Rabbitohs 'drug bust'

"For the first time the game was gripped by the spectre of drug-taking - a painful, but perhaps inevitable reflection of society generally in the 1990s. Rumours of drug taking in rugby league had been around for years - of players who popped pills in the dressing room, of wild-eyed footballers who pumped up with amphetamines and caused havoc on the field. In 1986 St George had dismissed three players found using marijuana.

"In 1990 under the strict guidelines that rugby league had demanded and acquired, combating the presence of drugs in the game became a top priority for administrators. In June at the insistence of coach George Piggins and chief executive Terry Park, South Sydney's training was "raided" by drug testing personnel. Not long afterwards came the staggering news that 10 players had tested positive to "social" drugs. The nine who tested positive to marijuana were never named, but the 10th, promising utility back Scott Wilson, was sacked by the club after cocaine was found in his system. There was criticism that the widely-publicised Souths "bust" had been turned into a media circus and was embarrassing the players" - from Ian Heads' 'True Blue'.

Wilson was then signed and sacked by Norths after testing positive to cocaine again.

The Bears gave him another chance.