NRL to adopt biological passports within weeks in response to Australian sports drug crisis RUGBY league players will have blood drawn for their "biological passports" within weeks - ensuring the NRL is at the forefront of the revolutionary doping detection practice. The Daily Telegraph can reveal both Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority and the NRL Integrity Unit are making final preparations to begin creating electronic blood records for between 50 and 70 players, including Kangaroos and State of Origin stars. The issue was this week discussed with all 16 NRL clubs via two teleconferences, with one person present saying "it's all very, very close ... there is so much involved but we're talking within a month." NRL chief executive David Smith also confirmed his organisation was close to implementing the practice embraced by world cycling in the wake of the doping scandal surrounding Lance Armstrong. The proactive move comes as ASADA officials continue interviewing 31 rugby league players - most notably from Cronulla - as part of their sweeping investigation into drug use in Australian sport. "There is still some work to finalise but we'll be in a position to make some firm announcements in the near future," Smith said last night. It's an area in which we've made significant progress. The Integrity Unit has been working closely with ASADA, the clubs and the Rugby League Players' Association to ensure we are in the best position to protect the game from emerging threats in that area. As revealed by The Daily Telegraph last month, the NRL is responding to the ongoing drugs in sport crisis by introducing the Athlete Biological Passport (ABP). The move has been welcomed by World Anti-Doping Agency president and mad Canterbury Bulldogs fan, John Fahey. While only 17 per cent of contracted NRL players will initially take part in the ABP testing, Fahey urged all local footy codes to follow the lead of cycling - who boast biological passports for some 700 riders and test them at least six times a year. "What the public wants to see is a robust anti-doping program and the biological passport is the best tool for that," Fahey said. The sooner the NRL gets this in place, the better. I know there's a suggestion that biological passports are too expensive, but I find that hard to accept. Yes, it costs money. And any time you take blood from an athlete and send it to the laboratory, someone has to write a cheque. But the NRL has just signed a TV deal worth $1 billion, the AFL $1.25 billion. So they can afford it. And why wouldn't you want to put money towards ensuring the reputation of your code? If footballing bodies want to assure the public their players are clean, there is simply no better way to do it. RLPA president David Garnsey said that while his organisation acknowledged the importance of ABPs, "respect for the rights of players must be as much a priority as introducing new tests." Unlike regular blood testing, the ABP provides an electronic record of an athlete's biological values, developed over time from multiple collections of blood samples. Rather than detecting the prohibited substance or methods used, the passport looks for the effects of blood doping - which are commonly present and detectable for a longer period than the agent itself.