson Henry
Roar Guru
Happy to agree to disagree. There's no way that "feeling on top of the world", as he has put in the past, would not have influenced peformance. Anyeon who's played the game knows that confidence is 99% of success. Agreed on Gallen though. And it's made all the more unfortunate by his statements in the past - in relation to other high-profile displays of unsportsmanlike conduct - that he was just doing "whatever it took to win". Not a great look, particularly now.
Squidward
Roar Rookie
Sorry he used the facts
Squidward
Roar Rookie
Yes. To be out of prison But do they deserve to then be in a job that has children looking up to them and sponsers and fans to keep happy?
up up cronulla
Guest
Peptides are not a drug
Charles NSW
Guest
I disagree with your view of Andrew Johns. He took drugs but it did not increase his performance. In fact it probably did otherwise. This is a problem in society just as it is with alcohol and we have to deal with that as a problem in society. They receive counselling and rehabilitation to help them through the problem. What Paul Gallen did was to simply cheat!
Distant Knight
Guest
The only thing performance enhancing about what Joey took was on the nightclub dance floor and the bedroom, not the footy field.
Cecil
Guest
agreed
Tom G
Guest
Investigated and have nothing to answer .. But don't let the facts get in the way of your dumb prejudiced anti manly views
T bone
Guest
I can't help but think the argument that the players unwittingly took band substances puts all the blame back on the coaching and administration staff at The Sharks. I don't know how you cannot have a blameless coach AND players.
Damien
Roar Guru
EJ, I'm no fan of Barnett. He's part of Kiwi selectors that let Sonny Bill back into the team for the RLWC but then tells sports journo's ON the record that Sonny Bill has disrespected the Kiwi jersey..Thats a justifiable opinion to have but then why include Sonny Bill anyway ? Hypocritical IMO. On his latest article I'm with him though. The ASADA's ban's are seriously a joke. They've taken the circumstances that the drugs were taken into consideration when NRL players have always been told that ASADA doesn't care 'if it was in your Mum's cooking..'. Turns out there are circumstances that it's 'OK' to take drugs. As long as you can prove that it was taken 'unwittingly' then you're fine. Backdated bans when the players get to keep all their earnings, points etc ? How compassionate is ASADA ? Gallen's name for me is tarnished...and I'm a fan of his grit. That SOO game he had when played like Superman was unbelievable. Now there has been some explanation as to why. Also why was Gallen still in touch with Dank after he left the club ? There's also been the surprise not at how good he was when he got to first grade but the difference in physique from Juniors to first grade. You can see the progression for most players with hard training but apparently sometimes things are just too good to be true. For me it doesn't matter how hard a drug cheat trains. There is this myth that athletes who take PED's just take it and relax. Athletes that take PED's often train harder than players that are not on PED's. No one trained harder than Lance Armstrong. I personally know 2 players in the Q Cup that have taken PED's during pre season training and they train like wild animals. The joke goes that only the 'idiots' get caught. My interest now is will WADA do anything more ? Time will tell..
djcooper
Roar Guru
I think danny wicks and Russell packer served adequate time for their crimes though didn't they?
Tricky Spindle
Guest
The Barry, they were Ribena, Ovaltine, Bonox and Coca-Cola.
Damien
Roar Guru
'I love how he thinks he knows what was going on from NZ' Are you implying that NZ based commentators are not as informed as Oz based commentators ? The internet has gotten rid of all those borders when it comes to information. Richie is a current Kiwi selector and a former Kiwi and Sharks player. He is also a paid commentator/journalist for the NZ Herald so he doesn't have try and get in the papers..thats his job. Add TV Sports commentator for Sky Sports as well. Richie's not just a 'former player' from 'two decades' ago. He's neck deep in Rugby League right now. Disagree with him on the issues that he raises, not the fact that you think people is NZ don't know whats going with the Sharks ASADA drama. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/best-of-sport-analysis/news/article.cfm?c_id=1502180&objectid=11315751
Squidward
Roar Rookie
Definite third billing
The Barry
Roar Guru
"co-star...?" You were strictly support cast.