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Fremantle's Michael Johnson is tackled by Hawk Campbell Brown during the AFL Round 08 match between the Fremantle Dockers and the Hawthorn Hawks at Subiaco. Slattery Images
Last night’s news that Fremantle’s Michael Johnson is being investigated by West Australian police, after allegedly being caught in possession of drugs, couldn’t have come at a worse time for both the club and the league.
It’s early days yet but Dockers chief Steve Rosich was not treating the situation lightly yesterday.
“We are treating it very seriously,” Rosich said in a statement. “We are currently gathering all relevant information and will make further comment when we are in a position to do so. There will be no comment from the club until that time.”
Johnson has been an important part of Fremantle’s strong start to the year. He is one of a number of Freo players that came back from injury this year to have an impact.
As I noted only a couple of weeks ago, “Johnson, in particular, has slotted into the role of being that second key forward alongside Pavlich and, when needed, a back-up ruckman to Sandilands. And with him being the second tall up forward, Luke McPharlin has been able to shift back to defence, his preferred position.”
The irony of the timing is that McPharlin is now out for six weeks with injury, meaning Freo’s all-important trio of Chris Tarrant, Matthew Pavlich and Aaron Sandilands could be bereft of genuine support in coming weeks.
But perhaps the biggest blow will be for the league, and the game itself.
The news comes on the back of a week that featured Ben Cousins’ interview with On The Couch, Mathew Stokes’ emotional account of his possession and trafficking charges in the Herald Sun and the AFL’s revealing of drug testing figures from the past year.
The latter story prompted yet another round of questions over the AFL’s three strikes policy, despite the fact the first two stories gave two perfect examples of why it’s absolutely better for players to be protected from the media.
Cousins described the constant scrutiny as an element of the AFL landscape that was “counter-productive” to his recovery. For Stokes, a business opportunity fell through after the media brought up a flimsy link between the coffee shop he and teammate James Kelly were interested in and a convicted drug trafficker.
Ultimately, the emotional nature of both their stories showed that having their plight thrashed out in the media is just an extra burden that people in such a position don’t really need.
The sad part is that if it turns out another player has been caught outside the AFL system, the heat will inevitably be put on the AFL’s illicit drugs policy once again.
So there’s a lot at stake for both club and code as the Johnson story plays out.
As for Johnson himself, the Herald Sun is reporting that he faces a lengthy club suspension and – if he is found in possession of the drug and admits to use – a strike against his name.
It will be an interesting to see Freo’s reaction as it all unfolds.