Penrith's failure to inform the NRL of Daine Laurie's drug allegations raises questions about clubs accessing players' off-field records.
Penrith's reported failure to properly inform the NRL integrity unit of Daine Laurie's alleged illicit drug use before he joined the Raiders has renewed debate that clubs should have access to players' off-field records before recruiting them.
In addition, this masthead can also reveal that Laurie's case is the first to be passed onto Geoff Bellew, the NRL's newly-appointed Independent Decision Maker (IDM) for off-field integrity matters.
Bellew is believed to be in the finals stages of determining an outcome.
The entire game is watching for the result of Bellew's findings with several rival clubs - including Canberra - of the opinion that Penrith should bear the consequences from the IDM, likely via a significant fine - and not the Raiders, by the way of Laurie missing games, due to the fact the alleged incident occurred under the Panthers' watch.
As first revealed by this masthead, Laurie, who joined Canberra in the off-season after two seasons with Penrith, was charged by police after the car he was a passenger in was stopped on Memorial Ave in Penrith about 11.10am on September 29, the morning after his then-Panthers side were beaten narrowly by the Brisbane Broncos in the preliminary final.