Rugby League: Plea to lift game's image

Brisbane test stars Gorden Tallis and Shane Webcke have written an open letter to all National Rugby League players appealing to them to lift the game's image.

A tiny minority "seems hellbent on ruining rugby league," the letter says.

The plea follows a week of controversy due to positive drug tests for two players and the upheaval caused by the John Hopoate finger-poking incident.

"We want the thousands of young kids who sit up on Friday nights to watch us play, to aspire to be like us one day," say Tallis and Webcke.