Last updated at 14:48, Saturday, 28 November 2009

FORMER BARROW Raiders forward Andy Brocklehurst has been banned from rugby league for two years after failing a drugs test.

Brocklehurst, 26, tested positive for benzoylec--gonine (a metabolite of cocaine) and ephedrine (a stimulant) after the club’s defeat at Batley in June.

The second rower, or loose forward was sacked by the club soon after the game, in which he played no part after withdrawing from contention during the warm-up.

Brocklehurst cited a knee injury as his reason for not playing only 10 minutes before the game at Mount Pleasant – which Barrow lost – but was still required to provide a sample by the testers at the game, along with a number of other players from both sides, as is standard procedure.

Brocklehurst had his contract with Barrow terminated only days after the game for what the club described as ‘gross misconduct’.

No further comment had been made by either the player, the club or the RFL until last night when the game’s governing body made an official statement.

It read: “A national anti-doping panel has suspended Andy Brocklehurst for two years after he was found guilty of breaching the RFL’s anti-doping regulations.

“Brocklehurst, who was a player registered with Barrow Raiders, was found to have provided a sample containing benzoyl--ecgonine (a metabolite of cocaine) and ephedrine (a stimulant) after a match against Batley Bulldogs on June 28, 2009.

“Brocklehurst did not deny or contest the charge before the panel. In the absence of any argument or evidence from him, the panel have found him guilty of an anti-doping rule violation and imposed a two-year period of ineligibility.

“Brocklehurst’s susp-ension commences from July 21, 2009 which is the day his provisional suspension commenced.”

Raiders chairman Des Johnston, who announced former Halifax player Brocklehurst’s dismissal at the end of June, is currently in hospital recovering from a quadruple heart bypass.

But vice-chairman Jon Livesey said last night that the club had acted in the best interests of the game in taking the immediate action they had.

“We knew we had to do what we did to protect the name of rugby league,” he said.

“Knowing the circumstances of what had happened, we knew we could not wait for the final decision of the RFL before we took our own action.

“His actions during the course of the examination are what culminated in the gross misconduct charge, though we will not be commenting on those actions further.”

Brocklehurst’s dismissal came just a week-and-a-half before Barrow’s Northern Rail Cup final defeat by Widnes.

Knowing of his actions on the day of the test, the club made the decision to sack Brocklehurst before the results of the had been confirmed, even though it may have harmed their chances in that game.

Livesey added: “It wasn’t a very hard decision to make, even though we knowingly weakened our side going into a major final.

“We could not condone any kind of cheating on the park.”

lBarrow have confirmed they will play Workington in their first pre-season game, at Craven Park on Sunday, January 3 (2pm kick-off).

First published at 15:40, Friday, 27 November 2009
Published by http://www.nwemail.co.uk