WAYNE Bennett has turned the finger of blame directly back on doping authorities in the wake of yesterday's disturbing drug allegations, asking: ``If we've got the drug problems we've had, what's the drug agency been doing?''
Speaking before the NRL All Stars' final training run at Suncorp Stadium last night, Bennett questioned why the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority was not being scrutinised following the Australian Crime Commission's report that claimed "widespread'' use of illegal substances.
"That's my beef with this - if we've got the drug problems we've had, well, what's the drug agency been doing?'' an angry Bennett said of ASADA.
"We pay them a lot of money to come into our sport. We made a lot of compromises for them to come into our sport. And now they're telling us we've got a problem.
"I can't detect it, I've got no means to do that. We employ them to do that.''
As announced at Parliament House on Thursday, Sports Minister Kate Lundy has given ASADA increased investigative powers that extends beyond testing.
The NRL pays the anti-doping agency about $500,000 a year to conduct more than 800 urine and blood tests. That does not include the thousands of dollars clubs individually spend on in-house testing.
``ASADA's involvement started some 18 months ago when we were assessing intelligence about the use of peptides and hormones in sport,'' ASADA chief executive Aurora Andruska said last night.
Following Australian sport's "blackest day'', many rugby league stakeholders yesterday struck back.
Penrith general manager Phil Gould told Channel 9: ``This report from the Crime Commission is full of words like 'maybe', 'could be', 'suspected' and 'potential'.
Gould labels ACC report as broad-brush condemnation
Penrith supremo Phil Gould has taken aim at the ACC report, labelling the findings as 'a broad-brush condemnation of Australian sport.' Play
"Nobody has been named, no club has been named and no sport has been named. It's a broad-brush condemnation of Australian sport everywhere.
"At the moment, everyone is guilty and I'm not sure, even if they find pockets of illegality, how you repair the integrity of everyone else who is in fact innocent.''
Bennett was equally bemused at the code being broadly smeared from the release of the ACC report.
"That's the tragedy of yesterday (Thursday),'' Bennett said. "We all look like we're on drugs and we're all using illicit substances.
"The shock for me was the way they handled it. They handled it very badly yesterday. There was an opportunity to get some real evidence. To bring the CEOs and get their co-operation.
"There were a lot of accusation, a lot of mud being thrown, obviously they hope some of it will stick.''
