With the recent revelations that drug use is rife at the Gold Coast Suns, this poses many questions, but also answers others. Unfortunately for the AFL the answers aren’t what they were hoping for.
How can a team heading for finals before their captain suffers a season-ending shoulder injury drop off so far, and so quickly?
A player divide, and with it trust issues, would fit the explanation perfectly. The so called God Squad, a group of players who like to pray before each game, and another group of players who party hard are polar opposites, and with the amount of time players spend together, this was likely to bring unbalance without firm rules.
We now know there either weren’t firm rules or they weren’t firmly enforced.
This divide could also be an explanation for Gary Ablett’s decision not to rush back after his injury this year. The highest paid player and the captain of the football club should be setting an example. But with all these issues that he no doubt knew about he wouldn’t know how to handle all this.
Not even the AFL know how to handle this. Their ‘golden child’ is slowly imploding and it will have long lasting results.
With over a quarter the playing list being implicated in this drug saga, it can’t change overnight. The club must make a stand. They need to start setting new standards and issuing tougher sanctions to players not toeing the line.
It is looking increasing likely that Harley Bennell will be either delisted or traded, while most clubs will be hesitant to take him on. A number two pick who shows so much potential but struggles with the demands of senior AFL football.
With drug culture in the AFL gaining publicity more often, the dangerous combination of that, along with a contact sport and the unavoidable head knocks and impact, can end very badly.
Mental health issues are already on the rise, and recent studies showing that there is a higher instance of mental health issues in people who have had numerous concussions. Combine this with drug and alcohol abuse and the combination could be a deadly one, maybe not immediately but history tells us that players are at most risk when they retire.
That thought must scare the hell out of parents, some of whom will see their kids end up at the Gold Coast Suns next year. The Suns will need to meet with parents beforehand, and reassure the family that this is something that is being stamped out.
Now I’m not naïve to think that drugs don’t exist at any other club, but when a club’s professionalism is questioned by players and players are asking to be traded halfway through a season, it’s clear it’s not a happy environment.
With more than $100 million invested by the AFL, they can’t afford to see this club go down, and with a battle against rugby and football to be the premier football code in Australia, these controversies can’t be helping.
The AFL and Gillon McLachlan have done some good things so far, but how they handle this will be critical. With Essendon’s supplement scandal already hanging over the AFL’s head, this will surely be the catalyst to introduce a new illicit drugs policy that should not just protect the player from the media spotlight but to protect them from serious physical and mental harm.
The AFL are now on their second strike, they definitely do not want a third or they will be named and shamed across all Australian media even more than they already are.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
"the AFL is the only sporting organisation that does its own testing outside of season ..." I have to chuckle whenever I read that gem What's the point of all the testing when the testing clearly either: a) fails to identify anyone taking drugs, b) identifies the drug user but nothing is done? It seems the majority of WC Eagles were high as a kite when they were playing Grand Finals, but the AFL never knew? Chris Mainwairing, Chad Fletcher, Ben Cousns, Daniel Kerr.. not 1 positive drug test? You don't even need fancy drug testing - just look for white powder around AFL players' noses when they emerge from the men's room.
mattyb
Guest
Bomb78 get back to the office you complete and utter goose.
joe b
Guest
Would that make Hunt, Judas? he took the silver, and dobbed in his mates.
Bee bee
Guest
I find it hilarious that a team captained by the son of god has a god squad. Lets hope Gary Junior doesn't end up crucified.
SM
Guest
I had to check to see if that's for real! That's funny
no one in particular
Roar Guru
Out: Harley Bennell (Wellbeing) Oh AFL, you crack me up
TomC
Roar Guru
You are completely full of it. I just don't believe a word you say.
Bomb78
Guest
Understanding the issues? I have fired someone before for illegal drug use. It wasn't something I enjoyed, but I wasn't going to carry them in the workplace, and I didn't expect the other staff to do it either. I also was not prepared to accept the risk their illegal drug use would reflect on our business. My team was stronger for it. They knew the expectations, and they also knew that the management took them seriously. I've also been part of a family that has nursed one of our own back from the brink of a heroin addiction. It's a horrible, dark place. There are many roads that lead there, but regardless of the level of support you have only some level of personal responsibility for your own actions can lead you out. So, the Suns, like all other professional sports organisations, are paying serious money for a player to be at peak physical condition. They monitor each step a player takes, the amount of water they drink, and the food they eat. A player who doesn’t put in at training, or binges on fatty food in the off season, or who generally doesn’t live up to the expectations in terms of performance and attitude will sooner or later get cut. At the Suns, the expectations include staying away from alcohol. To their credit, they have taken a firm stance on this. The important aim from banning Bennell, McKenzie and Matera earlier this year wasn’t the alcohol, but the discipline that is required to create a strong performing team. The contradiction is that doing a line of speed – both much worse for your body and the image of your employer – gets treated as an personal issue, and unless you get caught out three times, no sanction, no black mark, no public knowledge. Responsibility is a two way street. Unless there is a good explanation for what has transpired in the media, I would fire Bennell. If compelling evidence comes to hand that there were others in the Suns doing the same, I would fire them too. You want to be paid to play football? These are the rules. Everyone will follow them, and they are non-negotiable. Don’t like the rules? Don’t like being responsible for you own actions? Don’t want to lead a disciplined life, and make the sacrifices required to be a pro? Go play somewhere else.
AR
Guest
There's no additional temptation or culture of recreational drugs that exists specifically on the Gold Coast, big J, that doesn't exist in Melbourne or Sydney or anywhere else. It's simply a matter of young kids, cashed up, oodles of spare time, treated like B-grade celebs, can't drink, think they won't get caught. It's not a surprise at all that some fall into it.
AR
Guest
I agree with that joe, particularly on Brown and Hunt. It's become screamingly clear that neither were positive influences on junior players at the Suns.
Jonesy
Guest
Jackso, you sir, are a crazy person. All the people you mentioned? Their contracts, combined (X4), wouldn't add up to either of these NRL converts' wages. Like it, or not, these signings put A LOT of QLDers off AFL. Gimmicks the pair of them. PS- Can't wait to see Israel star at the Rugby WC.
big J
Guest
It is no surprise that the Gold Coast are getting in the news for all the wrong reasons. It si the environment that they live in the advantage of bad tempation might good unnoticed as they are probably not that well recongnised on the coast. I have said this before that the suns need to realy have alook at thier own roster and sort out who is the one behind the supply.
Jonesy
Guest
Apologies on the confusion. Israel is in NO way associated with drugs of any kind. However, he, like Karma, we're both AFL gimmicks.
TomC
Roar Guru
Hear hear, AR. Although I'm not sure about half of young men taking recreational drugs regularly. I reckon most recreational drug users are ad hoc and opportunistic, rather than actively seeking out drugs each weekend. Happy to be corrected though. I think we both agree that organisations like the AFL and the Gold Coast Football Club have a role in making sure cultures and networks of drug taking don't develop in their backyards, but their responsibility and indeed their power is limited.
joe b
Guest
The Suns will support Bennell, it would look very ordinary to just cut him loose. Furthermore, the Suns have a duty of care…they recruited him at a young impressionable age, moved him from his support network, and then exposed him to a mature p*$$head in Brown, and roomed him the prized mature leader in Hunt who we now know to be a frequent illicit drug taker. It does indicate that Ablett is not a leader off the field…and that begs the question, if he can’t show leadership off the field to all players, does this part explain why the Suns struggle on the field? I agree the AFL has shown over many years that they have been progressive in their addressing of social issues that affect players.
joe b
Guest
Yeah, I thought it was a bit of a confusing statement... must have meant League and Soccer. Why someone would call soccer 'football' on the Australian Football League tab, is either being mischievous or is labouring under a warped sense of political appeasement. Furthermore, rugby (rugby-union) is in no way challenging to be top of the football codes. League (rugby-league) is the football code that proves that no matter what, or how many, controversies surround your code/club, you will always bounce back... only broke clubs fade away.
Jackso
Guest
Gimmicky - like the RL signing retired AFL West Coast player Adrian Barich or Newtown signing that NFL player or Jeff Fenech playing reserve grade for Parramatta or Darren Clark lobbing straight into first grade in a RL trial or drug cheat Dwayne Chambers playing in England
AR
Guest
Recreational drug use in Australia is inordinately high, some of the highest usage anywhere in the world. If we took a sample of 45 young men aged between 18-30, anywhere in Australia, a handful of them (maybe even half) would take recreational drugs regularly on weekends. Some of the more ludicrous reactions I've seen to this story include: - the AFL, specifically, has a recreational drugs problem; - the Suns are to blame for their players' behaviour; and - this sort of problem is typical of the Gold Coast lifestyle, hence why sports clubs there struggle. Recreational drug use is a broad social issue - an issue that is potentially enhanced when those 45 young men (a) are paid huge sums of money; (b) invariably have lots of spare time; and (c) are more exposed to the "glamorous lifestyle" often associated with professional sport. I'm not excusing the players whatsoever - they're idiots; nor am I absolving the club of its duty of care; but I am curious as to the agenda of those who shreik "Look! The AFL is at it again - they'll sweep it under the carpet again!"...blah. blah. blah. The irony of course, is that despite the apparent flaw in its policy, the AFL is the only sporting organisation that does its own testing outside of season (on top of the ASADA season testing) and actually publishes the results of that testing. No other body does this, yetv the AFL is apparrently the carpet sweeper. Go figure.
TomC
Roar Guru
'Recreational' and 'performance-enhancing' drugs are both illegal, but the issues around them and why they're taken are quite different. Conflating them by referring to illegal drugs makes it harder to deal with the issues, and only benefits those with simple minds who can't be bothered understanding the issues. Like those who believe everyone who uses recreational drugs should be fired. That sort of person.
TomC
Roar Guru
There's a strong temptation to tie the off-field drugs issue in with the on-field problems the Suns are having, but this should be resisted. For one thing, the photos that have prompted this article date from 2013, or before the Suns’ exciting run in early 2014 and before Bennell was playing his absolute best footy. There’s absolutely no reason to think that their drop off in form – which is overstated to begin with – has anything to do with drugs. The other club most strongly associated with recreational drug use are the West Coast Eagles of ten years ago, one of the most successful teams of the time. No doubt there are a multitude of issues at Gold Coast, and I agree that the AFL has a duty of care to make sure young men aren’t put in a potentially harmful environment, but it would be a mistake to impose draconian rules on AFL players, such as a zero tolerance approach to recreational drug use, in response to the assertions of a player who was only briefly on Gold Coast’s lists and a picture from two years ago.