NRL boss Dave Smith warns there is more pain to come for Cronulla Sharks as ASADA continues investigation
Andrew Webster
The Daily Telegraph
March 10, 2013 11:30PM
DEFIANT Cronulla players last night took to the field in the hope of casting aside the doping scandal that threatens to rip their club in two.
The sobering reality this morning is that they have another month of turmoil and pain before ASADA finishes its investigation, according to NRL chief executive Dave Smith.
"I met with ASADA last Friday and they told me that they are probably four weeks away from finishing with Cronulla," Smith told News Limited last night. "I really want it done as quickly as I can. Fundamentally, we need to get it done and dusted. That's their job. They have to get to the bottom of that, as soon as possible for the sake of everybody."
Will the Sharks last that long? If the strength of their fans and, most importantly, their rock-solid playing group is any indication, they will.
That was evident in something as simple as the thick piece of Elastoplast wrapped around one of captain Paul Gallen's biceps, with the names "Flanno", "Noakes", "Phys", "Doc" and "Moons" written in support of benched coach Shane Flanagan and his sacked coaching staff.
One man few were feeling sympathy for seemed to be chairman Damian Irvine.
His decision to tell The Sunday Telegraph that Flanagan and his coaching staff oversaw the injection of "horse drugs" in 2011 only inflamed the imbroglio.
Irvine told those close to him he would decide in the next 24 hours about whether he would quit.
Surely, if Flanagan is reinstated he cannot work under a chairman who has questioned him so publicly. Flanagan said he "ain't that stupid" when asked if he had any knowledge of players being injected with the peptide TB-500, which is usually pumped into very fast racehorses.
Numerous banners around the ground made it clear the Sharks faithful want Flanagan back, giving him the benefit of the doubt that a trigger-happy Irvine and his board were not prepared to give him.
Seven minutes into the game, the chant started: "BRING BACK FLANNO!"
Before last night's season opener against the Titans at Sharks Stadium, Flanagan's stand-in, Peter Sharp, revealed the depth of stress the players have been under.
"Physically, everyone has been sick," Sharp told Triple M. "There's not a lot of sleep. There's a lot of stress on these players. It's tragic circumstances, it's been a tough week for everyone in the club. The last 48 hours have been very traumatic, especially for those 14 players that have a dark cloud hanging over their heads. It's like 50 shades of grey. There is no definitive truth."
That truth is something Smith says he's doing his best to unearth, even if there is growing concern that headquarters isn't rallying around innocent Sharks players when they need it most.
"The ASADA investigation, which I am pushing so hard to be concluded as quickly as possible, should be looking at those things," he said.
Smith will meet Bruno Cullen during the week about becoming the Shire's Mr Fixit.
Cullen said on Saturday he'd probably have been parachuted into the Sharks regardless of the drugs scandal because of its precarious financial state.
That the NRL have placed four administrators says a lot about where Cronulla have been headed.
plus no more Cronulla 
