Eagle exposes club's former drug culture

Why has this story got no more legs? The HS sat on it for two weeks and released it during GF week and since then barely another word has been spoken. This professor says it's an East-coast conspiracy but I didn't see the HS run his story, nor he Eagles. http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/daniel-chick-drug-claims-eastern-states-conspiracy-aimed-at-hurting-eagles-20151001-gjzevc.html

It more a case of Gangland wannabe types associating with footvallers.

You'd have to ask him as I wouldn't know. I'd be speculating. I do know that drugs kills brain cells and that they are the never the same person afterwards. They can go on to lead happy and healthy lives but their minds aren't as sharp as they used to be. Please explain why Chick has more credibility than Judd.

It's an opinion, somewhat informed. When your club gets this type of treatment maybe you'd understand

Plenty is an exaggeration, where did you get that from? How many is plenty btw? The police warning to the club was and is well documented. It's on Wikipedia. There are players from other clubs to this day that associate with gangland figures, that's not new. It's unsavoury and asking for trouble but some do it. The difference in this case is that the captain had a brain disease that manifested itself in drug addiction. It is a disease, let's put that on the table. A handful went too far down the dark side with him, a couple more took now and again, possibly monthly but the vast majority of the group were terrific. A team of recreational drug addicts cannot make GF's. If a family member of mine had an addiction I wouldn't kick them out on the street and abandon them. That's the last thing you would do. The club warned them and started turning the list and culture over and began addressing the problem. Do you really think the club totally ignored the police warning? Maybe they didn't do enough and in hindsight it all seems so obvious and fair to do so but unless you're there with the knowledge they had at the time you can't really judge. They stuck with Cuz a little longer for a number of reasons. He was the captain and a great player, they liked him and remembered him sober and as a young kid, they wanted to help him, he gave the club so much and they were giving back and probably many more. This year I've heard a lot of talk about clubs being the best environment for a player to be around. It's a case of damned if you do and damned if you don't. If the players were cut loose and they spiralled out of control the criticism would have come from drug support groups, they happen to know a thing or two about addiction. An addict needs love, understanding and support. If the behaviour doesn't improve over time and boundaries continue to be broken a line must be drawn in the sand. Otherwise you're just enabling the behaviour. Here's the Wiki. "In May 2005, Gardiner and then West Coast team mate Ben Cousins were criticised for involvement with a group of alleged Perth underworld figures. Cousins and Gardiner allegedly received phone calls from gangland figures both before and after a stabbing and shooting at the Metro City nightclub.[5] Police questioned Cousins and Gardiner about the incident but they refused to aid the inquiries.[6] The Eagles told the pair that they were on their "last warning" and that their off field behaviour would not be tolerated.[7] Gardiner's off field lifestyle was often seen as detrimental to the West Coast playing group and, in February 2006, in the midst of the Ben Cousins booze bus incident, he was dropped to the Western Australian Football League side Claremont indefinitely on grounds of poor performance and poor off field behaviour.[8] On 18 July 2006, Gardiner's playing contract was suspended indefinitely and he was fined $5,000[9] following his involvement in a traffic accident in the Perth suburb of Scarborough. While he escaped the accident with only minor injuries, West Coast Eagles chief executive Trevor Nisbett said that it was highly unlikely the club would renew his contract at the end of the year.[9] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Gardiner

No doubt the claims made by Chick need to be investigated by the AFL. I'm just not a fan of the timing of the article. To publish this piece just days before the grand final was appalling, regardless of the validity of Chick's claims.

So why would Chick self-incriminate? And are we forgetting all teh pork pies that Chicken Wing Judd sold over the years too?

if you are west australian the you knew all abou this for years - cousins and (then) gardiner warned about associations by cops - cops told west coast seagulls about players investigated for drug use - rife pd and steroid use - gangster associates of the club plenty of players and ex players with habits Tainted flag - I wrote that in 06 and I am writing it now!

That's interesting. Can you recall who broke the story?

Yes, and it's a good one. Ever heard of 'innocent until proven guilty'? We could go on all day like this but I'd rather not. I also look at the 28 year career and the body of his work in that time. A number of very respected names in football have given him big raps. He helped the Crows when they needed him. He played a major role in building WC into the club that it is today. Some people just like to sling mud or try to take him down or discredit him but most of us can see past that.

And you know this how? If anyone disagrees with your ‘unsubstantiated’ opinions or views you sure like to tell them their wrong don’t you?

Have you heard the saying, ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’?

They won't get enough evidence because there isn't any.

Mainwaring had retired by then. It's well known that Mainy liked to party as did most of the players from any team in the 90's, it was just the way that it was back then (eg North). Mainy famously played a few poor games and Malthouse asked him why his form had dropped away and if anything had changed. Mainy said that he'd stopped drinking. Malthouse told him to start drinking again. That was a critical moment. Mainy needed help while he was trying to live a better lifestyle but his coach told him to drink which clearly wasn't a good decision. Malthouse's decision set the precednet for allowing players to get away with things off the field. That's where it started culturally, the legendary MM said it was ok so it must be ok. So long as you performed on the field nothing else mattered and MM endorsed the policy. That was a mistake no question and that's where the culture was compromised and it snowballed from there. Mainy and Cuz became very close friends, both surfers, both Freo boys and both loved to party. It was a friendship that wouldn't do either of them any favours. Cuz became the captain and a few players joined his little clique. Fletcher dabbled, he wasn't addicted.

What about Chris Mainwarring?

Judd is a self-confessed introvert (Open Mike interview). WC run personality tests as does every club I'd imagine. Cuz has always been an extrovert and he had worked harder than Judd as he had been there from the start of the rebuild and had been through the tough times and you could see that he was letting off steam and the flag simply meant more to him. Cuz was still the spiritual leader and I think Judd was a little reluctant accepting the trophy which was why Cuz was called up to the dias before the other players. He'd lost the captaincy the year before and my take is that he was excited and 'sticking it up them'. Cuz is an excitable guy, always has been. This quote from Chick isn't getting much oxygen. “I don’t think the premiership is tainted but it came at too high a price.” said Chick. Why isn't that Chick quote on the front page of the HS? Embley on SEN "When I first came to the football club, I heard the rumours and innuendo — like everyone else — about certain players at our football club. The only thing a club can actually do is sit down with its players — which I know happened a lot of the time — and look them in the eye and just say ‘these rumours are continuing to come up about you, what have you got to say for yourself’? I know for a fact that certain players looked ‘Woosha’ in the eye and said ‘listen they’re just rumours’. “I know when the club finally found out towards the end of 2006 when a particular player actually opened up to the football club, from that the club, in my opinion, had a full appreciation of some of the issues that was certainly happening with one particular player and from that that’s when it all came to a head." Embley punched Chick in the head at his home in 2007 due to Chick's behaviour and he's still upset about being cut loose. Chick is a bitter boy since WC delisted him in 2007. He has had little contact with the playing group since that day. This was payback more than anything. I noticed that Chick said 'a club official' assisted players. Firstly that means one person, secondly I'd like him to name that person and lets see where that leads us. There might be a little more dirt to come out but nowhere close to what News Corp is alluding to. How can they call themselves journalists? They are fictional writers with some facts interspersed into their narrative. One of those 'based on a true story' pieces. Poetic license gone mad that's what it is.

The AFL will "allegedly" make ALL of this go away if it turns out to be a problem for them. NO ifs, no buts or maybe's.

Good call Jax Chad Fletcher comes to mind as the 4th player that was on drugs apart from that I haven't heard anything about the others. Its ironic that Woosha has been brought into this just before it is announced he is coach of Essendon. someone really doesn't want him coaching the Bombers. Was Chick trying to warn them? Its stupid, Essendon have got a very good coach.

This stinks, it really does. What I find interesting is that not even two days previous Judd spoke about it saying almost the exact opposite that the public perception of what went on at the Eagles was over blown. Here is the article for those interested. http://m.afl.com.au/news/2015-10-01/public-perception-of-eagles-drug-use-overblown-says-judd.mobileapp What it comes down to me is do I believe a convicted drug dealer or do I believe an absolute champion of our game, easy distinction for me.

Same happened last year with Sydney's trade ban released in the week before the granny. At least with Stevic in we know the AFL are fair dinkum about the umpires ;(