Former Kiwis captain Jesse Bromwich grew up around drugs and alcohol in South Auckland.

Bromwich, who quit as captain after he and teammate Kevin Proctor were arrested for taking cocaine following the Anzac Test in Canberra earlier this month, has opened up about his upbringing in New Zealand's biggest city.

"I grew up in a pretty rough town in South Auckland," Bromwich, who was banned for two NRL matches and banned from the Kiwis' Rugby League World Cup campaign, said in an interview on NRL 360.

"It was quite normal for me to see kids during intermediate school doing drugs and people in our league teams growing up and doing drugs.

READ MORE

* Bromwich opens up

* Bromwich and Proctor break trust

* Kiwi greats stunned by pair

* Norquay: No defence, on and off field

"But I was never part of the crew that used to go and do the drugs. I've been really drunk a couple of times and tried it a handful of times as teenager. But since I moved to Melbourne, it's not part of my life anymore."

Last week, 28-year-old Bromwich opened up about the incident in an interview with Melbourne's Sunday Herald Sun, when he revealed he could only remember a few "flashbacks" of the night.

During Monday night's NRL 360 show, Bromwich also spoke about how disappointed he was in letting down Melbourne Storm captain and club teammate Cameron Smith, who was "filthy" with him.

"The thing that I admire about Cameron and his family is they've reached out to my family and offered their support," Bromwich said.

"It's not like he's not talking to me or anything like that. We are still great mates. It's just hard for me to let him down. I look up to Cameron and I don't like letting people down."

After the interview was aired on the show, journalist and former NRL player Paul Kent said Bromwich came across "very well".

"You can see that he's genuinely sorry, he's genuinely embarrassed. And you walk away from that interview and you're convinced he's not going to go out and reoffend because it has struck to the heart of who he is and he's really embarrassed about it and you can't fault him."