"It's pretty scary to know what could have happened.
"Look what's happened, I didn't even know what was going on.
"I could have done something worse, I'm just thankful that didn't happen."
The Herald Sun reports Bromwich indulged in a couple of beers following the game at GIO Stadium and consumed more alcohol at the team hotel before going out on the town around 1am.
That version of events differs from the account provided by Kiwis coach David Kidwell and New Zealand Rugby League boss Alex Hayton, who told media the team had returned to the hotel for a dry dinner before a small group of players and officials went out for a quiet drink.
"I don't remember too much of the start, but I definitely don't remember the end," Bromwich said.
"So about five o-clock I think the place closed and that's when the police said they had CCTV footage of me doing drugs off someone's phone."
The 28-year-old recalls eating breakfast back at the hotel around 6am and going to bed before waking to attend the team's 10am recovery session.
An hour later he received a phone call from a Kiwis official asking him to explain the growing media storm as the magnitude of the situation began to sink in.
The Herald Sun reports his wife Les, the mother of their two young children, first learned of the incident from social media.
Bromwich and younger brother Kenny made their way to Canberra airport where the front-rower attempted to explain himself to Storm and Kangaroos captain Cameron Smith, who was booked on the same flight home to Melbourne.
"I rang my wife straight away and she was demanding answers but I couldn't answer the questions," Bromwich said.
"I was numb and just felt sick. My stomach was turning.
"I just pulled him aside, tried to apologise to him. But it was hard for me to get the words out because I knew I had let him down.
"For me that was the worst thing that I could have done and he was disappointed. He's got every right to be disappointed."
He spent the duration of the flight worrying about how his family and Storm coach Craig Bellamy would react.
Waiting at the baggage carousel at Tullamarine airport, he made an apologetic phone call to Bellamy, who offered some kind words of support.
The fallout proved costly however, with Bromwich standing down from the Kiwis captaincy and accepting a two match ban, while he also donated his $20,000 test match payment to charity. Both he and Proctor were subsequently banned from representing New Zealand at October's World Cup.
A second strike under the NRL's illicit drugs policy could bring a 12-game ban and see his contract torn up.
"I've been here for almost 10 years (and) I have never made a mistake off the field," Bromwich said.
"This is out of character for me and I don't do this (and) I definitely don't do it twice.
"We (Storm) had 16 players representing six different countries so it was supposed to be a celebration.
"For me to have my name up in the negative side of the weekend was just disappointing, it's quite upsetting to be part of what's happened.
"I'm just disappointed in myself."
