Andrew Walker announces retirement
after positive drug test

Manly star Andrew Walker has announced his immediate retirement from rugby league after the NRL confirmed that he has returned a positive drug test.

Walker has tested positive to cocaine and is currently awaiting a B Sample to confirm the results.

Walker was contracted to Manly for next season but has opted to retire in the wake of the drug revelations.

"He had been one of our better players throughout the year," Manly boss Paul Cummings told Radio 2UE this afternoon.

"We run in-house tests and he had been tested five times throughout the year and it had shown nothing."

Cummings said the club will offer Walker as much assistance as possible to overcome a problem he claims stems from the former rugby union test star "not being able to say no to his friends".

The matter will now be referred to the NRL Drugs Tribunal who would be expected to meet to hear the matter as soon as is practical.

The NRL policy provides for a 2-year ban in relation to stimulants unless the NRL Drug Tribunal is satisfied that the offence was not intended to involve or conceal any performance enhancement.

NRL CEO David Gallop would not comment on the situation this afternoon, except to say: "This is a sad individual circumstance but also a reflection of the NRL's ongoing commitment to the most rigorous testing programme in Australian sport."

It is understood Walker was selected for a random drug test following Manly's match against South Sydney earlier this year.