By Ian McCullough
Todd Carney has slammed Twitter-led rumours that he had failed a drugs test and revealed the speculation became so strong, sponsors were threatening to dump him and pull out of contracts with Cronulla.
Sharks coach Shane Flanagan came out in Auckland last weekend in support of his colourful playmaker, who has a history of off-field issues, and Carney admitted he was taken aback at how far the rumours had spread and thanked the club for backing him.
He used Twitter to quash the rumours last week, but spoke candidly on Wednesday about the situation that had threatened to engulf him and the Sharks.
"It was a bit of a bother," Carney said on Wednesday.
"I was getting phone calls from close friends, which I can deal with, but it is when sponsors start ringing up the club - that's concerning.
"I was quite shocked that someone could make up something like that. I tweeted last week, that surely they could think of something better.
"It's just stupid, because I hadn't even been tested in that time since February so it was just wrong and disgraceful."
The rumour first surfaced during the State of Origin series, and Carney said he was happy to ignore it and let it go away.
But he revealed the stage came where he had to look for advice on how to deal with the problem.
"It didn't get too much fire straight away, but it came to a stage when enough was enough," he said.
Following Carney's match-winning display in his side's 45-4 crushing of the Warriors on Sunday, Flanagan issued an impromptu plea for the "scandalous" rumours to cease.
The coach said it made Carney's dominant 25-point display all the more remarkable, given the stress he was under.
NZN