Talking Footy

bir harsh on the man just coz he was caught with ecstacy or is there more to it than what ive read?

David.C-Mighty Manly 1st wrote:

Andrew Johns is a DISGRACE and BLOODY LIAR and this is the man, who our kids looked up too and want too be like. What a great example besides letting himself down, his family and the name/town of Newcastle and the many fans/ merchandise purchased in your honour.Oh not too mention the NRL this is a shocker A.Johns and yes we are entitled to a mistake i grant you that , but matey you had plenty of time/chances to come forward and be clean you are gutless the remorse factor well need i say more is a BIG FAT O in my opinion.

Agreed. I still find it hard to believe that he has been rated by many as the best player in the competition and yet not once was he picked up for his drug taking throughout his career. His original excuse as to what happened in London was truly pathetic .

Looks like the National Rugby League knew about this since 2000 when Gordon Tallis tried to report it and it was ignored. The NRL should be subject to a police investigation or possible Royal Commission into drugs in that code. The media has just as much to blame for putting these brain dead morons in the spotlight all the time as to being 'heroes'.

I think that this all may have been posted prior to the real news about Johns was released if you still think that it's all about his London drug issue i suggest you come out from under the rock and read all the papers and internet sites..

10 years of Drug using, depression and a booze problem...

Everyone knew about it but yet it was kept a secret from the public.

I kinda feel for the guy but at the same time i feel that he has got away with the system of drug detection in the game (or did he get caught and it was swept under the carpet)

He is just like millions of aussies who has personal issues that are of no concern to me...Hopefully he'll become a spokesperson and make this revelation worthwhile to more people other than himself...

to err is human ... as a wests tigers fan I feel cheated with the loss of Kevin McGuinness but do empathise to some degree in respect to him having bipolar and now this has everyone talking about drugs and depression ... certainly something more awareness needs to be brought to the attention of the wider community

everything happens for a reason and well as I gathered he is not the first and wont be the last just peeved that different rules have been applied to others young and make a mistake and made pay the price was McGuinness while it was known that others were doing it and alledgedly playing for Australia

I remember a couple of years ago hearing he was detected using but it was covered up. There was one injury (I can't remember which one) that Johns was off for a while but the injury was either a hoax, or not as bad as reported due to him having drugs still in his system and needing an excuse not to play for while until they (the drugs) left. I'm not sure if it was an in-house test which makes the club look very poor or an ADSA test which is worse and throws the whole game into disrepute, but that was one story I heard.....

Well Scorger, that happens alot i think, guys faking injury to get over part 1 of a 2 part drug test..

I don't know how common it is to fake injury to ensure you avoid getting pinged for drugs in your system. If there is any possibility of this then the official drug testers need to ensure it cannot be used as an excuse to avoiding drug testing. They could still do a test and if a problem is detected ask the player to produce the documentaruy evidence that the player took whatever prescribed drug(s) on whatever date to prove the bona fides. If they can't then string em up for public humiliation. Any mood altering drug has the potential to be a performance enhancing drug, just as steroids do.

Yes! but still his making a living out of the game & probably a good living - coaching, media etc, some people are blessed.

You're right there. Most employers don't get involved in "off-field" behaviour clauses, but they did consider this for Fev in the AFL. Does anyone know if any ARL player has a contract specifying penalties for "off-field" behaviour?