Cocaine’s not our problem – Betts
ENGLAND assistant coach Denis Betts has denied rugby league has a problem with cocaine use after Zak Hardaker became the third Super League star in three months to be caught using the drug.
Castleford full-back Hardaker has enjoyed an outstanding campaign, helping his team to finish top of the table for the first time in their 91-year history and reach a first Grand Final.
But he was axed from the side which lost to his former club Leeds in last Saturday’s title decider and has been omitted from England’s World Cup squad.
Widnes playmaker Rangi Chase and Wakefield prop Adam Walker tested positive for cocaine three months ago and Hardaker’s career is now also in doubt as he waits to discover the length of his ban.
Asked about damage to the reputation of the sport, Betts insisted the issue of drug use was a problem for society and claimed Hardaker’s latest misdemeanour could be attributed to his background and “anger issues”.
Hardaker, who hails from Pontefract in West Yorkshire, has seen his on-field brilliance overshadowed by a number of offfield incidents since bursting on to the scene with Leeds in 2011.
Betts, the Widnes head coach and England boss Wayne Bennett’s right-hand man, said: “This is not a rugby league issue, this is a society issue.
“Zak has got issues, he has always had issues and it’ll get to a point where the game can’t sustain him any more and that might come sooner than he thought. He’s going to have to make some decisions about lifestyle and what he does next.
“Society has some things to deal with and it’s just a young man who has issues with his background, anger issues he has dealt with and money in his pocket.
“It’s really hard for to comprehend because me it’s something I’ve not been involved with. I can’t understand what would make him do what he did. I can’t see what he was even thinking but it’s just society where the problem is.
“My wife is a teaching assistant in a big school in a nice area and these are issues that are out there for everybody.”
Betts saw Chase fall foul of cocaine use at Widnes earlier in the season and news of Hardaker’s positive test came in the most important week of Castleford’s season.
The 25-year-old was shortlisted for the Man of Steel award and his absence in the Grand Final cast a huge shadow over Castleford’s preparations as well as disrupting England’s World Cup plans.
Former Great Britain international Betts added: “I had this with Rangi too. I’ve no malice towards these lads because they’re just kids who’ve made mistakes and done something stupid.
“Hardaker’s integrity and morality need to get back into kilter because of what he has done and how he has let people down.
“He could have won the Man of Steel award and it’s quite scary that he could have played in the Grand Final and won the Harry Sunderland Trophy man-of-the-match award and the week before he gets on a plane [to go to the World Cup] something could have come out then.
“We had contingency plans if someone had got injured and we had some big input from a lot of people.
“Zak was in the squad and he would have probably played because of how well he was playing, but there was always a chance he could have got hurt so you make plans. There are players who can play in a number of positions.”
They are just kids who have made mistakes