The Titans were the first NRL club to test players for illicit substances and did everything possible to prevent a drugs culture infiltrating the club, according to founding chairman Paul Broughton.

With five current and three former Titans players charged in a Queensland Crime and Corruption Commission investigation into a Gold Coast cocaine ring allegedly run by former Roosters lower grader John Touma, questions about the culture at the club have understandably arisen. The players, who include representative stars Greg Bird, Dave Taylor and Ashley Harrison, were allegedly caught sourcing cocaine on a number of occasions between June and December last year, including Bird's bucks party and a Mad Monday booze cruise.

It has also been reported five players tested positive to ecstasy the day after the club's 2007 Mad Monday celebrations and were given an official warning along with a fine totaling five per cent of their contract money. Broughton defended the decision to keep that action in-house and said the Titans deserved praise for being proactive at a time that no other NRL club was testing players for illicit drugs.

"The club should be applauded for testing immediately after Mad Monday and for implementing a tough policy to prevent any drug culture from penetrating the playing group," Broughton said in a statement to Fairfax Media. "Individual club drug testing at the time was not carried out by any NRL club and the NRL didn't have a policy on it in 2007. I believe the Titans were one of the first clubs to implement in house drug testing and sought initial process advice via AFL club drug testing policy

"In the process of implementing it and the policy around it, the club aimed for zero tolerance - therefore one positive test strike results in the player's contract being terminated - then looked at the AFL policy, which was three strikes and you're out, and then settled on one warning with a second positive drug test resulting in termination of the contract. The Titans did not take part in any 'covert' operation as described by some sections of the media. It was a private internal club process between the player and the club implemented to mitigate the risk of players taking recreational drugs."

With 2007 being the Titans first season in the NRL, all of their players had come from other clubs and management wanted to ensure they were of the right character. Broughton said the Titans had introduced the policy to the NRL the following season and suggested that pharmaceuticals also be included, but official testing for prescription drugs only began last season. The NRL has not yet released any figures showing the amount of tests conducted and the number of positive results returned but NRL chief executive Dave Smith indicated they may be prepared to do so.

"We do hundreds and hundreds of tests independently of the clubs, that has been in place since the middle of last year," Smith told media at last Friday's Business Review. "We were the first sport in Australia to test for prescription drugs. We would be happy to talk in more detail without betraying confidences. I think we would compare with any other code in terms of the investment we put in to the testing regime and some of the other measures. We do a lot, we invest in this area a lot. It is a necessary evil in many respects. I think we do as much as any other sport. Whether it is ever enough, I guess is a very big question."

Meanwhile, former Gold Coast centre Steve Michaels may play out the Super League season with Hull before returning to Australia to face 10 charges of supply.

Queensland's CCC has obtained an arrest warrant for Michaels upon his return to the country but reports in England suggest Hull will continue to consider him for selection, although he was withdrawn from a weekend match with Doncaster, for whom he has been playing on loan.