Brent Naden

Penrith Panthers' Brent Naden gets one-month drug ban for cocaine use

The sanction was announced on Tuesday at the end of anti-doping processes held by Sport Integrity Australia and the NRL, and is backdated to the start of his provisional suspension on December 1.

The NRL released a statement saying the penalty is in line with new provisions of the incoming World Anti-Doping Code 2021, which has slashed penalties for cocaine use provided the athlete can establish it was used out of competition and was unrelated to sport performance.

Naden provisionally suspended after positive drug test

Naden, whose place in Penrith's game-day 17 was one of the storylines of grand final week, admitted using the recreational drug to club officials last month.

His positive A-sample for "metabolites of cocaine" was registered in a post-game test conducted by Sport Integrity Australia after the October 25 decider.

Cocaine is prohibited in-competition by both the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the NRL's Anti Doping Policy, with Naden now serving a provisional suspension as a result.