"There was about six or seven of us," Simona said.
"We went to the toilets, and just snort a line pretty much. That was the first time I had ever touched drugs. From then on every time I would go out, I would start using it."
Simona said he never feared getting caught by drug testers despite buying up to five bags of cocaine a weekend and was tested as frequently as his Tigers teammates.
"Actually I'd been tested quite a few times, and obviously I knew when to take it," he said.
"In the rep round when we had the weekend off I would take it or if there was a long turn around between games.
"I would take it on a Friday so by Monday I think it would be out of my system."
Simona confessed to auctioning off at least 12 jerseys and keeping the money.
He was assisted by his ex-girlfriend, Jaya Taki, who text messages show was complicit in him raising funds for a foundation in memory of her dead brother.
Taki denies pocketing any of the proceeds.
"I'm so ashamed of what I've done," Simona said.
"It shows how low you'll go to get money. One jersey turned into five jerseys which turned into like eight, nine jerseys.
"There are no excuses. All I can do is give them the money when I get back on my feet."
His spiralling losses from pokies led to him asking his then girlfriend Jaya Taki set up a betting account in her name and placed 65 bets on NRL matches - several involving the Tigers.
However, he denies any type of match-fixing, insisting his teammates know that he never gave less than 100 per cent whenever he played.
"I'm just embarrassed and ashamed," he said.
"It was so dumb and so stupid. Importantly the players know I'd never be involved in match-fixing.
"They've all been texting me since it happened.
"They know what I did was wrong but they understand I always gave 100 per cent."
- AAP
