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?
Michelle Vogel
Roar Pro
Agreed, "Forest Gimp," media pressure was constant on Essendon. Much, much harder. The immediate media/public scrutiny came for Collingwood and it's died down some now, however, the fallout within the club and amongst players could have a ripple effect for some time.
Michelle Vogel
Roar Pro
Think internal now, Paul. Within the confines of the club. How would you feel if half your workplace betrayed your trust and because of that, you're scrutinized? Publicly, no players have been named. It could be you. Even if it's not, the speculation is there and you're pissed at your co-workers for putting you in that rotten position. Your reputation is dragged through the mud by association. All players are possible drug takers because there's no list to tell us exactly who the offending players were. When you play as a team and those cracks have surfaced, the on-field performance suffers. It has to.
Michelle Vogel
Roar Pro
Apparently, that was the number that it came down to, "Aransan." The point of my article is exactly what you wrote. Collingwood were NOT the only club with positive results. They weren't even the club with the highest results. However, they were the club that would sell papers, hence the headlines being about them. That aside, these guys are the best of the best. Elite athletes who have the most advanced facilities and training opportunities to keep themselves healthy and in prime shape. To think any of them would take an illicit drug, at any time, is so abstract to my way of thinking. One of those pills could kill. One of those pills coule jeopardise your entire playing career. The negative consequences are massive. If we're not smarter about educating EVERYONE on this topic, it's only a matter of time before we'll see headlines of a player dead in the off season from an overdose and/or bad reaction to an illicit substance. If this party-mentality is the general mindset of the players when they're released from playing/training duties, THAT, "Aransan" is the headline in our future. I hope we never see it, but this drug problem seems to be much, much bigger than any of us imagined.
Michelle Vogel
Roar Pro
Eddie was genuinely riled up about it when Jon Ralph wanted to discuss it live when it first happened. I doubt he leaked it. Love him or hate him, he's too protective to throw the entire club under the bus like that. Besides, he can't escape the backlash because he's also in the media, so questions get asked and he's put on the spot to answer them. There's always a snitch somewhere though. Grease the wallet and the info flows ;)
Forest Gimp
Guest
The contrast between immediate effects on performance between pies this season and bombers in seasons '13 and '14 is worthy of consideration. The scrutiny and pressure for the dons was much more intense and unrelenting. However the players were largely seen as unwitting participants in a club/coach /dank offence of monumental proportions. It brought them together under siege (at least for the start of the seasons) The pies controversy is somewhat more divisive. Straight laced players would take a dim view of team mates getting high and bringing the spotlight on all for the wrong reasons. Animosity, distrust, contempt can get legs very quickly in such circumstances. Pure speculation on my part though, I hadn't thought about comparison of the 2 clubs drug issues until the author did, albeit in a superficial way.
mattyb
Guest
It's an interesting question. I've wondered where the leak might have come from and wondered about Gary Pert or even Eddie. Pert seems to have a lot to say about these issues and if he was dobbing players into the media they might not be overly impressed and that could effect their performance.
Paul
Guest
You surly cannot compare the two. As Aransan points out one is a hypothetical the other reality. Essendon preformed very well immediately after the press conference - remember the win in Perth for example but the players, coach ( media scrum at door of house each day) and constant speculation and media leaks of the confidential process. Cannot recall much of that at Collingwood
Aransan
Guest
How do you know eleven Collingwood players returned positive hair tests? I doubt if the results from any club would have been much different from what would have resulted from a test of a random group of young people of similar age. We seem to get these continual leaks of confidential information from the AFL. These tests have got nothing to do with ASADA/WADA and have only been done with the agreement of the players. The simple solution would be for the players to withdraw from this testing.