I believe he is talking about his time at Halifax!!

Was Martin Pearson there at the time?

Just google pro-hormones, these are basically designer steroids many end up banned in the end

I am far from an expert on this - but somewhere in my addled memory I seem to recall hearing that some types of pro-hormones were virtually, if not completely, undetectable? Something to do with the way they convert into natural chemicals? Or something?

Aye, likely story... I bet you're juiced up to the eyeballs aren't you!

things like creatine and muscle building drinks are available everywhere. creatine is peformance enhancing because it aids muscle recovery, speeding up the process enabling a hard training session to be repeated or increased in a shorter space of time. most clubs are quite open about this side of things, hull for example frequently plug their association with maximuscle. not sure if dunneman is referring to these or more shady items

Ive used crutches before but could still pi@@

Ephiedrine is rife in Rugby proberly used by every team in both Pro and Amiture league you get cought just blame it on medication in cold remedy but anybody taken it when they have played which i confess i have taken it it is like speed and give you extra energy.

I think the drug testing in Rugby League in the UK is very, very average.

I think performance enhancing drug are defiantly used to some extent, but other illegal drugs I believe are rife in the game.


Over here we have the NRL's drug tests, which are basically contracted out to a government organization so the League isn't involved. Clubs then also test players on top of that.


The problem these days is that performance enhancing drugs move forward very quickly and the labs find it hard to keep up. On top of that, other drugs a player might use leave the system very quickly, and players tend to stick with those drugs that will leave their systems soon.

If anyone on here took a photo of a player misbehaving. Would your first port of call be RLFANS?

I’ve caught Ryan Bailey in Pizza Hut on a match day..

Eating salad!

Scored a try that day as well!

He went out to a BBQ on a Tuesday night, got bladdered, and got his timeline wrong, drank well into the night and early hours of the next morning, and took what he took within the 72 hour timeframe.

Just conjecture of course

My take on it is that the testing process is less robust now with 17-a-side than it was when it was 15-a-side.

When drugs testing was first brought in, under the two subs rule, you got two players from each side. Now, with two more players per team, it is still two from each team pulled out for the test.

Doesn't that make it statistically LESS likley to be tested now, than when compared to the original system ?

Maybe the RFL should publish the list of how many times each individual player have been tested each season, then we'll see who'd been skipping tests or missing out ....

The NRL testing is no different to here, clubs do their own tests and will keep them quiet if it's in their interests to do so e.g. Andrew Johns.

I've been told by a reliable source about one current SL player who was put on sick leave for two weeks after he failed an internal drugs test, the alternative was risk being caught by external testers and hit with a 2 year ban.