The Beast, his Instagram Meltdown – and the NRL's Prescripton Drug Problem

Ask anyone with emotional investment in rugby league over the last week about what they think about the state of the game in New Zealand, and the lyrics of the Smokey Robinson's classic "Tears of a Clown" might be a decent catch-all for their thoughts.

That won't be because of the overly relaxed, jovial joint Anzac league test mid-week press conference, masking what should be an absolute hiding dished out to the injury and suspension-ravaged Kiwis by their trans-Tasman rivals in Newcastle tonight.

It would be thanks to an Instagram post by beloved Warriors winger Manu Vatuvei earlier in the week, where the player affectionately known as "the Beast" added a psychedelic filter to his Insty – and let fly with a message to his haters.

"If you wanna talk about me behind my back, why don't you come say it to my face, Look in the mirror before you say something about other people," Vatuvei declared, in a post (pictured above) that has since been deleted.

Vatuvei's 2015 highlights

The Beast was one of six players who were suspended by the club for last week's upset of the Dragons, after it was revealed they went out partying in Auckland, and partaking in rugby league's biggest open secret; mixing prescription drugs and energy drinks.

Tramadol was the drug of choice for five of the players; a sixth, Konrad Hurrell, was the sober driver who said he just stuck to the energy drinks.

Two Rabbitohs players did something similar last year, ending up in hospital – but in both cases, it could have been much worse.

"They could have died," former New Zealand Olympic doctor Mark Fulcher told Stuff.co.nz.

"Tramadol is quite powerful, and often these guys are taking far more than they should be. It can quite easily put you in hospital and kill you."

The ban was clearly the right thing by the club, which the players should have responded to with radar silence on Twitter, Facebook and Insty.

Only Vatuvei didn't get the memo, clearly. His actions were unprofessional to say the least; a high school response to an adult problem.

"It's sad because I know Manu on a personal level, and this is well out of his character," ex-Kiwis captain Benji Marshall told Fox Sports, in the most honest assessment of the whole stupid situation this week.

Anyone who has met or spent time with the Beast knows what a happy, humble bloke he is, with an overall love and respect for the game that shines brighter than the constant criticism he gets from some quarters.

Vatuvei is not only a club icon; but also one of the best original characters in Australasian sport.

After dishing out the punishment for the so-called "Dirty Six" and granting "leave on medical grounds" for Vatuvei, Warriors chief executive Jim Doyle showed his usual savvy. I've no doubt that right now he's throwing all the money he possibly can at getting Vatuvei back in the right headspace again.

The same will be true for Kiwis and Eels star standoff Kieran Foran, who recently overdosed on prescription drugs while struggling with a relationship break-up. Foran is now reportedly in an overseas rehab clinic.

From the unraveling of Warriors coach Andrew McFadden – who has felt out of his depth since inheriting the job from un-liked tinkerer Matt Elliott – to the injuries to Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and Simon Mannering, and the appalling form of Issac Luke; it's been a mean old time of late at Mt Smart Stadium.

The club need to jettison Konrad Hurrell. As much of a wrecking ball he can be on the paddock, the centre – reportedly the sober driver for the Dirty Six – is similarly damaging when you give him an iPhone with no passwords on his social media accounts.

McFadden will get the boot soon; if not in the next two months, by the end of the season. The door will likely be open for Kiwis, and Tigers, assistant coach David Kidwell; a tough uncompromising coach in the mold of his old mentor Craig Bellamy.

The Warriors will never be a club like the Broncos or the Storm; models of near-robotic professionalism. They're a family – a wild one – with the ability to create poetry on the footy pitch that no other in the NRL can.

The Beast is sick, yea, but while he's away, so is the heartbeat. The Warriors have got the right man at the helm. When that heartbeat comes back, as well as a few other tweaks, so will the soul of New Zealand rugby league

Follow Ben on Twitter