James Slipper’s lenient suspension for cocaine use is a sign of the times and his Queensland Reds teammates will “barely notice” he’s gone, former Wallaby Greg Martin says.
The veteran Australian and Queensland prop was slapped with a mandatory minimum two-month suspension and $27,500 fine by Rugby Australia on Thursday after twice testing positive for the recreational drug this year.
Revealing he was suffering from depression in a statement, the 28-year-old has accepted the sanctions and offered an apology and assurance he’s taking steps to improve his mental health.
It follows a series of drug indiscretions from Reds star Karmichael Hunt, who is yet to play for the Reds this Super Rugby season.
That link forced Reds chairman Jeff Miller to defend the club’s culture while Rugby Australia boss Raelene Castle did the same for the code in separate news conferences on Thursday.
Miller said correlating Hunt’s arrival at the club with Slipper’s drug habit was “drawing a bow” and Slipper’s circumstances meant accusations of a drug culture at the Reds were off the mark.
Former Wallaby fullback Martin agreed, pointing to Wendell Sailor’s stiff two-year ban for cocaine use in 2006 to show how times had changed.
“When you say cocaine 10 years ago it was like woah, it was full-on,” he told AAP.
“Now everyone seems to be on it and the fines seem to be parallel to that … society’s got a hands-off approach to it so maybe rugby’s reflecting that.”
While endorsing Slipper’s character and skill, Martin said his suspension would not trigger a Reds collapse.
“They’ll just treat it like he’s got an ankle injury. They’re in a bubble and if anyone slips out of it they barely notice, especially a prop,” he said.
Martin said the young squad had impressed this season, given out-of-favour Quade Cooper’s removal from the squad by coach Brad Thorn and fellow veterans George Smith and Scott Higginbotham’s injuries and suspension.
“They can win (against the Highlanders) this weekend. Thorn’s been terrific for them, the culture is good,” Martin said.