ACC Investigation

Bennett said everything has been above board since he arrived at the Knights at the end of 2011 but said that auditors are checking records back to 2005.

I thought we already knew Johns didn't mind an eccy with his beers?

Players could be named as soon as this afternoon

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If players are going and doing things in private, how would any coach or club official be confident that their players are clean?

I guess he is saying that there is no way a systemic doping program could go on without the knowledge of the head coach.

KNIGHTS chief executive Matt Gidley said the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority had cleared coach Wayne Bennett and the club’s support staff of any wrongdoing regarding the Australian Crime Commission’s report but stopped short of giving players the same assurance.

After confirming early on Tuesday that the Knights were one of six NRL clubs referred to in the ACC’s Project Aperio investigation into organised crime and drugs in sport, Gidley met with ASADA in Sydney for clarification.

Gidley joined the chief executives of the five other clubs – Canberra, Cronulla, Manly, North Queensland and Penrith – for an all-in meeting chaired by Tony Whitlam QC, the head of the NRL’s integrity unit, then had a private briefing with ASADA officials.

In a statement issued by the Knights after those meetings, Gidley said he was ‘‘confident we have no issues of concern going forward’’ but would not elaborate due to a confidentiality agreement.

‘‘While no specific details or players were mentioned by the ASADA representatives, they made it clear the Knights coaching staff and support team, and their procedures, were given the all-clear,’’ Gidley said.

‘‘We are bound by a confidentiality agreement and can’t go into details of the meeting, but we now have a much better understanding of the process and we completely support what the NRL is doing.’’