National Rugby League side Cronulla Sharks' seven-year drug saga is "officially over" after more than half of the club's '11 playing squad successfully reached a more than A$1M ($793,240) settlement with the club, according to Michael Carayannis of THE AUSTRALIAN. Two years of "ongoing courtroom battles" ended with the 13 players from Cronulla’s 25-man squad reaching a confidential settlement with the club. It is understood that the payout was about A$1.2M ($950,000), with the reparation different for each player. One player received as much as A$300,000 ($237,972), while others received between A$10,000 ($7,932) and A$50,000 ($39,662). The payout was covered by Cronulla’s insurance company, with the club "only needing to foot" about A$100,000 ($79,324) in legal fees. A "string of high-profile players" including Anthony Tupou and Ben Pomeroy were joined by Albert Kelly, Scott Porter, Dean Collis, Broderick Wright, Josh Cordoba, Isaac Gordon, Paul Aiton, Nathan Gardner, Stewart Mills, Nathan Stapleton and Stuart Flanagan in taking action against the club. Players sued for negligence, breach of contract and intentional tort during a period in '11 when sports scientist Stephen Dank ran a supplements program at Cronulla (THE AUSTRALIAN, 2/15).
