Cowboy James Tamou says his club is drug free and prescription drugs aren’t a problem

COWBOY James Tamou insists his club is drug-free, hitting out at a club doctor’s claim that prescription-drug abuse is rife in the NRL.

NORTH Queensland and NSW Origin enforcer James Tamou insists the Cowboys are drug-free, hitting out at a club doctor’s claim that prescription-drug abuse is rife in the NRL.

As the NRL begins a code-wide crackdown on prescription drugs, Tamou became the first representative star to speak out on the prevalence of the use of sleeping pills such as Stilnox.

Warriors club doctor John Mayhew underscored drug-related concerns sweeping rugby league when he claimed on Tuesday that mixing sleeping pills with energy drinks was “widespread” among NRL players.

The Courier-Mail can reveal the NRL has been compiling data for some time, recording four positive results last year for “low-level” drugs from more than 2000 individual tests.

Mayhew alleged prescription-drug cocktailing was a “problem” among Sydney and non-Sydney NRL clubs, but Tamou said he had never witnessed Stilnox abuse in camp with Cowboys, NSW and Australia teams.

News_Image_File: Warriors club doctor John Mayhew says the mixing of sleeping pills and energy drinks is a common practice.

Rugby league players’ potential abuse of sleeping pills first surfaced in 2009, when members of the Queensland Origin side were alleged to have consumed Stilnox with high-energy drinks.

“Personally, I don’t think rugby league has a problem with prescription drugs,” Tamou said.

“In my time in the game, I have never seen it, done it or heard of it.

“I had no idea of the side effects of mixing two substances (Stilnox and energy drinks), and obviously the doctors are aware of the damage it can do to your body.

“I’m happy to comply with all the protocols and I’m happy to do the tests, but I don’t think it’s a major thing in our game.

“At the Cowboys, when we go out and have a couple of drinks. I’ve never seen one of the boys pull out a Red Bull can and start drinking it with sleeping tablets.”

First-time offenders will be offered counselling with possible bans for a second breach, but Tamou questioned the prospect of suspensions for testing positive to prescription drugs.

“I don’t think there should be bans, it doesn’t enhance performance,” Tamou said.

News_Rich_Media: Brisbane Broncos showed their "little cousins" how it's done, clawing their way to a four-point win over North Queensland Cowboys at Suncorp Stadium.

“I’m straight up the guts with everything, I’ve never had trouble sleeping after a game. If we had a good win, I’ll have a few drinks to celebrate but that’s about it.

“I know some boys have had trouble sleeping but I’ve never seen a guy slip a few sleeping pills with it.

“In some cases, there can be a genuine reason, I’ve heard of players with injuries who need help getting to sleep and it can be quite frustrating.”

Broncos forward Alex Glenn was a member of the New Zealand team which faced an NZRL probe following claims Sonny Bill Williams and Kieran Foran dabbled in Stilnox at the World Cup.

Glenn said he saw no evidence of Williams abusing prescription drugs, but the NZRL have beefed-up their code of conduct ahead of the Anzac Test in May.

“Obviously it surprised me,” Glenn said of the Kiwis’ World Cup fallout.

“You never see that side of it, there’s a lot of pressure on Sonny Bill, but I never saw anything.

“If any player did anything like that on tour, it would have been behind closed doors, I never saw anything openly in camp and it wasn’t like anyone was pushing each other to take prescription drugs.”