I've gone cold on the drink - Seymour

CONTROVERSIAL Warriors recruit Brett Seymour has revealed his contract prevents him from drinking.

But Seymour says he welcomes the ban, says he's not missing the booze and that he's relieved to be out of the fishbowl life that goes with being a rugby league player in Sydney.

Seymour and his fiancee Roseanne have settled into Auckland with the playmaker ripping into preseason training with the club that has given him a lifeline after alcohol-fuelled incidents ended his stints at the Broncos and Sharks and threatened to finish his NRL career altogether.

The Warriors have picked him up on a one-year contract with strict conditions that include no drinking.

"I've gone cold on the drink," the 25-year-old told Sunday News. "It's in my contract here and I will give that 100%. There's plenty of time down the line where that may change but at this stage it's no drink and I'm not thinking about that."

Seymour says the Warriors have helped him with counselling and he's thrilled with his progress.

"I came over early just to get into this environment and meet a couple of the guys," Seymour said. "You get the right people around you and it's no worries. You don't have to have a drink to fit in. When I first came into the grade if you didn't have a beer you weren't part of the team."

Seymour, a proven talent on the field but a wayward lad away from it, knows he can't blow this chance and is desperate to repay the faith of the Warriors who can extend his deal for a further year if things go well. He says it's make or break for his career but reckons Auckland is an ideal place to start a new life.

"The culture over here compared to Sydney is different," he said. "There you have three or four pages of rugby league news every day. They follow players to pubs, clubs and nightclubs. There is more gossip on league players than movie stars.

"Over here we are second to rugby – Dan Carter and those guys are splashed everywhere.

"It's just a great family culture and certainly these guys here at the Warriors are very family orientated. There's a different feel to the place and it's something that me and Roseanne like."

Seymour has learned his lesson the hard way and backs the tough stance being adopted by the NRL on the competition's bad boys.

"There is a lot of scrutiny on players, a lot more since I started," he said. "In the end we are professionals and the kids look up to us. Going out on the drink and yahooing around is just not the way."

- © Fairfax NZ News