Rugby League players made up nearly half of the positive drug tests in Australian sport in 2014 according to the World Anti-Doping Authority.
Rugby League players made up 20 of the 49 positive tests in Australia in 2014, making Australia the 7th worst offending country behind Russia (148), Italy (123), India (96), Belgium (91), France (91), and Turkey (73).
Keep in mind these numbers reflect athletes that have actually been caught using banned substances.
The Rugby League numbers no doubt include some of the Cronulla Sharks players who were caught up in the ASADA scandal. It is not a great look for Rugby League and it must be something that the ARL and NRL find very embarrassing.
I always look at positive tests as a good thing. It shows that Rugby League has an active drug testing program and is looking to seek out drug cheats within the sport.
The days of people thinking that any sport is cleaner than another are long gone. Only and idiot would suggest that there are sports out there where drugs are not something that need to be monitored.
When a sport claims it is clean it normally means that they are simply not doing enough drug testing. So it is good Rugby League is doing what it can, but those numbers are still very high.
