Lockyer sees drug use remedy in stiffer penalties
RUGBY league’s longest- serving player Darren Lockyer says the sport’s bans for illicit drug use need to be more stringent to be an effective deterrent to tempted 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 at a Canberra nightclub on Saturday.
The Titans board has to gauge public reaction to see if Bromwich’s ban is sufficient before deciding later this week on likely sanctions for Proctor, who has been issued with a notice he breached code of conduct provisions in his contract.
Rugby league’s latest drugs scandal is different to recent ones as neither Proctor nor Bromwich tested positive to illicit drugs in this instance and neither is known to have returned positive tests in the past.
The pair, accused by police of being caught on CCTV consuming cocaine, further damaged a sport reeling from Shaun Kenny- Dowall’s charge of cocaine possession last week.
“If the game wants to deter it ( illicit drug use), maybe harsher penalties is the answer,’’ said Lockyer.
In March, Cronulla’s Australian representative Paul Gallen advocated a blanket two- year ban for players found to have used illicit drugs.
NRL chief Todd Greenberg said the NRL’s education program of players could not be more comprehensive.
Titans CEO Graham An- nesley said he would ask the NRL to provide clubs with “transparent guidelines’’ on supervision of players on representative duty.
“There needs to be protocols put in place for when players are in the care of representative teams. In the club environment, we use security, curfews and a whole range of different protocols,’’ Annesley said.