Former Cronulla hooker Paul Aiton has not been asked to choose between playing at Wembley and a career-ending suspension, according to his club Leeds.

Aiton, a past Papua New Guinea Test captain, has been named as one of 17 Cronulla players from 2011 who have been given the opportunity to accept a back-dated 12-month doping suspension by the weekend.

On the surface of that, the timing couldn’t be worse for the 29-year-old who is due to play for the Rhinos against Castleford in Saturday’s Challenge Cup final at Wembley.

If Aiton is governed by the same bargaining as his former Sharks team-mates, he would be effectively being asked to choose between short term glory and a longer, two year, ban which would effectively end his career.

But Leeds chief executive Gary Hetherington tells Discord: “He has not been part of the investigation.

“It doesn’t affect him at all because since it all began, he’s heard nothing.

“I think it’s important to note that when you say he’s been named, he’s only been named in the media.”

Hetherington said it was his understanding that other Super League players at Cronulla in 2011, such as Catalan’s Ben Pomeroy and London Broncos' Josh Cordoba, had also heard little or nothing from ASADA. Nonetheless, all doping bans are international; the players will be entitled to be aggrieved if the offer of a shortened sentences has not been passed onto them.

The ASADA developments have killed off much reaction and discussion regarding the Darius Boyd interview on Sunday.

This reporter addressed some of the issues in the Set of Six column – about how letting players get away with doing less than their team-mates is unhealthy for a number of reasons.

But I want to discuss another quote from Boyd – “It really got down to football is all I had”.

This is probably not what you expect to read in a sports column but that comment should be a warning sign to many of us.

It certainly struck a chord with me.

As someone with a complicated family background, it made me think about how I had clung to rugby league as a construct, and artifice that helped me with my own identity.

And it made me understand how the more I learned about my family background and what led me to where I am, the more I was able to let go of the more obsessive elements of my fandom.

We should all be open to the idea that our obsession with elements of pop culture, including professional sports and specifically rugby league, is being used as a substitute for something else that’s missing.

The same goes for spending too much time at work. Our bosses will happily profit from our workaholism, regardless of what is causing it.

Just a thought, then, thanks to Darius: next time you watch all eight games at the weekend, or read an online column like this to the very last word, have a think about what is missing in your life that you may be compensating for.