National Rugby League Doctors Support New Zealand Warriors' Ban On Sleeping Pills

National Rugby League doctors "have applauded" the New Zealand Warriors' decision to "ban their players from using sleeping pills and believe it demonstrates that clubs are now taking health and welfare issues more seriously," according to Brad Walter of THE AGE. NRL Medical Officers Association spokesperson Sam Sorrenti said that the supplements scandal at NRL Cronulla in '11, which left the Sharks with a A$1M ($900,000) fine, facing legal action from "at least three former players and coach Shane Flanagan suspended for 12 months, had made clubs realise the value of their club doctors." Warriors doctor John Mayhew, "one of the most experienced doctors in the NRL, is behind a policy at the New Zealand-based club to deny players sleeping pills unless needed due to injury or for a medical condition." Newcastle and Penrith "also have strict policies in place" (THE AGE, 2/12).