League: Wicks quits Knights to shield teammates

SYDNEY - Concerned his former Newcastle teammates were "copping a pounding", Danny Wicks has voluntarily cut ties with the NRL club.

Wicks, facing eight drug-related charges, terminated a contract reportedly worth A$200,000 ($249,785) a season with another three years to run a day after Knights players moved to end the suspicions surrounding the club by agreeing to year-round testing.

The 24-year-old's action also came on the same day a newspaper report said a second player from the club was being investigated by police.

Wicks released a statement through his lawyers reiterating that he would defend the eight supply and possession charges he faces, and saying other Knights players should not be tarred with the same brush.

"The players have been put under enormous scrutiny and pressure which they do not deserve," the statement read.

"It's the right thing for me to do so the club can move forward.

"The Knights have a strict code of conduct which I have always supported and I feel obliged to dissociate myself from the club until my matter is resolved."

Wicks' manager, Steve Gillis, said the decision had been a purely personal one.

"It's got nothing whatsoever to do with the court case, it's an individual decision because he could see that his teammates and club were copping a pounding as a result of his arrest and he just felt that the best thing to do would be to step away and take some of that pressure off them," Gillis said.

Newcastle head Steve Burraston said Wicks' decision was right for him and the club.

"We support Danny's decision and understand that this is in the best interests of all involved."

Gillis said there had been no pressure from the club to quit and "no payout of any kind".

He said a return to football was not on the short-term agenda as Wicks, scheduled to next appear in court on February 3, fights the charges but did not rule out a return to the Knights.

Wicks was charged last week with three others, including his brother and sister-in-law, after a police investigation into a speed, cocaine and Ecstasy distribution ring. He was released on A$30,000 bail.

Meanwhile, Burraston also responded to a report that a second Newcastle player was being investigated by police.

"We don't act on rumours and innuendo," he said, "and, until such times that we are presented with solid evidence, we won't be taking matters into our own hands."

- AAP