NRL accused of ‘heinous abuse of power’ over shocking act in response to viral video of five Roosters stars in
- Sydney Roosters stars reportedly target tested
- Four players wrongly accused of drug use
- According to some reports, these players had to undergo drug tests.
The NRL has reportedly targeted four Roosters stars wrongly accused of taking illicit substances the day before a match.
Roosters players Terrell May, Brandon Smith, Joseph Suaali’i, Naufahu Whyte, Spencer Leniu and Zach Dockar-Clay are featured in a live video May posted to streaming platform Twitch, with footage lasting a little over an hour.
May distributed Roosters items to subscribers. However, a heavily edited version of the video went viral, sparking a slew of potentially defamatory comments from fans who falsely claimed some players were using drugs.
Some footy fans falsely accused the players of taking drugs off-camera in the footage, which has been reviewed by Daily Mail Australia and shows no evidence of illegal activity.
Daily Mail Australia does not infer that anyone depicted in the video acted unlawfully or breached NRL rules.
Four Sydney Roosters stars reportedly target tested by NRL
Brandon Smith (center) was one of four players wrongly accused after an edited video went viral on social media this week
The video was an open and light-hearted forum with fans, where players happily chatted with their fans, sending shouts and handing out merch to lucky fans.
The Roosters then rejected the accusation, launching a fierce defense of their players. But the Sydney Morning Herald reports all four stars were tested by the NRL following the episode.
A furious Clint Newton denounced the “odious abuse of power” exercised by the NRL.
“This is an abhorrent abuse of power,” said the boss of the Rugby League Players Association. “The players opt for this policy. If this is how the system is to be deployed, we will seriously consider blowing it up. This is not how it is intended to be used.
The NRL has the power to target test players if it has information relating to possible drug use, but this depends on the time of year the alleged incident occurred.
Smith, alongside former teammates Cameron Munster and Chris Lewis, were not tested following their 2021 white powder scandal as the incident occurred outside of the season, although the trio received a one-match ban and was fined a total of $49,000.
RLPA chief Clint Newton called the NRL’s decision a ‘heinous abuse of power’
Dally M medalist Kalyn Ponga and her Newcastle teammate Kurt Mann were target tested in 2022 after a video emerged of them leaving a toilet cubicle together in a pub. The results of these tests remain confidential.
The most recent example of targeted testing is that of Sharks star Braydon Trindall, who was tested three days after failing a roadside drug and alcohol test following their victory over the North Queensland in round seven.
The SMH adds that the NRL has no say in who or when clubs are targeted, with the process carried out by an independent pathology laboratory.
NRL policy also states that it “should be impossible for an individual player to know how many tests he may face” and that “the timing of each testing session varies so that there is no noticeable pattern to players as to when testing will take place. place’.
But Newton demands clarification on this policy.
“Someone at the NRL needs to explain what the threshold is for a target test because that’s what it was about,” he said. “Anyone who says otherwise might as well change their name to Pinocchio.”
