“It was left to Craig Bellamy to address the media after he received the coach of the year award.

“A club official should have got up and fronted the media straight up, knocked it on the head and got it out of the way and allowed the process to happen and the findings to come out.”

Smith was aware drugs were a problem in society, but NRL players were entitled to be held to different standards.

“For these players to go out and make such dumb choices, it’s really disappointing – I’m being completely honest, it’s extremely, extremely disappointing,” Smith said. “It’s not a widespread problem, I don’t think it is, and I really hope it’s not.

“I understand in society there are some issues out there with drugs and young people.

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“At the end of the day, these guys are in a very different position to most other young people out there in the normal world.

“What they need to understand is you can’t have it both ways. You can’t be a leader on game day and not want to be a leader any other time. If you’re a leader on game day, you’re a leader every day you represent the club, and your actions contribute to how everyone feels about you as a leader.

“I’d like to think they’re smarter than the way they’ve acted.

“To allow outsiders into a room and they’ve got phones out filming … it’s mind-boggling to see these guys make these poor choices.”