Cronulla Sharks star Ben Barba celebrated NRL grand final quietly before going astray

WHILE the Sharks players initially partied hard on grand final night, Ben Barba was the odd man out before making a massive error of judgment, writes Phil Rothfield.

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - OCTOBER 02: Ben Barba of the Sharks celebrates with the crowd after victory in the 2016 NRL Grand Final match between the Cronulla Sharks and the Melbourne Storm at ANZ Stadium on October 2, 2016 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

IT was 2am on grand final night and Ben Barba looked the odd man out in the euphoric scenes of a wild premiership party.

Inside the victory celebrations on the second floor of the Cronulla Sharks Leagues Club, the players drank hard, high-fived and hugged as the achievement sank in. All except the superstar fullback who had earlier in the night scored the first try of the decider.

While his raucous teammates were lining up at the bar, Barba sat quietly at a separate table with his arm around partner Ainslie Currie, quietly reflecting on their achievements and the future. Their four beautiful little girls and their repaired relationship. Here was a man who had seriously turned his life around … or so we thought.

“Maybe he just didn’t trust himself,” said one of the players in reference to his low-key celebrations on the night the rest of the Sutherland Shire partied so long and so hard.

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“Or maybe he couldn’t drink and party in front of officials who knew he was on his last chance.”

Only those in the Sharks’ inner sanctum were aware Barba had tested positive to cocaine 12 months earlier; chief executive Lyall Gorman, the club doctor and welfare officer Shane Smith.

Ben Barba with fans following the Sharks’ grand final victory.

That he was being regularly drug-tested. A second strike and he was gone. An automatic 12-week suspension. Named and shamed. Still, the temptations over the next 48 hours became too much. The team partied hard as premiers do. At Double Bay, at Northies in Cronulla, the Caringbah Inn and local nightclub Fusion.

Schooners, spirits and cocktails. And in Barba’s case, cocaine. Somewhere along the line Barba made the poor choice.

He was drug-tested four days after the grand final. Two weeks later a letter arrived from the NRL integrity unit with the bad news. Not only is he banned for 12 weeks but the suspended fine from his first offence (5 per cent of his contract) now kicks in, a slug of around $25,000.

Not that his closest mate, former hooker Michael Ennis, is about to give up on him.

Michael Ennis says he won’t be giving up on his good mate Ben Barba. Pic Mark Evans

He saw Barba a couple of hours before he boarded his flight for Thailand on Monday night.

“This is a really good opportunity for Ben,” Ennis said. “He’s relieved he’s got to do this. He looked keen. He didn’t look like a guy that was kicking stones. It’s not that he had to go and do it, he wanted to go and do it, and that’s important and the first sign of moving forward.”

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Gorman was deeply affected when the letter arrived two weeks ago.

“You could say I’m personally distressed about this,” he said. “They’re not just footballers, they’re people.

“There is no one more disappointed than me on a personal basis because I’ve spent a lot of time with Ben and become very close to him. All I care about now is Ben’s welfare and his family.”

Originally published as Cronulla Sharks star Ben Barba celebrated NRL grand final quietly before going astray