ANDREW Johns's standing as the perhaps the game's greatest player contributed to his slide into depression and illicit drug use, his former Knights coach, Michael Hagan, believes.
Hagan said he did not know his captain in the 2001 grand final victory over the club he now coaches, Parramatta, had dabbled in recreational drugs.
But he admitted he had spoken to Johns about alcoholism and his mental illness, which was revealed yesterday as bipolar disorder.
In Newcastle, Johns was considered a law unto himself, and Hagan said his status meant it was harder to rein in the champion halfback and respond to rumours about his drug use.
"I think we all could have done more, there's no question about that," Hagan said. "But you're also talking about someone with his sort of profile, his reputation and standing in the game.
"You'd be naive to say you didn't want Andrew Johns playing footy and doing what he did for Newcastle for 10 years. The town and team ran off the back of him for that long."
Asked whether the club had failed in trying to discipline him and if there had been double standards for Johns, Hagan said: "There had been plenty of attempts, and that's something the club can certainly review.
"You're probably right. We've seen other examples before. His profile and standing in the game … this is one of the biggest stories in the game for some time. In the end, you can't be with them 24-7, either."
In his public confession on The Footy Show last Thursday night, Johns said the Newcastle club had "probably" known about his dalliances with drugs.
So far, no past or present officials or coaches have said they did.
"There had been no evidence to me about him taking drugs," Hagan said. "He was one of the better trainers in the club. There is no question … that alcohol was certainly a big issue for Andrew. That was always known - he's depended on alcohol. That's the first thing he really needs to get under control."
After his side's loss to Parramatta yesterday, Brisbane coach Wayne Bennett lashed out at sections of the media after a report linked injured Broncos captain Darren Lockyer to illicit drug use because Lockyer had been in contact with Johns and former teammate Wendell Sailor, who is serving a two-year ban for testing positive to cocaine. Lockyer later rejected the report.
But Bennett said he had faith in the ability of the NRL's two-strikes policy, which was implemented from August 1, to weed out drug users.
"The NRL, like a lot of organisations, are probably too slow to move," Bennett said. "It takes time. But they've done it. It's moving and it's happening. That's all we have to do. I have faith in the NRL and the clubs to solve the problem.
"Players don't want it in their club [drugs]. Players don't want it. Clubs don't want it. What's happening where you work? Do you have that policy where you're being drug tested seven days a week, 24 hours a day?
"What's in the past is in the past. Joey is an ex-player …"
Asked whether he had taken up the concerns of former Broncos captain Gorden Tallis about drug use on the 2000 World Cup tour, Bennett said curtly: "If I had a conversation with Gorden Tallis, that's between him and me. I don't intend to make them public."
Rugby League Players' Association president Simon Woolford foreshadowed a post-season forum between his organisation and the NRL to decide on a direction - and he gave partial backing to the idea of an amnesty for players willing to reveal the extent of their problem.
