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SOME Sydney Roosters players are allegedly routinely using powerful prescription drugs including Valium and sleeping pills to get high after games.
A fortnight after troubled Roosters player Jake Friend was caught with Valium tablets by police, an investigation by The Sunday Telegraph can reveal that the drug and others are being distributed among some players for recreational use. It also revealed:
* The Roosters' sprint coach Roger Fabri spent two years in jail for drug supply in 2000;
* A highly credible former senior player said prescription drug abuse by some players was endemic in the club;
* A whistleblower has alleged that a member of the Roosters coaching staff buys black-market Valium for $20 a box for the players.
And NRL chief executive David Gallop yesterday vowed to conduct a broad investigation into the "serious allegations", including other issues raised by this newspaper. The Sunday Telegraph has passed information to Eastern Beaches police investigating the Jake Friend case.
Roosters chief executive Steve Noyce said he was unaware of Fabri's record but would talk to him tomorrow. He said the allegations about the Roosters were "offensive and untrue".
Fabri said he had not told the club about his criminal record but had never supplied drugs to players, explaining: "The law allows you to move on with your life; I have moved on and am trying to put the pieces back together."
Soon after Friend was charged with possession of seven Valium tablets without a prescription at 11.40pm near the Coogee McDonald's on Saturday, June 5, Roosters officials claimed there was an "innocent explanation".
That explanation has not been forthcoming. Friend has refused to be interviewed by investigators. Mr Gallop confirmed he was awaiting a report from the club explaining why Friend was carrying the Valium and why a female's name was on the box.
Friend was with "reformed bad boy" and Roosters 2010 recruit Todd Carney. The pair were searched after Friend was seen passing Carney a pill, which Carney later claimed was the heavy duty painkiller Tramadol. Carney was not charged. The incident occurred two hours after the pair played for the Roosters against Cronulla at the Sydney Football Stadium.
Sources, including Roosters players, said the Friend incident was the tip of the drug-culture iceberg pervading a club that tomorrow will use its players to launch National Drugs Week and the "No Way Campaign" with a group of indigenous schoolchildren.
The former Roosters player described the new style of drug use as a "culture shift", as players abuse prescription drugs because of the career-ending penalties applied to the use of illegal substances.
"There is a huge illegal trade of these drugs. Footballers are into them - it's their whole thing of pushing the limits," he said.
While clubs screen players for substances like ecstasy and cocaine, prescription drugs such as Valium, Tramadol, Stilnox and even Viagra can be freely used. The drugs are taken alone or mixed with energy drinks to enhance the buzz. He said the problem was widespread in the NRL, which has conceded it has no testing measures in place to detect the abuse of prescription medication.
The Sunday Telegraph spoke to a whistleblower who claimed he was hired by the relative of a Rooster's employee in 2009 to purchase prescription drugs for players. The man said he and several others used welfare benefits to purchase drugs like Valium for $5.20 a box.
"I was getting $20 a box after I sold them - it was a guaranteed money earner," he said. "There were five of us doing it last year and I was doctor-shopping for [the team official], stockpiling Valium, Stilnox and Temazepam."
Gallop said he had spoken to Roosters management about the allegations.
Fabri was convicted of knowingly taking part in the supply of a commercial quantity of methyl amphetamine and knowingly taking part in the supply of the drug Ecstasy. He pleaded not guilty to both charges but was sentenced to four years' jail and paroled in 2002.
He trains the Roosters fortnightly.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/spo...-1225881780195
A fortnight after troubled Roosters player Jake Friend was caught with Valium tablets by police, an investigation by The Sunday Telegraph can reveal that the drug and others are being distributed among some players for recreational use. It also revealed:
* The Roosters' sprint coach Roger Fabri spent two years in jail for drug supply in 2000;
* A highly credible former senior player said prescription drug abuse by some players was endemic in the club;
* A whistleblower has alleged that a member of the Roosters coaching staff buys black-market Valium for $20 a box for the players.
And NRL chief executive David Gallop yesterday vowed to conduct a broad investigation into the "serious allegations", including other issues raised by this newspaper. The Sunday Telegraph has passed information to Eastern Beaches police investigating the Jake Friend case.
Roosters chief executive Steve Noyce said he was unaware of Fabri's record but would talk to him tomorrow. He said the allegations about the Roosters were "offensive and untrue".
Fabri said he had not told the club about his criminal record but had never supplied drugs to players, explaining: "The law allows you to move on with your life; I have moved on and am trying to put the pieces back together."
Soon after Friend was charged with possession of seven Valium tablets without a prescription at 11.40pm near the Coogee McDonald's on Saturday, June 5, Roosters officials claimed there was an "innocent explanation".
That explanation has not been forthcoming. Friend has refused to be interviewed by investigators. Mr Gallop confirmed he was awaiting a report from the club explaining why Friend was carrying the Valium and why a female's name was on the box.
Friend was with "reformed bad boy" and Roosters 2010 recruit Todd Carney. The pair were searched after Friend was seen passing Carney a pill, which Carney later claimed was the heavy duty painkiller Tramadol. Carney was not charged. The incident occurred two hours after the pair played for the Roosters against Cronulla at the Sydney Football Stadium.
Sources, including Roosters players, said the Friend incident was the tip of the drug-culture iceberg pervading a club that tomorrow will use its players to launch National Drugs Week and the "No Way Campaign" with a group of indigenous schoolchildren.
The former Roosters player described the new style of drug use as a "culture shift", as players abuse prescription drugs because of the career-ending penalties applied to the use of illegal substances.
"There is a huge illegal trade of these drugs. Footballers are into them - it's their whole thing of pushing the limits," he said.
While clubs screen players for substances like ecstasy and cocaine, prescription drugs such as Valium, Tramadol, Stilnox and even Viagra can be freely used. The drugs are taken alone or mixed with energy drinks to enhance the buzz. He said the problem was widespread in the NRL, which has conceded it has no testing measures in place to detect the abuse of prescription medication.
The Sunday Telegraph spoke to a whistleblower who claimed he was hired by the relative of a Rooster's employee in 2009 to purchase prescription drugs for players. The man said he and several others used welfare benefits to purchase drugs like Valium for $5.20 a box.
"I was getting $20 a box after I sold them - it was a guaranteed money earner," he said. "There were five of us doing it last year and I was doctor-shopping for [the team official], stockpiling Valium, Stilnox and Temazepam."
Gallop said he had spoken to Roosters management about the allegations.
Fabri was convicted of knowingly taking part in the supply of a commercial quantity of methyl amphetamine and knowingly taking part in the supply of the drug Ecstasy. He pleaded not guilty to both charges but was sentenced to four years' jail and paroled in 2002.
He trains the Roosters fortnightly.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/spo...-1225881780195
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