Cronulla players rejected ban deals NSW captain Paul Gallen is among eight Cronulla players alleged to have been in negotiations with anti-doping government officials earlier this year after the peptide scandal engulfed the Sharks. Gallen, the Cronulla captain, was named by The Daily Telegraph alongside teammates Wade Graham, Nathan Stapleton, Matthew Wright, Stewart Mills and Jayson Bukuya as attempting to arrange a series of deals which would secure their financial future if they accepted six-month "no significant fault" bans. The Telegraph said the eight players believed they had been let down by club officials who they claim had directed them to use certain supplements. The players had been prepared to accept a six-month ban if they were also promised that their current contracts were honoured, that none of them would be sacked and that they would be given a one-year contract extension if their deal with the club ended in 2013. Gallen was also seeking to have any representative bonuses and payments covered. The Telegraph reported that the players rejected the government deal once they had heard Essendon AFL players could escape any suspensions under a separate government arrangement. ASADA issued a statement yesterday distancing itself from reports that it had cut a deal with the AFL to look after Essendon players if they co-operated with investigators. "ASADA has not offered a zero sanction to any athlete or support person," a statement said. It is ASADA's role to adhere to the World Anti-Doping Code at all times. At no time has ASADA offered sports advice inconsistent with the World Anti-Doping Code. News of the Cronulla dealings comes as 30 players prepared to be interviewed by ASADA next week. Yesterday the NRL said it would send in its own legal team to babysit players during the interviews. The game hopes to be clear of the process by the time the finals begin in September and yesterday issued a statement saying 30 players and a number of support staff had been informed they would be required to co-operate with ASADA investigators when interviews start on August 1. "We'd like to have seen this done and dusted long ago," NRL chief operating officer Jim Doyle said last night. Any issue like this, you want to get to the bottom of it whichever outcome it generates. It's been frustrating but we have been working with them continuously. Our target is the end of August but we've got to work around their availability, players' availability. The federal government's anti-doping watchdog announced almost three months ago it was cancelling interviews with Sharks players following a failed attempt with Wade Graham, who refused to answer certain questions from investigators over fear of self-incrimination. That prompted NRL chief executive Dave Smith to intervene and call for a transcript of the interview. Smith found no problem with Graham's response and called for the process to resume, prompting ASADA to pull the pin while it waited for access to players' phone records, texts and emails to become law. It is expected that could happen by August 1. Doyle said last night the NRL would send members of its own legal team into the interviews to ensure both parties were happy. "We're going to get greater visibility as to how the players are co-operating and also to make sure that the rights and obligations of everybody are being respected," Doyle said. They'll make sure it is all above board.