On February 7, 2013 Bill Pulver said in a press conference: “While being quite proud of our record it would be naïve of the ARU to think [drugs are] not an issue that spans all Australian sports”.
While that press conference was convened to focus more on performance enhancing drugs, it was backed by a report that indicated both performance enhancing and illicit drugs were infiltrating the culture of Australian sport, at many levels.
Karmichael Hunt now faces Southport Magistrates Court on March 5 over four counts of suppling cocaine.
Before I address the main issues I want to get to in this piece, let me say this: people who assumed the ASADA investigations were all that would happen and showed the crime commission report was flawed were short-sighted. Short-sighted because we are trained to be; by our own hubris that we know better, by the short media cycle, by people who got too close to the stars and have protected them.
Now, back on track. Come with me as I play connect the dots.
***
Last time the blackest day in Australian sport was thrust upon us, I wasn’t particularly surprised and neither am I about drugs in sport now. Clyde Rathbone penned a piece for Fairfax this week that was labelled as ‘naïve’ online. But I think we need to stare ourselves in the face over this issue of drugs; don’t blink and go back to the games quite yet. So I defended the article, because the nitty gritty of this single case isn’t the point he, or I, want to make when discussing the culture of sport.
Players being charged with a drug offences was reported as heavily as if our prime minister was about to face another spill. And rightly so, because the public sure was crazy about it. Going about my daily non-sports reporting rounds the Queensland Crime Commission’s work has been brought up at least three times, unprompted, by people I’ve spoken to this week.
But why? Why the surprise? Why the urgency? Why the rush to say this was another example of rugby investing in the “fools gold” of a rugby league talent? What “definitive action” could the ARU take to fix this? They stood Hunt down, stripped his vice-captaincy, they’ve stopped him training with the team – like he’s going to infect someone else with his illicit drug disease. Is anything else likely to fix the atrocity more than waiting for a legal conviction?
***
You’ve played an incredibly violent game, you go out with mates, you feel rubbish, you’re sore, your legs are dead, and you take something to pep you up.
It’s the off season, you haven’t felt the rush of winning in months – the very thing your life is structured around, the one thing you really understand. So you snort a line at a party.
To think a portion of highly-paid young men, with lots of spare time and a career that has extreme highs and lows overlaid with the constant annihilation of their own body, aren’t using illicit drugs recreationally is naïve.
I’m not condoning it, but it’s naïve to think drug-taking wouldn’t happen. I believe sports are a microcosm of society at large. If something happens in the general population, there will be carry over into the sporting population. Drugs are no different. In fact, the heightened nature of the professional sport makes it more like a petri dish – growing bacteria at a faster rate so we can see the results sooner.
Cocaine was – and probably still is – a hugely popular white collar drug. People would ferry it into the buildings of the most powerful bankers and asset managers in the world.
Young highly paid bankers trying to become the masters of the universe, they think they’re the masters of the universe. Now, they want to feel like the masters of the universe, so they sniff a line in a cubicle. They’re still at work and it’s 8pm on a Friday after all, and they do earn a lot of money after all.
Again, I’m not condoning illegal drug taking. Lock em up if they’re caught. But let’s slow down and think.
***
What expectations of sports people are unrealistic?
The notion that athletes are paid well to be role models is a start. Or that players are heroes and the evidence of such is the marketing endorsements provided by large multi-national corporations that bestow some sort of sainthood upon the athlete.
That second one’s pretty easy to debunk, so let’s not kid ourselves; athletes are paid by companies as mules. Mules that take that Suisse multivitamin and dangle it in front of your eyes until you find yourself pulling out the wallet. Mules that keep kicking you with their Adidas boot until you buy one. Mules that film themselves on a Samsung phone so many times you want to film them on that Samsung phone.
Power to them – that’s how the market works, I hope they enjoy the big house with a pool and more walk-in robes than they know what to do with. But it’s a market force, not sainthood.
The first one, about athletes being role models is harder to debunk. And interesting to consider. Here’s what I consider the easiest way to answer that one: the evidence says they aren’t. Simple as that.
Too many athletes aren’t role models in any sense of the word. So they just shouldn’t be considered as such. I know we want them to be role models, badly, deeply. But they aren’t. They are interesting, absolutely, and some of them lead lives worth emulating, but there’s just too much evidence to prove we shouldn’t hold sports people up as role models. We’re setting ourselves up for failure.
This will expose my age, therefore exposing me to ridicule at trying to address some of these issues in my relative youth and inexperience – but one of the first times I wrestled with this problem was when Mark Waugh was caught up in that match-fixing scandal. I loved M Waugh. The languid style. The easy runs. I can still remember being at a school swimming carnival when a teacher talked me through the evidence. Waugh was flawed and I was devastated.
For about two days. Then I realised Ricky Ponting was the future anyway.
Don’t get me wrong, I still fondly remember Mark Waugh’s playing days, and somewhat enjoy his punditry. But even from a younger sports-viewing age, from our outside vantage-point, players are a commodity.
The only way athletes could really be role models is if we somehow knew more about them – which I wish was possible in our sports-media bubble, but somehow just isn’t. But even then if we were truthful we’d be operating in shades of grey, at best.
Some athletes may well be worthy of being role models, but that’s not why they’re paid. They’re paid because they possess a valuable skill.
***
Back to rugby. A while ago I wrote that rugby struggled to guide, promote and maintain superstars, and while I still think that point holds it probably needs to be expanded into a wider philosophy. Rugby’s star problems are a professional athlete reality.
We live in a world where big name athletes are being paid at a younger age and that has accelerated for rugby, a sport which only became openly professional 20 years ago this year. The petri dish has grown, and the results are the same as in every other sport.
Rugby is no longer a sport where doctors, lawyers, university students and generally people that might have once aimed for a knighthood make up the totality of the playing group.
We have more mercenary athletes than ever before. And the game is played to a higher standard for it. But the reality is that young people will get paid lots of money, have lots of free time and spend it finding young-man ways of occupying themselves.
Simon Poidevin, long into retirement, reclines in a leather chair in his Sydney high-rise office while speaking with Bret Harris, but not all players in the game now are on that same trajectory.
David Pocock will probably become prime minister one day, Clyde Rathbone is developing a media presence, and Al Baxter is an architect now. But many of our players didn’t start in the same place rugby players once did, so finishing in the same place will be more difficult.
I don’t say that as some sort of fait accompli either, it’s something that can, and should, be addressed. Rugby needs to manage its superstars better, but it also needs to adjust to the professional sports world better than it has.
***
I know some of these ideas don’t fully line up one after another as easily as some other articles. I’m not smart or articulate enough to distill our culture into a hastily-written weekly column. I’m tired tonight and I’ve gone on too long. I just wanted to get this out there while the time is still right.
Why don’t we chill out for a few hours, ignore the ‘plight’ of professional clubs for a minute and talk about us? What sort of culture do we want? Rest assured, the games will still be there waiting for us to watch this weekend.
Graeme
Guest
KH is being charged as having sold on the coke at a profit, but I'd say it's a case of federal police reaching an absolute bottom. He earns a lot more than them (I'm implying jealousy) and earned enough that any accusation requires a really strong disbelieve of known reality..
Graeme
Guest
Graeme
Guest
Cocaine is complicated. It is a stimulant so it is tested for. When I played in the US I know a few of my team-mates were using it prior to games and at half time. At higher levels I doubt it is ever used as a performance enhancing drug. It is too detectable and not very effective. So it is just a social drug, but one that still has to be tested for in sports. Most sportsmen know this, and don't take the risk. Hunt will be banned from rugby for his stupidity, it's unlikely he can prove it was only used recreationally even though that is probably the case. But I don't think it should be a police matter.
Phil O'Donovan
Guest
I thought we were talking about sport.Clearly you are incable of differentiating.
boo on (ar)u
Guest
Common sense would have been a better descriptor then. I totally agree for the record. If you are interested about this topic as I've mentioned on these threads before read "chasing the scream". It's a brilliant read about the war on drugs. The narrative is captivating. Haris' agenda is pushed fairly heavily near the end, but all of his information is referenced. Regardless of that a perspective other than the one presented by our government and media is always interesting.
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
I'm not very knowledgeable on this but I find it frustrating the point from people "how they've seen the worst" which is not an argument at all. Perfectly legal things have horrific outcomes, it's the likelihood of them occurring which generally sees them made illegal. It doesn't really add anything, when a lot of others comment about worst case scenarios for the sake of it. Of course they haven't seen somebody using drugs and have no impact on anybody else. They're not harming themselves or anybody else so they aren't involved with the medical system or the law.
pjm
Roar Rookie
A drug. Tobacco in powdered form to provide a hit of nicotine through the sinuses.
boo on (ar)u
Guest
Sorry mate. I thought so... Reading other comments of yours on the site I've noticed you seem rather realistic and well informed. As I've already explained I'm slightly invested in this subject matter which makes me more emotive and reactive than it probably warrants.
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
I was agreeing with you.
boo on (ar)u
Guest
Train, Maybe you should read the statement again with a clearer head before calling me stupid. Considering I am basically agreeing with you if you still think I'm stupid then maybe reframe your opinion. I was trying to make a point that the comment above was out of context (Recreation vs Addiction). Whereby the writer addresses drugs and addiction assuming that once a person stops blaming everyone else they are suddenly "fixed". Whilst studies show that trauma and isolation are the two largest indicators for ongoing drug addiction. Social intergration and positive healthy relationships are the greatest indicator of recovery. I wonder how many of these people this person has ever taken the time to listen to before they judge them and dehumanise them as just an addict blaming everyone else. Maybe a little gestalt therapy working on the context of "I, thou, and it" is in order. I also attempted to point out that giving anecdotal evidence in an attempt to support a misleading medical opinion would suggest someone is less than credible. I am not saying anything about seeing the worst. In fact I have seen people go through treatment and have fantastic outcomes. So if anything I have seen the best and love my job. As someone who has worked in hospitals, prisons, community services, and rehabilitation centers. I reserve the right to an informed opinion. One which I will quite happily back with facts and quantitative data rather than anecdotal spin. I apologise if I get passionate regarding this topic. But I am sitting in a clinic in a rehab as I write this. The misinformation that is spread through the media and the ignorance of the public make it extremely hard to petition the government for reform which would be both fiscially and socially responsible. Reading some of the archaic and misinformed opinions on this site makes me frustrated. As I'm sure it would almost anyone in my position.
Elisha Pearce
Expert
Thanks for this comment Gazzatron. Good on you.
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
Stupid comments from people, just like you note. "I work in an industry that forces me to see the worst of things so I know the worst first hand" essentially. Should we ban cars due to horrific accidents? That completely ignores the fact that 99% use these substances without any issues. I'm not even arguing for drugs, decriminalization or defending Hunt. Just sick of ridiculous statements made out of context.
boo on (ar)u
Guest
I would say that as a person who specialises in psychiatry, more specifically drug addiction you are far less informed than you seem to believe. Addiction is a multi faceted and complex issue, the aetiology of which can vary from individual to individual. There are some circumstances such as childhood trauma which can be linked to the condition at the same rates as obesity is linked to heart disease. What we are not talking about here is an addict, but rather someone who obviously likes (as roughly one fith of Australians do... higher if you believe alcohol is a drug) to indulge in a substance responsibly on their time off. Is it stupid of them in their positions. Yes. Should everyone be on their high horses... Probably not. What is ridiculous is the drug laws that the US has imposed upon the rest of the world. Laws that are proven to not benefit anyone and in fact exacerbate drug use are imposed upon us when we should be smarter than this. What a total waste of money and resources. "I am a healthcare worker and I see the bad stuff that happens from drugs". Most hospital workers would barely recognise an addict. In fact how many people are even asked how much they drink before they wait for 5 days and go into withdrawal? What most hospital workers see is the byproduct of a predisposed mental health condition exacerbated by stimulant use. Or even more frequently violence, accidents, and sexual assaults as a result of alcohol abuse. Which by the way is legal. We could also talk about the burden of illness around diabetes, liver damage, pancreatitis, malnutrition, or any other number of health problems caused by excessive alcohol use. Tell me again how many people here think that's ok. Because it's legal.
The Battered Slav
Guest
OK. Players are off limits for satire. Got it. What a world we live in.
Perry Bridge
Guest
The time frame of Sep 1 to Oct 3 is a limbo period for Hunt. Technically he was 100% finished at the Suns but he was in reality. It was Aug 28 there abouts that he announced he was finished and the QRU immediately unveiled him as full back for the Reds. So - clearly he'd been in discussion with the Reds for a little while at least before the announcement. I'd think we give him some benefit to suggest that any such drug use would only be post season. Now the moral question of drug use for example in private post season is far different to the integrity of sport concerns raised 2 years ago - that relate to the 'shady characters' that players might fall in with - and then be left vulnerable to sports betting related extorton.
Perry Bridge
Guest
#Martin English - Wendell Sailor was a match day WADA testing violation. All the codes have been 'WADA compliant for some time'. Well, actually that depends on how much soccer follows FIFA as FIFA for most of the 2000s was not fully compliant (try intergoogling "WADA FIFA compliant olympics" and check out the history). Sailor was detected in the ONLY testing the ARU was subjected to - the WADA testing. At the time, some comments didn't help people understand the AFL situation when some people suggested had it happened in the AFL that he'd have been given support etc and no one would know. This was false - if we're talking about match day WADA testing. That applies the same in the AFL. The ARU had no additional testing until 2014 - i.e. no separate illicit drugs policy testing. Although the media messages at the time were so confused that many people were mislead. Sadly anyone tuning into breakfast TV or radio was getting the wrong message. And if something is reported to be true enough - people tend to believe it. Sadly this whole topic over the last 10 years has been so sloppily handled by the Australian media as to pretty well bust any faith I might have had in our media outlets.
GJ of brisbane
Guest
I have not read Clyde Rathbone's article. My comments were based on the thirty years I have spent working in Healthcare and daily dealings with the issues of substance abuse, to both the individual and the people around them. Guess what? It is never the fault of the person taking the pharmaceuticals. And they never stop until they realise they are the only person who is responsible. The underlying tenet for these situations is to convince these people that their actions are their actions, they have consequences thar not only effect them, but those around them too. The narrative, that is perpetrated even in this thread, is that somehow it is understandable based on the pressures they are under. They are young, they live in the limelight, they train hard, they have free time, they lack role models. Even as we condemn them, we give them excuses. How many times do you think I have heard the argument that a drug is safe, and that it is only the government control that makes it wrong? Usually this is offered from a hospital bed from a person with a confused look on their face.
RaymondReddington
Roar Rookie
Nice article , I have mentioned the following during the "......affair" (I wont bring up his name again as the forum gets wound up by haters .....) My comment to my children ...".don't worship sports stars or any other public figures but feel free to admire them and realise that they are human and are capable of making stupid and sometimes horrible mistakes " . And the old catchcry used by the ARL of bringing the game into disrepute makes me shudder every time I hear it ...".holier than thou" ethos in sports administration just isn't that a priority in these challenging times domestically and abroad .
Harry Jones
Expert
Telegraph: French rugby is bracing for further allegations of systematic doping after extracts published on Tuesday claimed that several of the France team who beat New Zealand in the famous 'Battle of Nantes’ in 1986 were high on amphetamines. There are other serious allegations of doping across the next couple of decades. More revelations are expected on Wednesday when fuller extracts appear in the French weekly magazine L’Express, which has the rights to Rugby a Charges, l’enquête choc, a difficult title to translate as there is a play on words of charges meaning loaded (with drugs), as well as a charge levelled against the sport. It is written by the highly regarded investigative journalist Pierre Ballester, who co-wrote L.A. Confidentiel in 2004 with David Walsh, the book that first opened the eyes of the sporting world to the drug activities of Lance Armstrong. Ballester has many sound contacts in French anti-doping agencies. He has enlisted the support of several medical specialists and called witness from key figures such as Jacques Mombet, who was the France team’s doctor from 1975-95 and who spent 15 years prior to that at Agen.
RobC
Roar Guru
i love moong dal