Ex-NRL star Blake Ferguson "could hardly stand" after month in Japan jail on drug charges

Less than a week before he's due to appear in court on drug and assault charges, former NRL star Blake Ferguson has spoken out about his ordeal after spending 29 days in a Japanese police station.

Ex- league ace Ferguson was arrested on December 30, 2021, after allegedly beating a fellow patron at a Tokyo restaurant, only for police to then reportedly find cocaine in his possession following a search. The player has said he will be pleading guilty.

The ex-Parramatta Eels and Sydney Roosters staple was due to begin a career in rugby union last month but had his AU$1.5million (£800,000) contract with Green Rockets Tokatsu terminated before he could debut.

It was even reported the club could be prevented from participating in the 2022 Rugby League One campaign as a result of the debacle, with Japan promoting a strict no-tolerance drugs policy.

Ferguson, 31, even said he could "hardly stand up for a few days" after spending such a prolonged period sleeping on a mattress that was "a centimetre thick."

“It’s been really lonely and boring," he told the Daily Telegraph of his 29-day hell at Azabu Police station in the Roppongi district of Tokyo.

“Time goes really slow when you’re locked up for a month. I didn’t hear anything from Australia because I didn’t have access to a phone. No contact with my family and no contact with my manager.

“It was just me and some Japanese guys who couldn’t speak English. I read a few books but that was about it. The food was pretty ordinary and I got a really bad back.

“Seriously, the mattress would have been a centimetre thick. I could hardly stand up for a few days. I certainly wouldn’t want to go back."

Ferguson made his NRL debut for the Cronulla Sharks in 2009 and featured for four