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from the guys at triple m
Following the release of the Australian Crime Commission's report yesterday on the relationship between professional sporting bodies, prohibited substances and organised crime, a recently retired rugby league player spoke to Triple M Sydney's The Rush Hour last night on the condition he remained anonymous about the use of performance enhancing drugs in rugby league.
Full transcript below.
His reaction to the story
From the time that I came into the game [NRL] to when I retired, I noticed a big change in body shapes especially and some of the players we were playing against were getting a lot fitter, faster, and stronger and it became one of those things that you just put up with, and you just had to deal with and one of those things you didn’t really speak about. At the time it was just part and parcel of playing in the end.
On if he knew the cheaters were doing something wrong
We knew – it wasn’t a case of seeing these people actually taking them – but word of mouth got around pretty quickly about the ones who were and you could just see in the body shapes and the way that these people were playing football.
You felt a little bit cheated because personally I would never take things like that because I would never feel good about myself if I made something knowing I had those performance enhancers inside me.
That’s my personal opinion, but yeah it was a weird one; it just became so natural and you kind of knew who those players were and you just put up with it and played on.
On if he was approached by a coach or support staff to take performance enhancing drugs
I think it was pretty rare that people were directly approached. It was more so an “ask and you shall receive” type of thing. It wasn’t hard to come by and you knew where you would go if you wanted to do that kind of thing.
Like I said it was very taboo and it was one of those things that, a lot of people who read the papers and followed the game they would maybe think that players who were doing it would talk about other players about it – that wasn’t the case at all.
If you went into the dressing sheds before training sessions or a game and you knew someone was doing it, it was more taboo to talk about if you knew the person than if you didn’t. it was very well hidden and it wasn’t hard to see who was doing it and what not, and just playing certain players around the comp you knew it was on, and that’s why I don’t feel too bad about saying, very little, what I’m saying at the moment because I didn’t cheat and I don’t mind saying this.
Are you aware of anyone in other sports who were taking PEDs?
It’s not hard to see who is, especially if they take it out of nowhere – all of a sudden you can see the body change pretty easily, and not only that, you can feel it if you play against them too.
I mean, running into somebody, or tackling somebody who hasn’t had it one year then had it the next, it’s a significant change in intensity and definitely in energy levels as well so it’s one of those things… yeah, I can tell, I can pretty much tell who’s had it and who hasn’t.
On if he can pick out current NRL players taking them
There are a few [players] who I think if there was a police line-up I could point out. Just from looking at body types especially if they’d been playing for a while and I’d seen before’s and after’s – easily.
However the game’s getting so intense these days and the training’s so full on anyway that it is getting harder and harder because it’s kind of levelling out.
This is the reason why people are taking these drugs. It’s to give them that edge because of such an even competition these days.
On if he thinks the cheating players were aware they’re taking illegal drugs, or if they thought they are “possibly” illegal, or they were totally naïve to the fact they are illegal
I firmly believe that there’re cases for both scenarios. I think that a lot of them were well aware that what they were taking was wrong, and I think a lot of them probably didn’t know exactly if it was wrong, but didn’t ask too many questions about it.
Following up that not asking questions is just as negligent…
Yeah, in most cases it’s fair to say that’s true, yeah definitely. I’m sure there’re a lot of young guys who have taken that kind of drug and felt pressured into it, maybe. Or, didn’t ask those questions where they probably should have.
And like you said – ignorance is bliss and they still should have probably known about it – that’s no excuse in the end.
The percentage of players in the NRL at the moment who he thinks are using something illegal
That’s pretty impossible. You just knew who was doing it or who had been thought to be doing it, and it wasn’t very hard to see and it was easy to notice when other people did it, because it was just so obvious.
If as his career went on, he saw more and more players taking PEDs
As my career went on, the training and the games got tougher and tougher as it is anyway.
Watching it now on television, you can definitely see body types change over a period of an off-season, and it’s just so simple to see and you just wonder how the hell they’re getting away with it so I guess if they bring in the blood samples, that’ll go a long way to cancelling them [PEDs] out.
On if he’d be shocked if it emerged rugby league games were fixed
It’s hard to say. It wouldn’t surprise me though. I think money as they say is the root of all evil. And I think it does funny things to people, and I’m sure you guys know that, and I definitely would not count it out, because it [money] definitely talks.
*Upon the player's request we're unable to name him or play the audio.
http://www.triplem.com.au/sydney/sp...erformancing-enhancing-drugs-in-rugby-league/
Following the release of the Australian Crime Commission's report yesterday on the relationship between professional sporting bodies, prohibited substances and organised crime, a recently retired rugby league player spoke to Triple M Sydney's The Rush Hour last night on the condition he remained anonymous about the use of performance enhancing drugs in rugby league.
Full transcript below.
His reaction to the story
From the time that I came into the game [NRL] to when I retired, I noticed a big change in body shapes especially and some of the players we were playing against were getting a lot fitter, faster, and stronger and it became one of those things that you just put up with, and you just had to deal with and one of those things you didn’t really speak about. At the time it was just part and parcel of playing in the end.
On if he knew the cheaters were doing something wrong
We knew – it wasn’t a case of seeing these people actually taking them – but word of mouth got around pretty quickly about the ones who were and you could just see in the body shapes and the way that these people were playing football.
You felt a little bit cheated because personally I would never take things like that because I would never feel good about myself if I made something knowing I had those performance enhancers inside me.
That’s my personal opinion, but yeah it was a weird one; it just became so natural and you kind of knew who those players were and you just put up with it and played on.
On if he was approached by a coach or support staff to take performance enhancing drugs
I think it was pretty rare that people were directly approached. It was more so an “ask and you shall receive” type of thing. It wasn’t hard to come by and you knew where you would go if you wanted to do that kind of thing.
Like I said it was very taboo and it was one of those things that, a lot of people who read the papers and followed the game they would maybe think that players who were doing it would talk about other players about it – that wasn’t the case at all.
If you went into the dressing sheds before training sessions or a game and you knew someone was doing it, it was more taboo to talk about if you knew the person than if you didn’t. it was very well hidden and it wasn’t hard to see who was doing it and what not, and just playing certain players around the comp you knew it was on, and that’s why I don’t feel too bad about saying, very little, what I’m saying at the moment because I didn’t cheat and I don’t mind saying this.
Are you aware of anyone in other sports who were taking PEDs?
It’s not hard to see who is, especially if they take it out of nowhere – all of a sudden you can see the body change pretty easily, and not only that, you can feel it if you play against them too.
I mean, running into somebody, or tackling somebody who hasn’t had it one year then had it the next, it’s a significant change in intensity and definitely in energy levels as well so it’s one of those things… yeah, I can tell, I can pretty much tell who’s had it and who hasn’t.
On if he can pick out current NRL players taking them
There are a few [players] who I think if there was a police line-up I could point out. Just from looking at body types especially if they’d been playing for a while and I’d seen before’s and after’s – easily.
However the game’s getting so intense these days and the training’s so full on anyway that it is getting harder and harder because it’s kind of levelling out.
This is the reason why people are taking these drugs. It’s to give them that edge because of such an even competition these days.
On if he thinks the cheating players were aware they’re taking illegal drugs, or if they thought they are “possibly” illegal, or they were totally naïve to the fact they are illegal
I firmly believe that there’re cases for both scenarios. I think that a lot of them were well aware that what they were taking was wrong, and I think a lot of them probably didn’t know exactly if it was wrong, but didn’t ask too many questions about it.
Following up that not asking questions is just as negligent…
Yeah, in most cases it’s fair to say that’s true, yeah definitely. I’m sure there’re a lot of young guys who have taken that kind of drug and felt pressured into it, maybe. Or, didn’t ask those questions where they probably should have.
And like you said – ignorance is bliss and they still should have probably known about it – that’s no excuse in the end.
The percentage of players in the NRL at the moment who he thinks are using something illegal
That’s pretty impossible. You just knew who was doing it or who had been thought to be doing it, and it wasn’t very hard to see and it was easy to notice when other people did it, because it was just so obvious.
If as his career went on, he saw more and more players taking PEDs
As my career went on, the training and the games got tougher and tougher as it is anyway.
Watching it now on television, you can definitely see body types change over a period of an off-season, and it’s just so simple to see and you just wonder how the hell they’re getting away with it so I guess if they bring in the blood samples, that’ll go a long way to cancelling them [PEDs] out.
On if he’d be shocked if it emerged rugby league games were fixed
It’s hard to say. It wouldn’t surprise me though. I think money as they say is the root of all evil. And I think it does funny things to people, and I’m sure you guys know that, and I definitely would not count it out, because it [money] definitely talks.
*Upon the player's request we're unable to name him or play the audio.
http://www.triplem.com.au/sydney/sp...erformancing-enhancing-drugs-in-rugby-league/
