Bromwich: I grew up around drugs

Former Kiwis captain Jesse Bromwich grew up around drugs and alcohol in South Auckland.

Bromwich, who quit as captain after he and team-mate Kevin Proctor were arrested for taking cocaine following the Anzac test in Canberra earlier this month, has opened up about his upbringing in New Zealand’s biggest city.

‘‘I grew up in a pretty rough town in South Auckland,’’ Bromwich, who was banned for two NRL matches and banned from the Kiwis’ Rugby League World Cup campaign, said in an interview on NRL 360.

‘‘It was quite normal for me to see kids during intermediate school doing drugs and people in our league teams growing up and doing drugs.

‘‘But I was never part of the crew that used to go and do the drugs. I’ve been really drunk a couple of times and tried it a handful of times as teenager. But since I moved to Melbourne, it’s not part of my life anymore.’’

Last week, 28-year-old Bromwich opened up about the incident in an interview with Melbourne’s Sunday Herald Sun, when he revealed he could only remember a few ‘‘flashbacks’’ of the night.

During the NRL 360 show, Bromwich also spoke about how disappointed he was in letting down Melbourne Storm captain and club team-mate Cameron Smith, who was ‘‘filthy’’ with him.

‘‘The thing that I admire about Cameron and his family is they’ve reached out to my family and offered their support,’’ Bromwich said.

‘‘It’s not like he’s not talking to me or anything like that. We are still great mates. It’s just hard for me to let him down. I look up to Cameron and I don’t like letting people down.’’

After the interview was aired on the show, journalist and former NRL player Paul Kent said Bromwich came across ‘‘very well’’.

‘‘You can see that he’s genuinely sorry, he’s genuinely embarrassed.’’