Kid Dynamite
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Two massive things in this article by Roy Masters. I'll let others comment.
League giants begged Joey to quit
Roy Masters | September 1, 2007
Andrew Johns was rugby league's time bomb. Joey's decade-long drug habit alarmed teammates and officials, some of whom confronted him angrily and publicly over his cocaine- and ecstasy-addled state.
The Queensland State of Origin coach Mal Meninga and the former Broncos five-eighth Kevin Walters challenged Johns at Star City Casino after a legends match about five years ago, the two recently retired champions lacerating him over his drug use.
There was also an ugly scene during the Magic Millions on the Gold Coast in 2005 when the St George Illawarra coach Nathan Brown and his assistant coach, Steve Price, reminded Johns, who was "off his face", of his responsibilities as a role model.
When the Gold Coast incident was put to Johns's management at the time the reaction, predictably, was denial. Joey was more candid, using humour to detour the debate. "You know all that about being a role model," he told me back then. "It's just that sometimes you forget."
Defamation laws prevented these details being printed and it is only now, with Johns's frank admission of drug abuse, following pressure from his family, that the story can be told.
Aware that a partial admission would trawl up other examples of rampant drug use, which may be revealed anyway in a forthcoming biography, the three-times Dally M winner made a detailed disclosure on the Nine Network.
Wearing the uncomfortable look of a man fighting an infection that won't go away, he admitted sustained use over his stellar career.
Johns's revelation that Newcastle club officials were aware of his problem stunned rugby league circles, with the current administration of the club moving quickly to absolve themselves.
NRL clubs are obliged to conduct a minimum 70 random tests a year for illicit drugs of the type found in Johns's possession after he left The Church nightclub in London.
However, Newcastle was one of only two clubs that did not test for illicit drugs in the period.
That led to the NRL's 70-test rule. Some might suggest tight budgets drove this decision, but that is simply untrue. They did not want to catch Johns.
When he loomed as the obvious candidate to assume the role of captain of the national team, Australian Rugby League officials were reluctant to appoint him, fearing a drugs scandal would embarrass the code.
Brisbane's Gorden Tallis became captain towards the end of Johns's representative career and is rumoured to have confronted management on a tour of England, demanding action be taken over use of party drugs by some teammates.
Tallis is now a director of the NRL board, with the responsibility of enforcing a drugs code where a first positive results in a suspended fine of 5 per cent of a player's contract, and compulsory counselling. A second positive attracts a mandatory 12-match ban. The Johns revelation will fuel claims that drug use is widespread in the code.
It is probably worse in the Australian Football League, because the NRL began testing for illicit drugs almost a decade earlier, and alcohol is a more popular substitute in the less aerobically demanding game of rugby league.
Johns blames depression for his use of ecstasy, seeking an escape from his leaden, sullen lows.
But his brooding, dark days are probably as much the result of habitual use, as an excuse for taking illicit drugs.
He also admits to being a heavy drinker.
NRL officials are concerned at a binge culture in the code. At an alcohol summit nearly 10 years ago in Sydney, Newcastle's current coach, Brian Smith, probably summed it up best. "My players are as horrified to learn I had three beers a day as I am horrified to be told they drink 30 beers in one night and nothing for the rest of the week."
There will be a push for a similar drugs summit, but clubs insist their testing does not reflect epidemic use, with the Storm recording only two positives for cannabis four years ago.
However, a player's first positive is kept confidential and is known to only three club officials, who are not bound to report it to the NRL.
When the Herald raised the question of two players testing positive at a Sydney club last month, the club chairman, chief executive and doctor all said they were not required to comment.
Johns's confession was a desperate attempt to gain absolution from his adoring public, but many in the league world believe his friends at Nine were more interested in ratings than his recovery.
The revelations certainly raise more questions than they answer, particularly the link between champion players and illicit drugs.
With the AFL Brownlow medallist Ben Cousins sent to California for rehabilitation, two sublimely gifted players from a Melbourne club being treated for addiction and Johns now revealed as a long-term drug taker, are the on-field performances of these champions chemically fuelled, or are they simply born risk-takers?
Johns's revelation was an ominous soundtrack to a life that has fallen off a cliff, with his fans praying there will be no sickly thud, particularly for a man without an enemy in the world, if you overlook the demon of addiction.
Source: http://www.leaguehq.com.au/news/news/they-begged-joey-to-quit/2007/08/31/1188067369214.html
League giants begged Joey to quit
Roy Masters | September 1, 2007
Andrew Johns was rugby league's time bomb. Joey's decade-long drug habit alarmed teammates and officials, some of whom confronted him angrily and publicly over his cocaine- and ecstasy-addled state.
The Queensland State of Origin coach Mal Meninga and the former Broncos five-eighth Kevin Walters challenged Johns at Star City Casino after a legends match about five years ago, the two recently retired champions lacerating him over his drug use.
There was also an ugly scene during the Magic Millions on the Gold Coast in 2005 when the St George Illawarra coach Nathan Brown and his assistant coach, Steve Price, reminded Johns, who was "off his face", of his responsibilities as a role model.
When the Gold Coast incident was put to Johns's management at the time the reaction, predictably, was denial. Joey was more candid, using humour to detour the debate. "You know all that about being a role model," he told me back then. "It's just that sometimes you forget."
Defamation laws prevented these details being printed and it is only now, with Johns's frank admission of drug abuse, following pressure from his family, that the story can be told.
Aware that a partial admission would trawl up other examples of rampant drug use, which may be revealed anyway in a forthcoming biography, the three-times Dally M winner made a detailed disclosure on the Nine Network.
Wearing the uncomfortable look of a man fighting an infection that won't go away, he admitted sustained use over his stellar career.
Johns's revelation that Newcastle club officials were aware of his problem stunned rugby league circles, with the current administration of the club moving quickly to absolve themselves.
NRL clubs are obliged to conduct a minimum 70 random tests a year for illicit drugs of the type found in Johns's possession after he left The Church nightclub in London.
However, Newcastle was one of only two clubs that did not test for illicit drugs in the period.
That led to the NRL's 70-test rule. Some might suggest tight budgets drove this decision, but that is simply untrue. They did not want to catch Johns.
When he loomed as the obvious candidate to assume the role of captain of the national team, Australian Rugby League officials were reluctant to appoint him, fearing a drugs scandal would embarrass the code.
Brisbane's Gorden Tallis became captain towards the end of Johns's representative career and is rumoured to have confronted management on a tour of England, demanding action be taken over use of party drugs by some teammates.
Tallis is now a director of the NRL board, with the responsibility of enforcing a drugs code where a first positive results in a suspended fine of 5 per cent of a player's contract, and compulsory counselling. A second positive attracts a mandatory 12-match ban. The Johns revelation will fuel claims that drug use is widespread in the code.
It is probably worse in the Australian Football League, because the NRL began testing for illicit drugs almost a decade earlier, and alcohol is a more popular substitute in the less aerobically demanding game of rugby league.
Johns blames depression for his use of ecstasy, seeking an escape from his leaden, sullen lows.
But his brooding, dark days are probably as much the result of habitual use, as an excuse for taking illicit drugs.
He also admits to being a heavy drinker.
NRL officials are concerned at a binge culture in the code. At an alcohol summit nearly 10 years ago in Sydney, Newcastle's current coach, Brian Smith, probably summed it up best. "My players are as horrified to learn I had three beers a day as I am horrified to be told they drink 30 beers in one night and nothing for the rest of the week."
There will be a push for a similar drugs summit, but clubs insist their testing does not reflect epidemic use, with the Storm recording only two positives for cannabis four years ago.
However, a player's first positive is kept confidential and is known to only three club officials, who are not bound to report it to the NRL.
When the Herald raised the question of two players testing positive at a Sydney club last month, the club chairman, chief executive and doctor all said they were not required to comment.
Johns's confession was a desperate attempt to gain absolution from his adoring public, but many in the league world believe his friends at Nine were more interested in ratings than his recovery.
The revelations certainly raise more questions than they answer, particularly the link between champion players and illicit drugs.
With the AFL Brownlow medallist Ben Cousins sent to California for rehabilitation, two sublimely gifted players from a Melbourne club being treated for addiction and Johns now revealed as a long-term drug taker, are the on-field performances of these champions chemically fuelled, or are they simply born risk-takers?
Johns's revelation was an ominous soundtrack to a life that has fallen off a cliff, with his fans praying there will be no sickly thud, particularly for a man without an enemy in the world, if you overlook the demon of addiction.
Source: http://www.leaguehq.com.au/news/news/they-begged-joey-to-quit/2007/08/31/1188067369214.html
