The revelation by the most prominent rugby league player in the last decade, Andrew Johns, that his whole career was dogged by alcohol abuse, drug taking, and, more recently depression, raises more questions than it answers.

But the answers don’t need to come from Johns, but from the NRL, his former club, the Newcastle Knights, his very high profile manager, John Fordham, and his various coaches during his long rugby league career.

The NRL Footy Show last night had something I had not thought possible – the riveting, even moving, interview Johns had with Gus Gould.

Johns was extraordinarily frank, and Gould, his former Origin coach, asked some very tough questions … and secured answers that will change the Johns image and persona forever.

Johns’ admissions that he took drugs for the whole of his playing career – mainly, but not always, in the off season – raises very serious questions about the NRL drug testing policy, and even more importantly, the Knights drug testing policy.

The NRL boasts that its drug testing regime is stronger than that of the AFL or any other code. But as I have pointed out in the past, it is an uneven testing regime, and the fact that Johns has been tested just 17 time since 1988 only confirms that.

Johns knew his risk of being tested positive were limited – because the ASADA tests were only carried out on game day. As he revealed last night, he knew that if he took drugs on the weekend after a Friday night game the risk of being caught was minimal.

Had Johns been playing with the North Queensland Cowboys, for example, he would almost certainly have been caught. A minority of NRL clubs, such as the Cowboys, Brisbane Broncos, and a couple of Sydney teams, have there own intensive testing regimes – including between matches and in the off season.

The Cowboys players are probably tested 10 times, or more, each season. That is why a Cowboys players, Mitchell Sargent, was caught during the 2006 season in a test carried out by the club itself, and immediately expelled by the club. Ironically, he was quickly snapped up by the Newcastle Knights!

Johns’ mid-season retirement this year was well timed, even if accidentally. Soon after he was forced into retirement by a neck injury, the NRL and all clubs introduced a mandatory testing regime for all clubs.

But the NRL needs to ask itself whether it needs to become as extensive as that followed by Clubs such as the Cowboys. Johns knew his chances of being caught were limited – the NRL needs to be absolutely certain no player today can comfortably hold that view.

His former club, his manager, and his coaches need to ask themselves one question. Last night Johns revealed those around him almost certainly knew about his “issues”. That must have included some knowledge of his drug taking. How can they justify doing nothing for FOURTEEN years?

My hope is that instead of promising to go around schools talking about drugs, Johns will, in time, be more expansive about the issue he would not discuss in any detail last night – the depression that he has been treated for in recent years.

He can make his greatest impact, and secure redemption if that is what he seeks, by encouraging young men and women to confront one of the great tragedies of our time – depression among the young, even the very young.

He should give Jeff Kennett a call – and maybe made a real difference future generations will appreciate.