Cowboys winger Matt Wright wants payback on Cronulla Sharks over ASADA ban

MATTHEW Wright is hoping the Cowboys can jolt Cronulla’s finals campaign as payback for the ASADA ban that briefly ­derailed his NRL career.

Cowboys training at 1300SMILES Stadium. Matthew Wright

MATTHEW Wright is hoping the Cowboys can deliver a major jolt to Cronulla’s finals campaign as payback for the ASADA ban that briefly ­derailed his NRL career.

Wright returns to Remondis Stadium on Saturday night for the first time since he was slapped with a three-month doping ban for his role in Cronulla’s supplements scandal in 2011.

It has been nearly a year since Wright was one of 10 players to accept ASADA’s retrospective doping bans. And while the shock waves have dissipated, perhaps no one suffered through the ASADA affair quite like Wright.

The 24-year-old was the only suspended player to be sidelined for last year’s NRL finals series. Then came a second kick in the guts when the hard-running winger or centre was banned from representing Samoa in the end-of-year Four Nations tournament.

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The likable Wright is relieved he is not regarded as a drug cheat and is relishing the prospect of snapping Cronulla’s four-game winning streak at the ground he once called home.

“I haven’t played at Cronulla since the ASADA ban, so I’m looking forward to this game,” Wright said.

“I get more pumped when I get to play the Sharks these days.

Cowboys winger Matthew Wright is looking forward to taking on the Sharks.

“After all the stuff that’s happened to me, I wouldn’t mind giving one back to them.

“I played down there last year (just before his suspension) and we got a good win, so it would be good to go back and give it to them again.

“I’m just glad the whole ASADA stuff is over. It’s in the past for me and I have got back to playing good footy again.’’

Unwanted by the Sharks in 2013, Wright was signed by North Queensland and has been a quiet achiever out wide, scoring eight tries from 15 games this season.

Cowboys recruitment chief Peter Parr said Wright showed immense mental strength during his ASADA ordeal.

“It was an incredibly tough time for Matthew,” he said.

“Out of everybody who accepted the ASADA ban, he missed out the most.’’