James Segeyaro ready to step up and fight four-year doping ban

James Segeyaro is ready to fight a four-year ban as his lawyer turns up heat on Brisbane Broncos, NRL and Sports Integrity Australia.

Former Broncos hooker James Segeyaro will fight a four-year ban for doping. Picture: Getty Images

Former Brisbane and Cronulla hooker James Segeyaro has told the NRL he is ready to front an anti-doping tribunal and fight a four-year ban as his legal team prepares to turn the heat on Sports Integrity Australia and the NRL.

Almost 10 months after he underwent a random drug test, Segeyaro finally received a notice from the NRL this week informing him of his suspension and presenting him with the opportunity to front a tribunal to argue his case.

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It has been a long and frustrating wait for Segeyaro, his anger with the process mirroring the reaction at Cronulla as they become increasingly concerned over the handling of centre Bronson Xerri, who has been provisionally suspended since May.

Xerri was due to have his B sample tested on June 9 but he remains on the Sharks payroll, and the club has become greatly concerned with the lack of information from SIA, prompting chief executive Dino Mezzatesta to press the NRL this week for answers.

The Weekend Australian understands Mezzatesta reached out to senior figures at the NRL on Thursday, asking if they could get some clarity from SIA. If the Segeyaro case is any example, Mezzatesta should brace for disap-pointment.

Cronulla Sharks CEO Dino Mezzatesta. Picture: Brett Costello

Segeyaro’s lawyer Tim Fuller has made no secret of his anger with SIA – the umbrella organisation that has now taken over the duties of the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Agency – and documented the source of his frustrations in an email to The Weekend Australian.

“We have had indigenous players reach out to James Segeyaro on regular basis and they have expressed their concern with the time this has taken and (his) wellbeing,” Fuller wrote.

“Does anyone seriously think the Australian captain would be put through a process like this? James does not have the same standing in the game as a leading player – but he deserves the right to be treated fairly and compassionately.

“We need to provide additional support to our indigenous athletes – not ostracise them in situations of duress such as this.”

Segeyaro returned a positive test to ligandrol, the same substance found in the system of swimmer Shayna Jack. She will appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in coming months after being banned for four years prior to last year‘s FINA World Championships in South Korea.

Segeyaro has told ASADA the substance entered his system when he used the blender of his former housemate. It is understood the housemate has provided sworn statements verifying Segeyaro’s version of events.

Cronulla’s Bronson Xerri has been provisionally suspended since May. Picture: Adam Yip

Fuller has indicated they will put the focus on the Broncos over the role the club played in finding accommodation for Segeyaro when he joined the club. It is understood Brisbane deny they put Segeyaro in a vulnerable position. The NRL integrity unit has also reviewed the circumstances and are believed to be comfortable with the Broncos’ handling of the situation.

“We have indicated to the NRL that James Segeyaro intends to appear before a league anti-doping tribunal,” Fuller wrote.

“We will be examining the role of certain people in positions of responsibility and their role in how an indigenous player came to be placed in a rental situation with a person who was using prohibited substances.

“In other words, he was placed in to this environment by his former club. There is absolutely no way that we will allow James Segeyaro to be thrown under the bus by the NRL for something that he did not intentionally do – and has never been involved in during a career of over 150 NRL first grade games.”

Fuller detailed the delays in the process and warned the system would drive people out of sport.

“Anti-doping is supposedly built on the goal to develop ‘a level playing field’,” he wrote.

“There is no level playing field for innocent athletes in this country who have been caught up in a situation of innocent or inadvertent doping.

“Any athlete could end up in a situation like James Segeyaro or Shayna Jack. Contamination is a very real possibility in sport.

“The way the system is currently will force young people out of organised sport in this country.”

Mezzatesta continues to search for answers on Xerri. The Shark’s B sample should have been tested more than a month ago.

“The only thing we have been told is the date for the B sample and since then it has been radio silence,” Mezzatesta said.