Australian club clarifies social media story on Segeyaro

THIRD-TIER Australia rugby league side Ryde Eastwood Hawks have clarified that Papua New Guinea international James Segeyaro is not signed but only training with them.
Hawks told The National yesterday that the former Cowboys, Panthers, Sharks and Broncos hooker had no deal with them following reports on social media about the hooker training with the side.
“James has not committed to us (Riyde Eastwood Hawks) yet,” the side said in a statement.
“If he (Segeyaro) does sign with us then we have no problem answering questions from the media regarding him. We will release a statement on our social media page if James signs with us. But at this stage, there is no deal.”
Segeyaro last played in the National Rugby League (NRL) in 2019 season with the Broncos before he copped a 20-month ban over doping.
The NRL’s anti-doping tribunal, chaired by Ian Callinan with panelists Dr Sharon Flahive and Sean Garlick, found that the Eastern Highlands native had breached the NRL’s anti-doping policy in September 2019 when he tested positive for the presence of Di-Hydroxy LGD-4033 (ligandrol).
In June of 2021, Segeyaro was cleared to resume his rugby league career after the tribunal, in considering the circumstances of the breach, found that while he bore a significant degree of responsibility for the positive result, he had not intentionally taken ligandrol.
They concluded that ligandrol was likely to have entered Segeyaro’s system via the use of a food blender maintained by a member of his household that contained residues of the substance.
However, former Kumuls captain Segeyaro is yet to sign a deal with a rugby league team.