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We saw it with Essendon. The long, drawn-out drugs saga or supplements program as it’s now widely known.
We saw the toll it took on the playing group, both physically and emotionally. We watched on as the Essendon players were gradually worn down.
The outside pressure was a lot to bear. The media were all over it. It took its toll.
Since the off-season illicit drug results were leaked, Collingwood’s thought-to-be promising 2016 season has taken a nosedive.
Eleven Magpies players returned positive hair tests for illicit drugs over the summer. The timing of the public announcement, with these explosive headlines splashed across all media outlets, right before the home-and-away season began, the timing could not have been worse.
An encouraging NAB Challenge series gave the footy world a glimmer of what Collingwood might be able to offer this year. They looked “on,” fit and full of confidence. Right now, they’re an entirely different team.
The Magpies weren’t the only club with positive drug results. However, they were the club who’d sell papers. The headlines linked Collingwood to an illicit drug scandal and the other offending clubs remained footnotes.
Right or wrong, Collingwood took the heat for all of them.
The controversial story broke just two days before Round 1. An 81-point loss to Sydney was inevitable.
Aussie rules, or any sport for that matter, is as much about psychological preparation as it is physical. There was no escaping the outside pressure. The smear-campaign got to Collingwood.
These recent positive off-season drug tests are for research purposes only. There’ll be no strike against the offending players. However, the immeasurable impact a scandal of this magnitude has on a playing group as a whole may be the one piece of the puzzle that can explain why the Magpies are still struggling.
Have the illicit drugs headlines affected Collingwood’s on-field performance?
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