National Rugby League side Cronulla's "new major sponsors want to begin testing Sharks players for recreational drug and alcohol use this season and have signalled they may end their newfound alliance with the club if they are not permitted to do so," according to Chris Barrett of the SYDNEY MORNING HERALD. Labour Health "signed on as the club's main backer in the wake of Todd Carney's sacking last month." The new sponsor, whose primary business is "conducting drug and alcohol tests at workplaces, say they invested in Cronulla on the condition of implementing their own screening regime at the last-placed NRL club." Labour Health GM Regan Brown said on Monday that he hoped to begin an "internal control" at training sessions in the "final rounds of this year's premiership." Cronulla, however, was reminded by the NRL on Monday that clubs were "not allowed to conduct their own testing for illicit drugs, a League Central policy that places the Sharks' new partnership in jeopardy less than a fortnight after it was announced." An NRL spokesperson said, "The NRL contracts a major pathology company to conduct uniform tests across all clubs. This ensures there is consistency for every player and every club" (SMH, 7/15).
