Todd Greenberg defends NRL’s welfare and education despite three alleged drug cases in one weekend

NRL CEO Todd Greenberg has defended rugby league’s welfare and education programs despite the litany of off-field incidents that have engulfed the code in the last few days.

NRL CEO Todd Greenberg has defended rugby league’s welfare and education programs despite the litany of off-field incidents that have engulfed the code in the past few days.

Kiwi Test duo Kevin Proctor and Jesse Bromwich, Roosters veteran Shaun Kenny-Dowall and Cronulla chairman Damien Keogh have all been embroiled in drug-related incidents this week as rugby league’s off-field issues overshadow the representative round.

Greenberg said he was disappointed with the allegations levelled against the four but expressed confidence the NRL was doing all it could in terms of education and welfare and denied the game had a drug problem.

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Jesse Bromwich has been implicated in an alleged drugs case after the Anzac Test in Canberra on Friday.

“I don’t think the game’s got any bigger problem than what society has on a weekly and daily basis in confronting these sorts of challenges,” he said.

“We’ve got hundreds of young men inside the rugby league network. We do a huge amount of education, we do a huge amount of testing — we’re still going to have issues.

“We know that, that’s the realistic nature of the way we do our business. But we’re no different than the rest of society.”

While Greenberg stressed no action would be taken until all the details were known, he was adamant personal responsibility was the key to avoiding further incidents.

“Can we do more education? Can we do more testing? We can. We do a hell of a lot of it,” Greenberg said.

Cronulla Sharks Club CEO Lyall Gorman speaks after Sharks Chairman Damian Keogh has handed in his resignation after being arrested in Sydney for allegedly possessing a drug.

“There’d be no rugby league player that plays today that would not be very well educated on drugs.

“You take drugs, you take massive risks. You take massive risks with your health, but more importantly you take massive risks with your livelihood inside rugby league.

“We won’t stand for it, I can’t make it clearer than that.”

Greenberg also maintained the NRL and the integrity unit would come down hard on Proctor, Bromwich and Kenny-Dowall should the allegations be confirmed.

“I’ve said this phrase a number of times and I’ll say it again — there must be consequences for actions and poor decisions ultimately cost people livelihoods in the game,” he said.

“Now I’m not sure what the end of his proves will reveal but again, when people make poor decisions there are big consequences.

“That has to be the case.”