Adnan ‘Eddy’ El-Zbaidieh opens up about struggles with painkiller addiction, path to prison

Adnan El-Zbaidieh was on the brink of playing in the NRL when a career-altering injury put him on a dark path that landed him behind bars. Now, after returning to rugby league, he has a message to share.

Adnan El-Zbaidieh went from being an up and coming NRL prospect to addicted to painkillers after a career-altering injury. Picture: Max Mason-Hubers

Adnan “Eddy” El-Zbaidieh was on top of the world, on the brink of playing in the NRL, when his life changed in a matter of seconds and he wound up on a dark path to prison.

Having experienced life behind bars, he is now determined to right his wrongs for the sake of his baby boy, and to warn other youngsters against glorifying crime.

“A lot of young kids idolise these gangsters,” he exclusively told The Daily Telegraph.

“They think jail is a cool place, but it’s far from that.”

El-Zbaidieh’s dark spiral began in early 2013, when the then-highly touted youngster had offers from Japanese rugby teams, but it was a contract with the Canberra Raiders that caught his eye.

Adnan “Eddy” El-Zbaidieh running with the ball during his earlier years. He also played for the Roosters and Bulldogs.

Playing in his first game of the season for Mounties, the Raiders’ feeder club at the time, El-Zbaidieh was sidelined with a career-altering compound fracture to his leg.

“I was always known to be pretty fast and agile but, after that break, which I was told was common in motorbike accidents, I was never the same,” he said.

Adnan El-Zbaidieh says the birth of his son was a wake-up call. Picture: Max Mason-Hubers

“My leg was hanging back to front. I was in shock.”

When surgeons put a rod down El-Zbaidieh’s leg, he was told he’d have to learn to walk again and his “career was over”.

However, he persisted, playing reserve grade and even making the Lebanese 2017 Rugby League World Cup Squad, but reaching the pinnacle of the sport was out of sight.

Another serious shoulder injury sent El-Zbaidieh spiralling out of control. He was blissfully unaware the painkillers prescribed to him by a doctor would unravel his life.

Adnan El-Zbaidieh in Sydney on Wednesday. Picture: Max Mason-Hubers

He started on Endone before taking OxyContin as the doses continued to increase.

“I am lucky to be alive,” El-Zbaidieh, now 32, said.

“I was taking ... what I thought was for pain, but essentially looking back now, it was also to numb everything that was happening.”

He had to come to terms with knowing everything he worked for, which had been at the tips of his fingers, was crushed.

Adnan El-Zbaidieh was on the brink of an NRL deal with the Raiders when injury struck. Picture: Max Mason-Hubers

While El-Zbaidieh’s painkiller addiction made him believe he was “invincible”, he admits now he “wasn’t clear-minded”.

Fast-forward to 2020 and he found himself in legal trouble, having initially been charged with shooting with intent to murder and kidnapping.

“I did nine months on remand and was later bailed to a rehab clinic for six months,” El-Zbaidieh said.

“I ended up pleading guilty to intimidation and accessory before the fact.”

Adnan El-Zbaidieh outside court in July last year.

For El-Zbaidieh, it unfortunately didn’t stop there. He spent further time remanded in custody on an extortion charge, which was later downgraded to demanding property in company with menaces, and one count of intimidation.

“For me, it took two mistakes,” he said.

“Not everyone’s perfect ... some people need more than one lesson to learn.

“I am responsible for everything that’s happened in my life ... I had the option to say no.”

Adnan El-Zbaidieh spent time behind bars on remand. Picture: Max Mason-Hubers

El-Zbaidieh eventually realised he wasn’t the only one being punished by the justice system.

He saw the toll his legal woes were taking on his family, and it was ultimately his son’s birth which had a profound impact on him.

On the day his last sentence was imposed in the NSW District Court, El-Zbaidieh had an emotional goodbye with his boy, not knowing whether he’d spend time away from him.

He had to say his farewells in a hospital, where his son was fighting an ongoing battle in the intensive care unit after being born prematurely.

The 32-year-old didn’t want to leave his baby for a jail cell.

Adnan El-Zbaidieh outside court during one of his cases.

Prison can be lonely, as it was for El-Zbaidieh with restrictive measures enforced during the pandemic.

But it was Lebanese rugby league legend Chris Saab who stuck by him.

“I was disappointed in Eddy ... he made a lot of wrong decisions which I tried to keep him away from,” Saab said.

“But with the support of his partner, step-daughter and family, and he’s obviously had a child now, I’ve noticed an immediate change in him.”

El-Zbaidieh and Saab are like brothers.

They’re both Lebanese and, while one is Muslim and the other is Christian, that hasn’t been a barrier to their bond.

Lebanese rugby league legend Chris Saab and Adnan El-Zbaidieh on Saturday.

“I took a real liking to him,” Saab said.

“He was a little bit cheeky, but always respectful.

“He had a promising career ahead of him.”

Saab saw first-hand El-Zbaidieh’s battle with addiction and depression and, with the 32-year-old now starting his own business and focused on staying out of trouble, he couldn’t be more proud of his close friend.

El-Zbaidieh’s journey came full circle last Saturday, when he returned to the rugby league field for Lebanon in front of Saab and in the wake of the Middle Eastern country being invaded by Israel.

He said he wanted to leave the game on his own terms, but it was also about paying respect to the country his parents fled to give him and his siblings a better life in Australia.

“I can’t thank them enough for what they sacrificed,” he said.

The former NRL prospect said he lived by the saying “it’s not what I’ve done, but what I’ve become”, and he planned on passing on that very message to youngster he hopes doesn’t make the same mistakes he did.