Sean Penkywicz hit with second drugs ban

Leigh hooker Sean Penkywicz has been hit with a two-year ban, after testing positive for banned substance GHRP6.

GHRP6 is an anabolic steroid which releases growth hormone and is usually injected, though it can also be found in gels and creams.

The player was inititally tested in December 2014, when the sample came back as negative.

He denies ever having used the substance, but has now dropped his legal challenge to the ban.

After further tests were requested in January of this year, however, an assessment of “Confirmation data does not meet required criteria” was recorded.

“When I received the letter from UKAD on the 11th April and then from the RFL the same day, I was in complete shock,” the 30-year-old said, according to the Daily Mirror.

“I have been banned previously, so I am very aware of the pitfalls and would never risk the same situation again. I couldn’t understand why I had been told my sample was negative and then it had been tested again months later.

“This really has hit me hard as I just can’t understand it and I am now legally advised I need to accept a two-year ban, which essentially ends my career at a time when I was finding some of my best form.”

The player was also banned in 2005 for using performance enhancing drugs.