Why did ASADA drug testers visit Bronson Xerri again so quickly?
When the drug testers turned up again to Sharks centre Bronson Xerri four months after collecting an alleged positive, what were they looking for this time? There’s something bigger at play in tracking the downfall of Cronulla’s teen’s superstar, writes DAVID RICCIO.
Opinion
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When the NRL’s outsourced drug sample service asked boom Cronulla Sharks centre Bronson Xerri to pee into a cup on March 11, what were they looking for that they didn’t already have?
The March sample is a vital piece of yet-to-be released information that creates a new and potentially crucial insight into Australian sport’s latest drugs scandal.
We already knew that from a blood sample taken by ASADA agents on November 25, Xerri is alleged to have consumed a collection of different steroids considered so hard, they’re banned for use by the horse racing industry.
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At 1.42pm last Tuesday, an NRL press release confirmed Xerri, 19, had returned a positive A-sample to the type of juice you wouldn’t dare squeeze into your NutriBullet.
So why did the NRL’s outsourced drug sample service, Sports Drug Testing International, who work in accordance with the World Anti-Doping Agency code, turn up and test the teenager again in March when those with lab coats knew Xerri’s career was already in the vice, albeit to nobody else’s knowledge, from four months earlier?
There’s a suggestion, which speaks about the longstanding motivation of ASADA CEO and newly appointed head of Sport Integrity Australia David Sharpe, that Xerri’s blood test was not only a targeted test, but that the kid with the sizzling feet was down the chain of an investigation focused on a “facilitator” outside the world of the NRL or the Sharks.
Under the direction of Sharpe, the national sports-doping agency has spent the past 18 months using their powers and ties with the AFP, and state and territory police, to target drug dealers, organised crime and anyone who plays a role in making sport dirty.
I’ll come back to this. Because on top of the March 11 test, The Sunday Telegraph can also reveal Xerri’s blood test on November 25 was actually his sixth drug test, by either urine or blood, dating back 12 months to 2018.
Up until that dirty sample on November 25, 2019, the tests had all come back clean.
The testing numbers shouldn’t be treated as suspicious or significantly alarming.
Five to six tests a year, while on the higher end of the scale, is just above the estimated average of four tests each NRL player will undergo over a 12-month period.
But again, if ASADA had the blood sample from November 25 in their coat pocket, why did they feel it necessary to test Xerri again 24 hours before Parramatta and Canterbury launched the NRL season on March 12?
Were they focused on something, or someone, who was so important for authorities to uncover that they were willing to sit on a positive drug test for six months?
A facilitator?
And given the reward of nailing their ultimate target, were they prepared to monitor Xerri for six months — his movements, his interaction, keep testing him — up until which point the agency couldn’t allow him to run out on to a football field under the NRL banner?
So where is the March 11 sample now? What was the result? And did it even matter?
ASADA’s nabbing of Xerri and the seizure of his phone on Tuesday wasn’t coincidence.
It was deliberate in the fact Xerri had confirmed to the world during a Zoom chat with journalists last Monday that he was “faster than ever” and was ready to return from a shoulder reconstruction to face the Wests Tigers on Saturday night.
This column has no doubt that if Xerri or the Sharks had confirmed the teen’s name on the team sheet to play against the Melbourne Storm back in round two on March 21, as he almost was, instead of giving his rehabilitated shoulder one more game to rest, ASADA would’ve been banging on his parents’ front door that week.
Confirmation on Tuesday he was set to play for the Sharks against Wests was the green light for ASADA to thunder.
Forever fighting a public relations war with sports fans, the agency could ill-afford to be accused of allowing an alleged drug cheat to score tries and potentially put his opposition at risk by playing against Wests.
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NOW back to the facilitators.
This column has quoted Sharpe on numerous occasions about ASADA’s direction and intent under his leadership.
As such, athletes have never had more information at their fingertips about the impact of drug-taking, including articles on how former champions such as swimmer Petria Thomas work for ASADA and speak directly to current athletes about staying in the negative. Last year The Sunday Telegraph revealed a Clean Sport app was introduced for every athlete from the Olympics down to grassroots.
Disappointingly though, all dialogue with ASADA has been blunted this week. The agency pulled the shutters down on reporters, preferring to hang a sign out the front that says, “We can’t make any comment about the process”.
What isn’t secret is Sharpe’s determination to rid Australian sport of “facilitators”. It’s certain that not only is Xerri under investigation, but also someone either he knows or is on his phone — which the contents of now sits on the ASADA hard drive.
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When Australian swimmer Shayna Jack’s drug bombshell dropped, this column went to ASADA to ask if the agency would be investigating not only the 21-year-old, but any other individuals in close quarters to the Olympic hopeful.
Instead of a sign, we were handed a statement.
“As a leading anti-doping organisation, ASADA is one of a few anti-doping organisations globally that has investigation powers under legislation,’’ the ASADA statement read.
“It is ASADA’s standard practice to conduct a thorough investigation in relation to all allegations of doping in Australian sport, including when an athlete returns a ‘positive’ test result for a non-specified prohibited substance.
“This enables ASADA to assess the veracity of an athlete’s claims and determine whether other athletes or support persons are involved in a broader anti-doping issue.
“More importantly, our investigations enable ASADA to target facilitators who may be preying on Australian sport and our athletes.’’
Xerri isn’t ASADA’s only focus — if he was, the teenager would’ve been served in November.
He’s down the line. ASADA wants the head of the snake, not just the tail.
Originally published as Why did ASADA drug testers visit Bronson Xerri again so quickly?