The controversy over photos of Parramatta fullback Isaiah Iongi appearing to smoke a substance has reached NSW’s corridors of power, where the rising star has drawn support after being issued with a breach notice by the NRL.
The NRL integrity unit launched an investigation after the emergence of the images on social media last month, with the competition’s governing body saying they had brought the game into disrepute.
While Iongi, 22, is expected to escape suspension over the affair, his situation has evoked sympathy from politicians, including the state government.
The substance the emerging Eels star was seemingly smoking was not identified in the NRL’s announcement of a breach notice, nor has it been identified by Iongi himself. Iongi has not responded to the breach notice, nor commented on the photos, one in which he was pictured at a kitchen table, the other in a bathtub.
But Jeremy Buckingham, an MP with the Legalise Cannabis NSW Party, leapt to the player’s defence in an address in the NSW Legislative Council on Wednesday night.
“It’s absolutely outrageous that this young man, who’s at the top of his game … is facing sanction from the NRL’s integrity unit for having been outed without his consent by a photo taken by another party purporting to show him smoking a ‘suspicious substance’,” he said.
‘I haven’t seen the pictures. It could well have been parsley. It could well have been a herb.’
Shadow sports minister Natalie Ward
“Now maybe that ‘suspicious substance’ is little bit of a cannabis. A spliff, a joint. Maybe he got a prescription. We don’t even know he’s doing anything criminal.
“And yet, the NRL has jumped in … and has essentially sent Parramatta a show-cause notice as to why he shouldn’t be suspended for a week.”
Buckingham’s motion said Iongi was not accused of any criminal wrongdoing and called on the World Anti-Doping Agency, the NRL and the Eels “to stop clutching their pearls and recognise the benefits [of] cannabis as a legitimate and therapeutic medicine” to aid recovery.
He told the parliament that athletes should not be sanctioned for taking cannabis for therapeutic purposes “especially not someone who is just in the privacy of their own home having a spliff, relaxing, probably enjoying the company of the person they’re with in the bath, and nachos, some Netflix and an early night”.
This masthead has previously reported that the pictures of Iongi were posted without his consent and were several years old, according to sources not authorised to comment.
Labor’s Mark Buttigieg said the government would not oppose the motion but that it was “not the role of parliament to delve into the minutiae of player indiscretion”.
“Fair enough you’re calling it out because it’s an injustice, and we accept that, but we don’t want to get into the details … and cut across the processes of those governing bodies which is their responsibility,” he said.
“There are many unknowns in this matter. We don’t know if the product contains cannabis. It may well be cannabis, it may well not. In any case, again, it’s not really the role of parliament to interrogate this matter.”
Fellow Labor MP Stephen Lawrence also weighed in during a 10-minute debate, saying of Iongi: “I certainly stand with him too”.
The NRL is a signatory to WADA’s anti-doping code, under which marijuana is a banned substance in competition. Recreational use of the drug is against the law in NSW, though cannabis products are permitted for medical reasons with a prescription.
Rugby league Immortal Andrew Johns has previously put his name behind a campaign for the federal government to fund research into the treatment of concussion with medicinal cannabis in sports such as the NRL.
Johns told this masthead at the time that medicinal cannabis had been a “life-changer” for him after suffering from epileptic seizures as a result of knocks during his 13-year career with Newcastle, NSW and Australia.
Cannabidiol, a non-intoxicating extract of cannabis, was removed from WADA’s prohibited list in 2018.
Shadow sports minister Natalie Ward said the NSW opposition did not support Buckingham’s motion, saying it was up to sports to set their own rules.
“I haven’t seen the pictures. It could well have been parsley. It could well have been a herb,” she said.
“But let me be clear. This side of the house does have sympathy for Mr Iongi. Those photos were taken without his consent and published without his knowledge and that is a genuine privacy concern.”
The parliamentary session was adjourned before a vote could occur.
In the United States, the NBA lifted the ban on its players taking marijuana in 2023. Superstar Kevin Durant had pushed for the change amid the basketball league’s negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement, saying it was widely taken by players.
“It’s the NBA, man. Everybody does it, to be honest. It’s like wine at this point,” he said at the time.
The NBA, like other major American sports such as the NFL and Major League Baseball, is not bound by the WADA code.
The NRL and the Eels declined to comment.
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Chris Barrett is a senior sports reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald. He is a former South-East Asia correspondent for the Herald and The Age.Connect via X or email.
