Mick Malthouse wants to help ensure that the Essendon anti-doping bans don’t prematurely end AFL playing careers.
The three-time premiership coach has a plan to coach the banned current and former Bombers through their season out of the game.
It is understood Malthouse’s long-time fitness offsider David Buttifant has contacted the AFL players association about the idea.
The banned players, found guilty of anti-doping violations in 2012, will miss the entire 2016 season and aren’t allowed to train at their clubs.
Of the 34 banned players, 12 are still at Essendon and five are at other AFL clubs.
They cannot interact with coaches, fitness staff or anyone involved with clubs and have severe restrictions on who they can train with and where they can do it.
Malthouse, who was sacked by Carlton last year, says he has a solution.
As a highly-regarded coach outside the AFL system, Malthouse is a clean candidate to mentor any banned players that want his guidance.
On Monday he pointed to Ahmed Saad as an example of what happens when a player is banned from the AFL system.
Saad was banned for 18 months after consuming a banned energy drink.
While he was re-drafted and returned to play four games last year for St Kilda, Malthouse said the ban effectively ended his career.
The Saints delisted Saad at the end of last season.
“He trained by himself … I think the isolation had a massive affect on his ability to pick up the game again and get back into the game,” he said.
“The penalty was almost a lifetime AFL penalty, he just didn’t cope.”
Malthouse said he and Buttifant have custom-designed a program to ensure the suspended footballers can hit the ground running when their bans expire.
“It can happen if you get the right people in place,” Malthouse told Melbourne radio station SEN.
Malthouse – who has coached more games of VFL/AFL football than anyone else – said he needed approval from a range of stakeholders to get the go-ahead.
“It has to be a gathering of people from the PA, Essendon if they’re allowed to, player-managers and players,” he said.
“The (players) need to study, they need to be involved with the community, they need to keep up with the game, they certainly need to train.
“(Buttifant and I have) got enough connections where we can actually help these lads through the next seven or eight months.
“The proposal is to get them to a position whereby September, maybe late August depending on where Essendon see it … they’re in a good mental state (and) they’ve had a good physical preparation.”
Dok
Roar Rookie
Sam Lane maybe ?, maybe she has inherited all the moral outrage and righteousness from her father Tim who refused to commentate footy with Eddie because of his principles :)
mattyb
Guest
Ha ha...I'm sure the ladies do Don :)
Anthony
Guest
Or could it be... Triple M's mysterious Sarah!
Mike
Guest
if the legal path is taken, the Essendon boys are gone ,they have injected substances into their bodies without knowing fully what the substance is and it happened to be on the not approved list, the bigger picture here is All Sports that receive any govt funding(this includes the AFL) sign up to all the ADA,s and once this happens the AFL and Essendon are bound by the rules that the ADA,s are governed by, so if the poorly funded athlete and lets say a talented high jumper who has made the Olympic team from back of woop woop takes a drink given to him by his coach without knowing what is in the drink ,he gets tested and it may be positive ,I repeat may be positive ,guess what the athlete is not on the plane to the Olympics -unfair yes -but they are the rules we play by. Essendon and its staff which includes the players have bought the game into disrepute -I for one will return to the local comp and turn off the AFL and especially Essendon -boo they are on the nose
Samantha
Roar Rookie
Wrong. WADA is the World Anti-Doping Agency.
Dok
Roar Rookie
No positive tests, no whistleblower, no admissions of guilt and no proof of TB4 on site A ridiculously low level of proof needed.
rtp
Guest
38 AFL players have had their reputations and careers ruined in the past few years. Not a single one of those could be reasonably be described (except by the professionally sanctimonious) as drug cheats. The anti-doping regime is a catastrophe. Expensive, arbitrary and leads to one miscarriage of justice after another.
Don Freo
Guest
I do. As a moral upstanding man. The only problem is that I think the ladies keep talking only about the upstanding part. I think that Samantha actually IS Andyl12.
Dok
Roar Rookie
Her MUM !, Don may have quite the reputation with the ladies.
mattyb
Guest
Didn't Samantha come from the recommendation of her friend that warned her all about you Don? Did you find out who the friend who warned her all about you was? :)
Dok
Roar Rookie
I would agree it was the most ridiculous ban i have ever heard about, don't mention it on the HTB board on BF, there is a large collection of nutters who thought he should have got more, that place is full of high and mighty moralising hypocrites.
Mister Football
Roar Guru
It's actually a good point he makes about Saad. He drinks a milkshake provided by the club's sponsor, it contains a trace element of a substance that is only banned on days of competition - and he's out for 18 months. I mean if that isn't the stupidest, most disproportionate thing you have ever heard of in the history of sport, I'm not sure what is. He's out of the game for 18 months, on his own, and unsurprisingly, finds it hard to get back into the AFL system at the end of the ban, for what exactly? What's the great sin that warrants the ending of his career?
Graeme
Guest
AWADA is the WORLD doping Agency.
Graeme
Guest
Yes Dank Knows BUT would not testify. I thought that was classed as contempt of court. Why wasn't he made to testify and tell the truth. I smell ANOTHER Rat here.
Mike
Guest
The players have taken substances and the Club have supplied the substances yet no one is unable to confirm 100% what the substances were ,Mr Dank knows what the substances were but he will not tell anyone what they were ,other than continuing to say that all substances were legal at some stage in the past .Ok ,maybe Lance should try this defence and continue to clear his name and then sue all necessary parties.
Samantha
Roar Rookie
*pats the kid on the head* Feel better now after typing all those capital letters? TB4 was banned. ASADA didn't find them innocent (in fact no one has), however the AFL tribunal (appointed by the AFL to get the outcome the AFL wanted) found ASADA did not meet the required burden of proof. No idea what an AWADA is but if you mean they were found guilty by CAS, then yes you are correct. Never heard of an appeals court? Happens all the time around the world.
Dok
Roar Rookie
After Collingwood he should have retired, very lucky to snag a flag at the Pies.
mattyb
Guest
Points all to easily forgotten by the rabble you speak of Slane,and certainly something not respected.
Slane
Guest
He won a premiership in 2010 got his team to the big dance in 2011 and took the coaching job at Carlton in 2013. When should he have retired? Was it before he moved over to the Blues and got embroiled with that rabble or should he have retired before he won his last flag?
Graeme
Guest
If you read ALL the details. The substance was NOT banned in 2012. So they are NOT drug cheats. The AFL set this up for some reason to get Essendon. And by the way how can ASADA find them NOT GUILTY but then AWADA Guilty. Ask the AFL, i smell a RAT here. If you go to ONE court on a MURDER Charge and that court finds you NOT GUILTY. Then ANOTHER court can NOT charge you with the same crime. SIMPLE.