Former Scotland captain Ollie Wilkes has admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs.
Wilkes played for 11 different clubs during a 20-year career and, in an interview with ITV News, revealed that he used a banned substance during his time playing for Whitehaven and Wigan Warriors.
The 41-year-old also claimed that doping took place at a number of the clubs he played for, although there is no suggestion that the clubs were aware of his actions.
"I used to see people who I was as good as, then all of a sudden come back after a pre-season massive. I'd never say what club, what name. And then just see 'em absolutely tear it up," Wilkes said.
They were quite slow at the start of pre-season, just a bit heavy and then shred up a bit. I assume they'd be clean by this point and avoided being caught...
"At one stage I thought to myself: 'How am I going to compete with that person knowing they're doing what they're doing?'
"This was before I tried it myself. You knew that someone was using something and you knew you were as good as them, but they'd be getting picked. But you think to yourself: 'Is that what I have to do to, to get in the team? Do I have to take something?'"
He added: "I signed for Whitehaven and I was only training two times a week, and they'd offered me alright money and I thought to myself, I was like: 'Should I have some, see what all the fuss is about?'
"So I tried a performance-enhancing drug, a banned one, and six weeks into the season I got a phone call off Wigan, to sign for Wigan. And, uh, I thought to myself: 'Well', I thought: 'It worked.'"
Wilkes also alleged that some coaches would try to shield their players when drug testers came in.
"On a couple of occasions. I could say that if anybody had been mentioned… drug testers are here," he said. "If you're not here now - here is your chance to bob out and there has been a couple of times when guys have nipped out and their names haven't gone down on the list."
Wilkes' revelation comes after another former player, Jamie Acton, was banned from the sport for two years after a stored sample of his was retested and found to contain a growth hormone releasing peptide.
Acton, who retired in 2019, then posted a video on Instagram in which he accused the sport of making great efforts to cover up drug use.
