With a RU player now being able to play again after his ban for taking 'recreational drugs', I was wondering how the tests take place.....

I presume players are randomly selected from week to week and then tested?

can turn up at training, home plus after match i think

The RFL policy: www.therfl.co.uk/about/page.php?areaid=222

The RFL policy: www.therfl.co.uk/about/page.php?areaid=222

my friend who was playing super league at the time had a knock on the door at 6:50 am one morning,a member of the drug testing team had driving from manchester through to the hull area to test him,unfortunately he had been up 20 mins with his young son and had his first pee of the day,he had to have 3 cups of coffee before he could pee again and the tester stood outside the loo door while he did it,to make sure he didnt substitute the sample......now that is what i call a strict test policy...

Ive been drugs tested about 20 times through my sport!

They can be very strict!

I think drugs policy in sport needs a huge rethink. When athletes are no longer able to take Sudafed for a cold me thinks the ruling bodies have gone way over the top.

I dont think its gone to far!

The book i received from the BOA and Uk Sport was an A5 book, about 230 pages full of substances that were banned.

For everyday complaints you were given remedies that were ok to use.
If you had some complaint that didnt appear on the list, then you were told to consult your club medical staff, as they are trained in the matter.

If these guys want professional wages, class themselves as professionals, expect to be treated like professionals - then they have to do their part too, and that means conducting themselves in a professional manner at all times!

100% ME! - best campaign from UK Sport!

Ignorance is NOT an excuse.

Agree 100%, what peple don't understand is that the active content of many medicines is also a metabolite of a steroid, it is easy to say "why can't they take Sudafed" without acknowledging that it contains a strong steroid.

When I was in Manchester in 2002 we had athelets getting away with all manner of things, WADA has tightened up, and they needed to.

It isn't as if there are no options available for treatment, and any professional sportperson would be prepared to put the effort in, unless of course they are a footballer, who think they are above the rules!

Herein lies the problem imo. For anyone to suggest that the slightest trace of effadrine (sp) in something like Sudafed of Benylin is performance enchancing is plainly ridiculous.

Nobody states that, it's the trace prescence of efadrin that could be an indicator that someone is cheating.

For anyone to suggest that the slightest trace of effadrine (sp) in something like Sudafed of Benylin is performance enchancing is plainly ridiculous.

So what if that slight trace of Ephidrine suggested that 2 weeks before the test, the person being tested had taken enough of the substance DELIBERATELY to make it performance enhancing?

How easy would it be for said 'cheat' to just lie and say "Oh, i took some Benylin"

Remember, all the NOCs, WADA and other bodies dealing with drugs in Sport have had enough expereince of systematic indoctrination of athletes i.e. Communist Block nations, to know all the excuses that can come out!

That is neither suggested nor implied. The issue is that it's impossible to tell the difference between trace amounts in the body from harmless cold remedies taken recently and trace amounts left from performance enhancing doses either taken some time ago or masked.

It's easy to point the finger outside of the UK, but I can tell you for a fact that Gymnastics, Judo and Weightlifting were rife with doping up until a few years ago, swimming and cycling were also suffering from the same issues prior to the Sydney Olympics.

I'll consider myself well and truly bollocked!!!

Hi Standee

I was in no way implying that the UK was a shining example of drug free sports. I happen to know Dwain C very well, and have friends within UK Sport who do drugs testing. They said the problem is there, but mainly amongst the 2nd grade of people who are TRYING to make it up to the top.

lol

I do understand your point, but as I've worked on the WADA side of it I also know the serious issues they have when they start allowing "acceptable levels", a very difficult science indeed.

I think the most worrying thing I have seen is blood transfer into atheletes to increase their red blood cell count, and it was being done in a side room at a competition venue, by a coach, not even a clinician.

Did I hear recently that genetic profiling of athletes is now being looked at in an attempt to detect 'blood boosting'?

yup, a complete minefield though.

That's what I thought when I heard the report. Legally and technically I would imagine.

pmsl

I've heard myself uttering some of what you said in the past - e.g. over the Scottish downhill skier (Alain Baxter) because he'd used a Vics enhaler which had different ingredients in the US than in the UK. The US version contained lev-methamphetamine. He was stripped of his bronze medal (from Salt Lake City).

I think he was cleared later anyway because the particular type of methamphetamine he was tested positive for was not performance enhancing - but he never got his medal back.

Now that is bloody good imo. Bet your mate was a bit muffed off, but you can see why they have to be so strict.

i agree but also heard from another source that a club was tipped that sport uk were going to test team members after a game the next day,mysteriously 2 players pulled out of the team with freak injuries so they didnt fall under the testing net,guess they had something to hide..............

the authorities can test whoever they like from the playing squad, wether they actually played in a game or not.

I do happen to know of a Hull FC "messiah" that was missing for a period of time after testing positive for recreational drugs, but the story never broke and it's water under the bridge now.

I took a Lucozade tablet once that made me fart for a week does that count!!

That didnt really enhance any performance of yours though!
Just made you more socially unnaceptable!