The NRL faces the prospect of players being stood down on a daily or weekly basis if the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority finds sufficient evidence to charge them with using performance-enhancing drugs.
With ASADA investigators due to begin interviewing up to 14 Cronulla players this week, there is the possibility that the first doping charges will be laid soon.
NRL chief executive Dave Smith recently announced that ASADA would interview 31 current NRL players and about 10 former players, many of who are thought to be playing in the English Super League competition.
Rather than wait until ASADA has interviewed all of the players to decide which ones face charges, Fairfax Media has been told that they will begin charging individuals as soon as they have enough evidence. By doing so, the process will move at a faster pace as anti-doping hearings may be able to take place while interviews with other players continue. While it is likely to ensure weeks of bad publicity for the code, that is inevitable if players are charged and dozens of hearings are required.
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However, some clubs may have to endure the prospect of losing players on a gradual basis as they are stood down after being issued with infraction notices by the NRL.
Fairfax Media has been told that ASADA will interview the players it has the strongest cases against first, and if some players are charged quickly, it may encourage others to confess.
Under NRL anti-doping rules, players are required to submit for interviews and co-operate with the ASADA investigations or face suspension. The NRL has delegated the responsibility for investigating doping violations to ASADA, but conducts any drugs tribunal hearings that arise.
Once ASADA investigators believe they have enough evidence to charge a player, the case will be forwarded to the anti-doping rule-violation panel, comprising of lawyers, doctors and other experts, to decide whether to proceed.
If that occurs, ASADA puts the player on the register of findings and the NRL is advised to issue an infraction notice to the player.
The infraction notice will outline the mandatory penalty, which is usually two years under World Anti-Doping Agency guidelines if the player is found guilty, as well as other options available to him. Among them are a reduction of up to 75 per cent if he provides substantial assistance to help ASADA build a case against someone else.
The player, who can have a lawyer or other adviser - including his parents - at the interviews, will also have the option to challenge the decision to charge him through the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.
Cronulla coach Shane Flanagan said after Saturday night's 13-6 loss to Parramatta that the drugs investigation was beginning to take a toll on his team's preparation.
After meeting with their lawyers last Thursday, the players were told that formal interviews with ASADA investigators had been requested and Flanagan said the Sharks were being limited to one full training session a week.
''We are not preparing well enough because there is too much stuff going on off the field,'' he told ABC radio. ''One session or one-and-half sessions a week is OK, but these players are distracted and you can understand why. I can't give an answer or any clarification on when it is going to be cleared up.''
