GAVIN Duffy has become the latest Cougars player to be banned from rugby league after revealing that personal problems saw him hit rock-bottom and turn to recreational drugs.

The winger, who was last year awarded a testimonial following a decade of service at Cougar Park, tested positive following a doping test last year and says he has been handed a 15-month suspension, backdated to July 2015.

Daley Williams and Lewis Graham were both handed four-year bans by UK Anti-Doping last year following doping violations.

Cougars sacked Williams after he tested positive for steroids – drostanolone and a metabolite of stanozolol – following an out-of-competition test in March, on the eve of the 2015 season.

That came just weeks after Graham was handed a four-year ban after testing positive for the anabolic steroid nandrolone.

Neither UK Anti-Doping nor the RFL have confirmed Duffy’s sanction but the player said in statement posed on Cougars' official website that he had been banned until later this year and then planned to head to Australia to resume his playing career.

Duffy was suspended by Cougars before the end of last season and did not have his contract renewed when it expired last November.

He said in a statement: “In 2015, I suffered a terrible year caused by personal issues that I’ve had to overcome which resulted in me heading down the wrong road for which I blame nobody but myself.

“This left me in a bad place personally; I began to miss training sessions with the club and found myself drinking excessively.

“I tested positive for a recreational drug and this has resulted in a 15-month suspension, backdated to July 2015, a decision which has left me deeply saddened and regretful and is the worst decision I have ever made.

“I am now putting this dark period of my life behind me and beginning to concentrate on the future which will result in me playing Rugby League following the conclusion of my suspension later in the year.

“I know that once I return to playing in 2017, I will be moving to Australia and continuing my career down under and not with the Keighley Cougars.

“Therefore, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Keighley Cougars’ supporters for all their loyal support to myself over the past decade.”