Coach John Morris has defended Cronulla’s culture saying the club does not have a doping problem despite rising star Bronson Xerri testing positive to a banned substance.
The 19-year-old has been provisionally suspended under anti-doping laws and it’s believed the NRL and Australia Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ADASA) is treating the case individually.
The revelations come six years after several Sharks players were slapped with one-year bans by ASADA – the result of an illegal supplements program that ran at the club in 2011.
“I’d like to think the club has moved on from what’s gone on in the past,” Morris told Nine News on Wednesday night.
“We certainly acknowledge that and it’s very unfortunate that we’ve had another case, but it was nine years ago when that incident took place.
“To put that into perspective, Bronson was around ten years old and 99 per cent of the playing group wasn’t at the club.
“The club paid a huge price for that and then learned a really hard lesson, as did the NRL and Australian sport.
“We’ve put a lot of strict governance programs in place, I’m very comfortable with that.
“We provide a lot of education for our players, led by our club doctor. I’m really proud of the culture at our club and we’ve worked really hard to turn it around. We’ve turned it around both on and off the field.
“We won the premiership in 2016 and we’ve won every championship at every level since then and we’ve put a lot of effort into our elite pathways program, and Bronson is one of those players.”
(Matt Blyth/Getty Images)
Skipper Wade Graham served an ASADA suspension in 2014 and is the only player who remains at the club from the peptides scandal.
News of Xerri’s positive sample, which was taken in November, was released to the NRL and Sharks on Tuesday, just two days out from the return of the season.
It gave Cronulla mere hours to finalise a team list on Tuesday afternoon for Saturday’s game against the Wests Tigers.
Graham said he and teammates were shocked at the news and trying to process it as quickly as possible.
“I’m pretty shattered to be honest, I’m shattered for Bronson and his family that he’s found himself in this situation,” he told Nine News.
Jon
Guest
Further to you point, every single club he’s played for has been penalised for salary cap indiscretions whilst he was contracted. I’m not saying that he was in any way involved in those, but he is certainly familiar with dishonest club cultures and their consequences. By all reports he’s an intelligent man. Maybe his experiences could mean he is the bloke to turn peoples perception of the Sharks around. We all learn from our mistakes, right? Surely he deserves that chance.
Rob
Guest
They know much more than they'll ever admit. The kid is guided by someone and it's obvious those people involved believe it's acceptable practice so long as you don't get caught IMO. Now they'll just deny knowledge or plead the 5th. Just like they have before.
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
Why does that change it? It's less of an offence if it's through your club?
Blackberry Smoke
Guest
That’s a bit harsh .
souvalis
Roar Rookie
Yes, I’m saying if the rumor is true the club had to know.
Gold Coast Bunny
Roar Rookie
Ok I read this as you can in no way accept that the player was taking the steriods for that long and being common knowledge in the area and the club had no idea about it” he couldn’t therefore be on the steriods for that long. I guess we are on the same page if he was taking them for an extended period the club must have known. Apologies.
souvalis
Roar Rookie
Bunny mate, think you’ve totally misunderstood what I’ve said..
Rob
Guest
Sorry but John Morris grew up in a Newcastle culture containing Johns, O'davis, Richards and McDougal brothers all got done for drugs in the 2000's. His arrival at Sharks was during the Peptide saga? I really don't think Morris knows the concept of a drug free culture. This is a young player making a bad choice and it's naive to think someone of influence hasn't guided him in the poor choices he has made IMO.
Gold Coast Bunny
Roar Rookie
Impossible you say! How do you know this! Are you part of the inner sanctum of the Sharks to know that there were not rumours such as these. We all know past administrations at the Sharks have been willing to play outside the rules so why would this not be feasible.
Adam Bagnall
Roar Guru
Didn't Xerri go outside the club to improve his recovery? If so he deserves to be banned for life. Forget about 4 years and then welcome back.
Joe
Roar Rookie
This is a very interesting development. If true then it doesn't look like an accidental dosage but something that was known to others.
Don
Roar Rookie
No one has ever accused NRL players as being broadly smart so it would not surprise me if there’s more. I’d be testing Ado Carr too given he’s been working with the same sprint coach alongside Xerri.
Jon
Guest
I doubt we’d be having the same discussion if there was a separation of 20 years, as there is in your comparison. There are similarities though. Both recent players were around 10 years old at the time of the first examples and were products of the respective local junior systems.
Dogs Boddy
Roar Rookie
Really, that is interesting. At first I was hoping it was some kind of mistake but as the story unfolds it's not looking good for young Bronson.
Dogs Boddy
Roar Rookie
Fair reply Don. One would hope that if the B sample came back positive ASADA would be at the Sharks anyway. I would if I was them. In fact if I was given a hot tip of one player doping in a team sport I would have been testing the entire team. Do we know if ASADA did that either? It's not a great look but I will back Morris on this one still. Only complete morons would continue doping or breaking the rules after being caught.
HENRIK
Guest
What concerns me most is the apperant turning a blind eye to him in his junior days if the reports about it being an open secret are true, then surley the Sharks recruitment officer would have been aware of them !
Don
Roar Rookie
ASADA randomly test. Again, offering up every player for a drug test immediately would show the club is showing there’s no institutional PED program and they are unaware of the use of PEDs by any player. Otherwise if I’m a business looking to gain exposure through sponsorship of an NRL side and I can select from a few, I’m not going near the Sharks.
Paul
Roar Guru
I assume the same logic has to apply to the Knights. They've had Robbie O'Davis, Adam MacDougall and Jarrod Mullen all get rubbed out for using banned substances and if reports are true, plenty of talk about some high profile players using other drugs as well.
souvalis
Roar Rookie
Yeah, it’s not about pleasing Paul Kent, he’s at the back of a long queue seeking WTF’s.. It’s impossible to accept the gossip his juice taking was common knowledge in the area and the club had no idea it was happening..not on.
Nick Maguire
Roar Rookie
DB, Fox Sports reported that there was a tip off to ASADA, so targeted not a random test. Whatever credence you can give that and how would they know?