Why you shouldn't condemn Ben Barba for testing positive to cocaine

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• published: 08 Nov 2016
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Why you shouldn't condemn Ben Barba for testing positive to cocaine Who knows when Ben Barba snorted the line of cocaine that has ruined his career, but social media from around the time of the alleged offence — four days after winning the grand final with Cronulla — shows he was having the time of his life. With newly bleached hair to commemorate the premiership, the Sharks fullback pops up on Instagram with drink in hand, enjoying the end of a remarkable comeback to rugby league.Ben Barba dumped by Cronulla Sharks Cronulla Sharks release fullback Ben Barba from his playing contract after reports he tested positive to cocaine after his team's grand final win. Vision: Seven News In one image, he's in the TAB section of a local pub with teammate Paul Gallen, Andrew Fifita and Sosaia Feki with a well-deserved schooner in front of him. In another, he's with Jack Bird and they appear to be drinking pineapple cocktails. Good times. RELATED CONTENT Sharks release Barba in wake of alleged positive cocaine test There's no suggestion whatsoever that any of Barba's teammates have done something wrong. But earlier that day, Barba was tested for illicit drugs along with the rest of the Sharks squad and suddenly an apocalypse loomed. He had enough cocaine rattling around his system to attract a second strike under the NRL's illicit drugs policy. Advertisement The problem with redemption stories is they can often lead to another type of story. The saddest type of the story. The fall-from-grace story. Barba has had his equal share of both: Bulldogs wild child who sorted himself out and won the Dally M to star player facing serious domestic violence accusations involving his partner and mother of his children, Ainslie Currie; a return to the game through the Broncos before Wayne Bennett set him free because he couldn't guarantee a place in his side; thrown another lifeline by Cronulla and, despite wavering form and issues off the field, managed to pick himself up and help thrust the Sharks to their first premiership. Having a blast: Barba's social media trail shows the star letting his hair down in the wake of the grand final victory. Having a blast: Barba's social media trail shows the star letting his hair down in the wake of the grand final victory. Photo: Instagram Now, the final chapter of Barba's rugby league career is playing out. A second positive test to party drugs attracts an automatic 12-match ban. His first strike was early in 2015. The second strike also gave the Sharks the option to sack him. Barba jumped before he was pushed. He's been granted an immediate release and is now headed to a rehab centre in Thailand. Footy is the last thing on his mind. Late in the home-and-away season, I chatted with Barba in the green room at Channel 9's Willoughby studios before his appearance on The Sunday Footy Show. He spoke about how happy he was, about the birth of his fourth child. More specifically, he talked about how he was off the drink. He then fronted the panel and said on-air: "I told myself last year this was my last chance of having a crack. Or I was going to walk away really. It was getting too much. I was sick of not turning up and providing for footy teams." In May, Barba had broken his pre-season pledge to the Sharks coaching staff about giving up alcohol for the year. He got into an altercation with Feki while drinking, and had to be helped home by teammate Wade Graham. He then had an argument with Currie and took off for his home town of Mackay. "He broke out on the grog that night and he doesn't handle grog at all," Sharks chief executive Lyall Gorman said at the time. "He had a row with his missus but we don't believe that was physical. We just felt the best place for him was home with his parents for a couple of days. We have put a lot of work into him and he has been given a lot of welfare and education support." It's easy right now to sit in the stands and throw hand grenades, but the dramatic tide of Barba's career highlights — again — that professional sportspeople are as fallible as the rest of us, if not more because of the scrutiny they face. Many will call Barba weak, selfish, a fool. An alternative view is that here's a 27-year-old with a young family facing a whole raft of personal issues that sometimes he can deal with, sometimes he cannot. Media, fans and even footy clubs are quick to talk up a redemption story but in reality there is no such story at all. There are just Earlier this week, I phoned Brett Finch, the retired former player and Channel 9 commentator who has been in and out of rehabs for the past two years as he struggles since retiring. He has just spent six weeks in a Thai rehab clinic and has been back in the country for six weeks. Reporters are elbowing each other out of the way to speak to him, asking him to share his story. Finch has politely declined. He's been down this road before. The redemption story. The comeback story. The turned-the-corner story.