Former Gold Coast chief executive David May has described the club's drugs protocols as good as any in professional sport, saying nothing more could have been done to prevent the dramas now rocking the Titans.

Major bookmakers suspended betting on the NRL season opener between Brisbane and South Sydney after Fairfax Media revealed that Broncos identities could be the next to appear before the Queensland Crime and Corruption Commission. BetEasy was the first agency to pull down markets and others soon followed, including the TAB, which also suspended futures options such as "most losses" and "minor premiership" betting.

"We've taken the precaution to suspend the market until we more know about the situation," said TAB Sport's Matt Jenkins. The Titans are currently the club most affected following the QCCC's investigations after five players - including star forwards Greg Bird, Dave Taylor and Beau Falloon - were charged with cocaine supply. The charges raise questions over whether there is a culture of recreational drug use at the club.

May went on the front foot in February 2013 to defend the club's testing and doping compliance regimes when "vials" of urine were found hidden inside the stadium's plumbing. The police and ASADA quickly dispelled any doping concerns. May, who was the boss of the Titans for 18 months before chief executive Graham Annesley was appointed, reiterated on Wednesday the club could do no more to stamp out the scourge of drugs.

"If you look back to the comments I made on record in relation to that infamous jar of urine, the club has always been very tough on drugs," May said. "We had a very open, and potentially the most progressive stance, on drug use of any club in any professional sport. I wouldn't have made those comments if I didn't believe them to be true."

May, whose wife overcame substance addiction issues, predicted the Titans would always struggle to attract the required corporate support, but believed a team could survive on the Gold Coast. "The biggest challenge that I had and they are now facing is the fact there isn't a major corporate base here," he said.

"Sponsorship is difficult and sponsorship represents a quarter to a third of the club's revenue. It's a difficult market for sure but it is rugby league heartland. The coast is big enough to support a team but I don't think a team here will make a huge amounts of money, but that's not what it's about. It is is possible to create a sustainable club here and it's great the NRL have shown a commitment to the coast."

While May acknowledges the NRL had no choice but to step in, he said it would be detrimental if the governing body owned and controlled its clubs long term. "Personally, I think the game shouldn't be centralised. I believe franchises should be able to stand on their own two feet and there should be some independence between the clubs and the governing body," he said.

"With Newcastle, the Titans and Tigers you're getting to a point where those lines are blurring a bit. I know it's a centralised control model that the AFL have got but it's better for the game to have independent clubs because there should be a natural, healthy tension between what the clubs and the governing body want to see happen. [The Titans] need other sources of revenue, but I don't think the NRL will want to tip $20 million into a leagues club at Robina."

The QCCC has foreshadowed further arrests of former and current players, raising fears more clubs and codes could be engulfed in the saga.