‘There’s help in place’: does rugby league have a drugs problem?

Jamie Acton could not have been clearer. “You’re probably abnormal in the rugby league world if you haven’t taken drugs at some point, whether that is socially or performance‑enhancing,” the former Leigh forward said this year when he revealed he had taken drugs throughout his career.

Rugby league is certainly not immune to drugs; to suggest otherwise would be irresponsible. But Acton’s claim that a player was “abnormal” if they had not been involved with drugs raised the question of just how much the game had overlooked the issue.

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Does rugby league have a deeper‑rooted problem with drugs than the sport always believed? “I do not recognise those comments from Jamie,” the Rugby Football League’s chief regulatory officer, Karen Moorhouse, says.

“We’ve spoke with current and former players who also say they didn’t identify with them, but it does highlight the work we are trying to do to make sure we keep the sport clean and to keep the achievements of players as honest as possible. Those claims haven’t led to a flood of other admissions.”

Rugby league was the third-most tested sport in the UK last year by UK Anti-Doping, with more than 600 tests on players carried out. Six players across the professional and amateur game are serving Ukad-enforced bans for drugs, including Acton, who became the first player to be banned for a historical offence after he admitted his previous substance abuse in January.

In rugby union that number is 18, while in football there are only three. That would imply that the two rugby codes have a bigger issue than other sports.

“I’m absolutely sure there is the odd person risking their career and doing it