Shark alarm over drugs bombshell

The Cronulla Sharks remain at the centre of the ASADA investigation into drug use in rugby league. Picture: Brett Costello Source: The Daily Telegraph

TONIGHT'S NRL season opener has been reduced to a sideshow with revelations as many as 14 Cronulla players implicated in ASADA's anti-doping investigation have been threatened with immediate suspension.

The Daily Telegraph can reveal current Sharks players who have been contracted since 2011 - when sports scientist Stephen Dank worked at the southern Sydney club - are all part of the investigation.

As bookmakers suspended all Sharks-related markets last night it was revealed former ASADA senior counsel Richard Redman had been hired by Cronulla to help guide the club through the crisis.

There are serious concerns that two separate peptide-based supplements given to Sharks players might have contravened the World Anti-Doping Agency code.

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Mr Redman was hired several weeks ago, shortly after Cronulla was identified as one of the six NRL clubs in the Australian Crime Commission report into performance-enhancing drugs, organised crime and match fixing.

According to a Sharks insider, Mr Redman has been reassuring players about their situation for the past fortnight. But the landscape changed dramatically on Tuesday morning when some players received a text message advising them to attend an emergency meeting.

There, Mr Redman gave the players an ultimatum - voluntarily stand down for six months or risk ASADA's maximum two-year ban. It is believed the players were given a 48-hour deadline to make up their minds.

There's major concern surrounding the Cronulla Sharks, and the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority's investigation into the club.

With the scandal threatening to completely overshadow this weekend's opening round, Cronulla officials last night went to ground.

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The NRL and ASADA also refused to comment.

When approached yesterday, Cronulla coach Shane Flanagan denied any players would be stood down and miss Sunday night's season opener against the Titans. He refused to comment further.

As well as a casting a cloud over a number of current players in the Sharks NRL squad, there are also concerns the net could be widened to implicate ex-Cronulla players who have since moved to other clubs.

Sources stated as many as 22 players across the code are under the spotlight. A Sharks source last night said the players implicated in the scandal were concerned, rattled and distressed.

"They had no reason to question the club and its performance staff about what supplements they were taking," the source said.

NRL 360 weigh in on the ASADA investigation of the Cronulla Sharks.

"They trusted that what they were being given was safe."

Mr Dank left Cronulla after just four weeks, with club doctor David Givney concerned about the supplement program the club's players had been placed on.

The Daily Telegraph last month revealed at least one Sharks player was given the blood-thinning agent Warfarin. Mr Dank also used a room inside a former Bankstown medical centre to treat players away from the club.

Yesterday's news sent a scare through bookmakers, who shut down all markets relating to Cronulla. TAB Sportsbet closed its market at 4pm in response to rampant speculation that Cronulla's team could soon be demolished.

Spokesman Glenn Munsie revealed the Gold Coast had attracted $2300 of a total of $2700 wagered on the head-to-head market. There had also been $239 worth of bets on Cronulla to lose the most games this season.

"We won't open those markets until there's an official statement from either Cronulla, the NRL or ASADA," Munsie said.

"At the moment we don't know what's happening."

Sportsbet identified no suspicious betting but closed the markets as a precaution.

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