League: NZRL need to come clean with questions hanging over Kiwis team culture

Kiwis coach David Kidwell and captain Jesse Bromwich front the media. Photo / Photosport.

Big questions continue to hang over the Kiwis team culture and the circumstances around suspended Kiwis captain Jesse Bromwich and teammate Kevin Proctor's big night out in Canberra.

The Melbourne Storm and Gold Coast Titans NRL stars were caught on CCTV footage snorting what is believed to be cocaine, off another man's phone, outside a Canberra nightclub in the early hours of the morning following the Kiwis Anzac test loss to Australia on May 5.

The New Zealand Herald has learned there were worrying signs about the Kiwis team culture from as early as last year, with one high profile player involved in two unreported alcohol related incidents following last year's end of year test against the Kangaroos in Perth and on the subsequent Four Nations campaign in the UK.

Bromwich has today explained in an interview with Melbourne's Herald Sun that he can barely recall what happened after embarking on a seven-hour bender following the test at GIO Stadium, but the player and Kiwis management have provided conflicting accounts of how the drinking session started.

According to the Herald Sun, Bromwich enjoyed a couple of beers following the Kiwis 30-12 defeat and consumed more alcohol back at the hotel before heading out on the town around 1am.

That version of events differs from the official line provided by Kiwis management - that the team returned to their hotel after the game for a dry dinner with friends and family, before a small group of players and team staff were granted permission to head out for a quiet drink.

The group is said to have returned to the hotel, but three things remains unclear: Whether Bromwich and Proctor stayed out alone, or whether they left the hotel a second time, and whether any other players were with them.

A report in the Sydney Morning Herald last week also asserted that Bromwich was on pain medication following the match, with the team doctor issuing him clear instructions to stay off the drink.

The NZRL embarked on a wider review of the night's events although details of their findings are yet to be made public.

The New Zealand Herald contacted New Zealand Rugby League boss Alex Hayton and Kiwis coach David Kidwell about the incidents and claims but both declined to comment.

When asked about Bromwich's comments and the Herald Sun's assertion that he began drinking much earlier in the night, Hayton said: "We have worked through a process, we've made a decision and imposed a sanction and we're moving on and as far as we're concerned that's the end of it."

Following the incident, Bromwich stood himself down from the Kiwis captaincy before the NZRL banned him and Proctor from representing New Zealand at the World Cup in October. The players were also hit with two and four match bans and Bromwich donated his $20,000 match payment to charity, while Proctor was fined the same amount by the Titans.

Bromwich's remorse over the scandal is clear but Kiwis fans deserve a complete and honest explanation from NZRL hierarchy about exactly what transpired three weeks ago.

With New Zealand and Australia co-hosting the upcoming World Cup and seven matches being played between Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington and Christchurch, honesty and transparency is needed from the national game's governing body.

They may have swept up the immediate mess by banning Bromwich and Proctor from playing in the end of season tournament but a foul smell still lingers.