Adam Walker admits his cocaine ban could prove a blessing
Salford prop was suspended for 20 months after failing a test while at Wakefield
TODAY IS the day Adam Walker has been waiting for – he is no longer a rugby league player serving a drugs ban.
And he admits he is coming back at a new club with a new attitude to the game and to life, as he is GLAD he was caught.
The prop was suspended for 20 months after testing positive for cocaine while at Wakefield.
A host of off-field problems and him shutting himself away from family and friends put him on a downward spiral and he admitted to SunSport that it was not the only time he had taken the drug.
But after ending up working in a company postroom and a meat warehouse, he tackled them head on and is now determined to prove he is over them at Salford.
Sunday’s trip to Castleford is the first match he is eligible for and after losing more than two stone in weight because of training, he is determined to right any wrongs.
“I’d done cocaine a few times before I was caught,” revealed Walker, who worked through an agency for a company called thebathpig.
“I was just on a downward spiral, I was suffering as there were a lot of things going on in my personal life.
“I didn’t talk to anyone about them and tried to fix them on my own, but that just made things worse really, it dragged me deeper and deeper down.
“I wasn’t even speaking to my family – I felt I had no-one around me to help. Previously, I’d just go home and stay indoors.
“I cut everyone out of my life, I was just turning up training and even then I was thinking about going home and not concentrating.
“And I’m quite honest, I’m glad it happened. I was on a downward spiral and if it hadn’t happened, I would’ve got worse and worse – it made me realise what I had.”
Even though Walker was banned for 20 months after proving he was struggling with anxiety and depression, the Rugby Football League stood by him.
They sorted him out with Sporting Chance and just getting his feelings out in the open was a huge change, as were the ‘day jobs’ he ended up in.
“Sporting Chance helped me a lot as the man I was with just listened to why I was in the situation I was in,” Walker added.
“I started working in a postroom before going to a meat warehouse in Bradford, working with different cold meats for six months.
“That was a 9-5 job and I didn’t have any qualifications, it was a hard lesson seeing people for whom working there was their life. It made me feel blessed to be a rugby player.”
Walker was snapped up by Salford and he has been training to get in shape ahead of his big comeback – he is mentally and physically ready.
First thing, though, is making Ian Watson’s side after they won 46-0 at Catalans on Saturday.
“I didn’t have any love for the game at the time and I was guaranteed to play every week,” the 28-year-old added.
“I realised how big a part of my life rugby league is. Now my attitude is the same as when I very first started playing, I want to push through and make that extra step.
“But training was hard at first. I’ve lost 15kgs in weight since I started and after my first session I could hardly walk!
“And it’s going to be difficult to get in after Saturday’s result. I was watching the TV thinking, ‘Go on, that’s enough now. I want to play next week!’”
