The UK Anti-Doping Agency have confirmed that Leigh Leopards prop Owen Trout served a one-month ban after a positive drugs test earlier this season.

Trout was missing from the Leopards’ fold between rounds 12 and 15, with the club continuously citing ‘personal reasons’ as the explanation for his absence.

However, it has now been revealed that the 2025 England international actually copped a ban following a breach of anti-doping rules.

A sample collected on March 20, in the lead-up to Leigh’s game against Wakefield Trinity, returned a positive trace of carboxy-THC, a Metabolite of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive compound found in cannabis.

Per UKAD, athletes who test positive for an abusive substance may receive a reduced three-month ban if they can prove that they ingested the substance ‘out-of-competition’ and in a context unrelated to sport performance.

Like in Trout’s case, this can be reduced further to a one-month ban if the athlete completes an approved substance of abuse treatment programme.

The Leopards prop admitted to consuming a cannabis gummy and smoking a cannabis joint in the week leading up to the urine test, and confirmed that he has since ceased all use of the drug.

Trout will join the Cronulla Sharks in the NRL next season, but will be free to play without punishment. His one-month ban began on May 22 2026, and ended on 21 June. He returned to the field that weekend against Toulouse Olympique.

A full statement on the matter from the RFL can be read in full here.

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