MANLY have refused to provide information about the club's long-standing practice of injecting calves' blood extract to hasten players' recovery from injury.

Yesterday coach Des Hasler said everything the club did stayed in-house, then flippantly added: "This club stays strictly within the guidelines set down by WADA and the NRL. We haven't been to East Germany and got leftover blood from 1976, brought it back and injected it back into the players."

But the injections of such an exotic product illustrate the lengths to which players and clubs will go to prolong a career or quicken a return from injury. Insiders claim there are no disadvantages to taking the product, that "it definitely works" and the covert attitude to the injections at Manly is not a cover-up but a medical right to privacy.

Calves' blood extract, marketed under the name Actovegin, is used by a handful of Sea Eagles players, especially when they suffer hamstring or Achilles tendon injuries. Yet the manufacturer claims, and anecdotal evidence from cyclists such as Jesus Manzano indicates, that Actovegin is an endurance booster - by promoting the uptake of glucose by muscle cells.

The World Anti-Doping Agency does not include Actovegin on its list of banned products. But neither does it include Viagra, another drug that studies show promotes endurance in athletes at altitude and which is understood to be used by footballers to improve on-field performance.

Somewhere there is an ethical and moral line that has to be drawn in the sand. Manly insiders say they haven't crossed that line because they haven't broken any rules and Actovegin is allowed by the sport drug authorities. The club has been able to source the product directly from a supplier in Australia while athletes from other codes have spent $20,000 flying to Germany for it.

Manly have long been willing to test boundaries to extract the best from their players. In the past, they have used a drink called Lact-Away that claimed to reduce lactic acid build-up. Of late, the players have had DNA testing to determine the best nutritional and exercise regimes for them.

Yesterday, the Herald put seven questions relating to Actovegin to Manly CEO Grant Mayer, who responded: "I will forward these questions on to the football department as they relate directly to football performance."

Late last night, there had been no response.

THE UNANSWERED QUESTIONS

Q What advantage do your players get from the product?

Q How long has the club been using the product?

Q Where do you get it from?

Q Who injects the players and how often?

Q How many players have been involved?

Q Do you think the use of it crosses any ethical lines?

Q Is the use of Actovegin covered by insurance?