Drugs row takes another twist

The Andrew Johns drugs affair took another twist when former Kangaroos coach Chris Anderson revealed that forward Gorden Tallis had lodged a formal complaint about the drug habits of several players during the tour. Anderson told the Sydney Sunday Telegraph that Australian officials failed to act over allegations from Tallis that several players used illicit drugs.

"Gordie complained to the authorities," Anderson said. "He let people in charge of the game know about Joey (Johns). For them to say it's news to them, that's rubbish. Everyone knew about Joey. No one had concrete evidence but everyone knew it was happening."

He added: "Gordie said he saw stuff on the tour. I didn't go out with them too much but I know Gordie was upset at times (about a drug-taking culture) and he came home and went to the authorities.

"He was upset about certain behaviour at the World Cup from certain players. None of that was acted on. Gordie was trying to do the right thing but it all got swept under the carpet."

Tallis has gone to ground since Johns' revelation that he had been taking illicit drugs for 12 years.

Australia Rugby League chief executive Geoff Carr denied that the ARL and NRL had tried to protect Johns but he conceded that, while his organisation conducted an investigation into drug-taking allegations, he had never personally approached Johns.

"I never spoke to Joey at the time," he said. "It's a difficult thing to accuse someone of something when you have no evidence."

NRL chief executive David Gallop said his organisation made a genuine attempt to check on the World Cup drug allegations.

"Certainly, some concerns were raised about the Kangaroos on that tour," he said. "The ARL conducted an investigation, but there was no clear evidence to act on. The rumours were certainly around, but they were around about more (players) than Andrew. I never spoke to any player directly about it."