NRL needs to fight harder in drug war, says Darren Lockyer

RUGBY league great Darren Lockyer reckons the sport’s bans for illicit drug use need to be more stringent to be an effective deterrent to players.

Kevin Proctor has stood down as Titans co-captain. File photo

RUGBY league great Darren Lockyer reckons the sport’s bans for illicit drug use need to be more stringent to be an effective deterrent to players.

Jesse Bromwich accepted a two-game suspension from the Storm and gave up his place in the club’s leadership group after he and New Zealand teammate Kevin Proctor were named in a court case for buying cocaine outside a Canberra nightclub in the early hours of Saturday morning.

The Titans board has to gauge public reaction as to whether Bromwich’s ban is sufficient before deciding this week on likely sanctions for Proctor, who has been issued with a notice that he breached code of conduct provisions in his contract.

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In a statement, Bromwich did not refer to cocaine use.

Proctor said he did not deny the claims, as he could not remember the hours after Friday’s Test against Australia because of alcohol consumption, claiming he wanted to “make it up’’ to the Titans club.

League’s latest drugs scandal is different to recent ones as Proctor and Bromwich had not tested positive to illicit drugs in this instance and neither is known to have returned positive tests in the past.

Kevin Proctor has stood down as Titans co-captain. File photo

However the pair, accused by ACT police of being caught on CCTV consuming cocaine at a Canberra nightclub, further damaged the image of a sport reeling from Shaun Kenny-Dowall being charged with cocaine possession last week.

Last year, Parramatta’s Corey Norman was suspended for eight rounds by the NRL when convicted of drug possession and other misdemeanours including consorting with known criminals.

“If the game wants to deter it (illicit drug use), maybe harsher penalties is the answer,’’ said Lockyer, who played the most number of first-grade matches and the most Tests.

In March, Cronulla’s Australian representative Paul Gallen advocated a blanket two-year ban for players found to have used illicit drugs as a “pretty simple fix’’.

Gallen’s premiership teammate Ben Barba was banned for 12 weeks in the pre-season for a second offence of cocaine use under the NRL’s three-strikes policy for illicit drugs.

League’s blemished history with cocaine this year, including allegations by ex-Wests Tiger Tim Simona, shows that some players do not fear the chances of detection by random anti-doping tests.

Jesse Bromwich will surrender the New Zealand Test captaincy.

NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg said the NRL’s education program of players could not be more comprehensive.

“We will continue that work, but ultimately individuals are accountable for their own choices, and the league’s capacity to eliminate the use of illicit drugs by its participants faces similar challenges to that faced by society,” he said.

Titans CEO Graham Annesley said the Titans had yet to determine whether to name another co-captain to replace Proctor, with 16 rounds left before the finals.

Annesley said he would ask the NRL to provide clubs with “transparent guidelines’’ on supervision of players on representative duty.

“He was under the care of the NZRL and we are left to pick up the pieces unfortunately,’’ Annesley said.

‘‘We are penalised if there is (a sanction of Proctor by the Titans).

“There needs to be protocols put in place for when players are in the care of representative teams.’’

Originally published as NRL needs to fight harder in drug war, says Darren Lockyer