England forward Victor Radley has made himself unavailable for the Ashes series against Australia after being slapped with a lengthy ban by his club Sydney Roosters for his involvement in a drug probe into a former teammate.<\/p>\n
Radley was last week handed a 10-game ban and told to donate $30,000 to a hospital after the Roosters<\/a> said he had brought the club into disrepute in relation to “allegedly obtaining an illegal substance”.<\/p>\n The Australia<\/a>-born lock, who accepted the sanction and apologised, was not charged by police and remained available for Shaun Wane’s England<\/a> squad, whose three-test series against Australia starts at Wembley on October 25<\/a>.<\/p>\n Wane, however, said the 27-year-old, who has played nine times for England since electing to represent his father’s birth country, had stood himself down from the series.<\/p>\n “Victor has been an outstanding player for England for the last three years, but we respect his decision,” Wane said in a statement.<\/p>\n “We need 24 players who are fully focused on the historic opportunity of facing Australia in an Ashes series.”<\/p>\n The loss of a top class back-rower will come as a blow to Wane and England ahead of the first contest for the Ashes in 22 years.<\/p>\n Similar to the cricket rivalry of the same name, rugby league’s Ashes were contested between Australia and Britain 39 times between 1908 and 2003. Australia won the last 13 editions.<\/p>\n The Kangaroos received a boost ahead of the series on Thursday when forward Tino Fa’asuamaleaui said he would not be joining a string of top players who have decided to represent Samoa instead of Australia.<\/p>\n “To be a part of the Ashes tour over in England, the first time in a long time, it is a bit of history, and it is something that I really want to be a part of,” the 25-year-old lock said in a social media post.<\/p>\n