Newton's ban might not deter cheats, says League star

EVEN the stark warning they no longer have any place to hide might not deter players from using banned drugs in their bid to get bigger, faster and stronger.

That is the startling admission by some Super League players in light of Wakefield Trinity Wildcats hooker Terry Newton's two-year ban for taking

human growth hormone

(hGH).

The ex-Great Britain star was sacked by his club yesterday soon after being handed the suspension from UK Anti-Doping (UKAD).

Whereas previously it was impossible to detect hGH in a reliable manner, scientists have now made a significant breakthrough in their testing procedures with Newton becoming the first athlete in the world to be caught out from a blood sample.

Former Warrington coach Paul Cullen suggested last week that others will now follow and Newton's downfall is "only the tip of the iceberg" when it comes to the substance which stimulates muscle growth and speeds up recovery.

It remains to be seen whether there is a bigger drugs culture in the sport of rugby league than meets the eye.

The RFL are rightly proud of their testing procedures with only 10 players returning positive results for banned substances in more than

1100 tests over the last two

years.

But hGH is now on their radar. One Super League player, who wished to remain anonymous, said: "It's been whispered about in the game for years that loads of players have been using it either in the off-season or during the season because they could get away with it.

"I don't know of any today but two years ago I definitely knew players who were taking it in Super League.

"There was no way of tracing it through urine so it's fantastic blood testing has been brought in.

However, he added: "I think people will still take the risk though up until the point where a lot more drug testing is done in the game.

"It would be great if money wasn't an object and players could be randomly tested more often. But currently I think a lot of people think the rewards (of taking hGH) are greater than the risks and it's worth it.

"They've been getting away with it for years so why stop now?

"It's unfortunate what has happened but hopefully it will give some people a wake-up call."

The player conceded hGH is readily available.

"I, personally, have never been offered it but know I could go down to my local gym, see the bloke behind the counter and get it the same anyone can, it's that accessible," he said.

"You only have to go out in town on a weekend to see how many people are using some sort of steroid or growth hormone and it's that easy to keep it hush-hush; you could easily do it off your own back without your team-mates or club colleagues knowing."

The player concedes he has accepted that some of his peers are "cheating" their way ahead in the game.

"I'm someone who is completely 100 per cent against peformance-enhancing drugs in any sport," he said.

"If people want to take it they will; you know they're gaining a blatant unfair advantage over but you can't sit back and worry about that even if it does get your back up a little bit," he explained.

"Players are likely to have been getting away with it but now, with blood testing, that won't always be the case.

"This can only be a good thing for the game and it will make a lot of people sit up and take note, open a few eyes and hopefully they will do the right thing."

Another Super League star, who preferred to go unnamed last night, was more concerned by the effect the scandal had on the sport.

"The Wigan versus Warrington game on Saturday night was such a fantastic spectacle and now we're having to talk about this," he said.

"It's such a pity. I've heard players are on it but I don't think it's a big issue.

"The main thing to come from this is that hopefully people who aren't taking it and might be thinking about it might now change their mind."

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