Recreational drugs self reporting

[qldmagpie67]

Watching AFL 360 and Robbo brought up that 2 days prior to the Essendon saga collingwood had 6 players self report for illicit recreational drug use.
Now I vaguely remember this and looking back at AFL records 43 players throughout the competition self reported during that reporting year so why state only 6 collingwood players.
He made the inference that he was going to start a campaign that he AFL needs to tackle the issue head on at club level. Whilst he didn't name collingwood he said he had heard many stories from recently retired players about players using recreational drugs all the time.
Twice he said he wouldn't name the players or the club but he kept mentioning that he had spoken to Eddie a few times recently about the issue since Keefe & Thomas tested positive.
For mine he wanted to say its all at collingwood but he knows the legal ramifications would be extreme.
We don't know the actual source of the positive test for Keefe & Thomas yet but it appears to me he wants to make the drug issue front page news and he wants Keefe & Thomas (and collingwood) the big story.

[thompsoc]

Why worry about rec drugs?
Unless they are performance enhancing - why bother.
The world is awash with drugs from legal to illegal.
But the AFL and clubs like ours must be the moral bastions
of society.
I will tell you a secret - the war on drugs is lost, ask President Nixon
when he got that drug addict Presley down to the White House as an anti
drug champion.
We have a few players whose careers may be over because they took illegal drugs that were not pure - the crim gangs that deal with this crap
don' t care what is in this shit.
The question is;
Are we a football team or a team of saints!
You know on a different thread a poster said one reason
we picked Mason Cox is that Collingwood noticed he held
out a door for a woman.
He had great character which maybe true but i don't care about that, I care
about winning.
Ask Darren Millane about character.
Does character on a football field matter more than off field?
I fear we have got it mixed up.
This is a big question.

[David]

Would certainly make things interesting if Keeffe and Thomas were two of the six players. Was this before the club was notified of the positive test?

[uuuuu..... The LoneSTAR]

[The Prototype]

Robbos article last year indicated that one club had more than 6 players self report more than once, so I am not sure why he's so worried about Collingwood. The league has a drug problem not just Collingwood by the sounds of it, but what can Collingwood do? The club has no idea who they are so they cannot help them, thanks to the AFL's rules.

Yet Robbo managed to proclaim he had AFL player medical records, how'd he get them? Why hasn't he been issued a please explain?

[swoop42]

18 clubs, 43 reports, 6 allegedly from our players.

If accurate that would mean we were over represented and things start to become clearer us to why talk of culture problems have existed for a few seasons now and the problems that Buckley seemingly inherited as coach.

It would go some way also to explain why we weren't able to maintain the same level of sustained success since 2011 unlike the hawks because something was beginning to rot at our core.

Funny how two clubs formerly coached by Malthouse (the problem started at WC when he was at the helm IMO) seem to have developed the biggest problem with illicit drug taking within the playing group.

Thank God we now have a coach who isn't prepared to look the other way and hopefully the club will be the stronger for it going forward.

[ronrat]

Robbo should tell what drugs he is on . Although it it is pretty obvious that none of them are mind expanding, performance enhancing, or weight reducing.

[rand corp]

Young men and women taking recreational drugs is a massive issue in society and our club is right in the mix. Club is I hope doing all it can to educate and discourage it in our lads and I for one wouldn't mind at all if they tested their employees for social drugs

It looks like Keeffe and Thomas ingested it as a cut with another 'social' drug and this will cost them their careers, hope the other players learn and wake up to this harsh reality.

[qldmagpie67]

[burnsy17]

[quote="ronrat"]Robbo should tell what drugs he is on . Although it it is pretty obvious that none of them are mind expanding, performance enhancing, or weight reducing.[/quote

Maybe instead of worrying about players on illicit drugs, Robbo should look a little closer at his own colleagues first and maybe do a little digging around.... Im sure it wont take long to uncover a few interesting Footy TV types partaking in some recreational drugs.

I wonder what will happen if those reporting on it, are being reported about?

Just a thought

[thompsoc]

[Johnny1975]

The idea that recreational drugs are not a concern of clubs is naïve, at best. For one thing, football and its clubs are entwined with society, and society has an increasing problem with particular narcotics. More seriously for mine is the fact that football provides its own dangers to young men. Players are getting paid big money to have a kick of footy, big money which means that they often have no meaningful pursuit in life other than football and hanging out with mates.

This doesn't mean that the AFL needs to take an ultra-punitive approach. Instead, I think it means that the AFL and clubs and the ALFPA need to take some responsibility for the lives and general wellbeing of the young people who play the game, and also (by extension) the people who love the game. A more rigorous drugs policy is a start, but there also needs to be incentives and opportunities for players to do something other than play football and cultivate a media profile. The reality of professional football is warped, and it doesn't surprise me that players sometimes find harmful ways of passing the time.

Just for the record, I don't want a team of Boy Scouts. I appreciate a sharp edge in a footy team as much as the next person, maybe more so, but there's nothing especially hard or individualistic about players who are allowed to develop a drug problem. Perhaps the sky isn't quite falling in relation to illegal drugs in footy, but there should be no question that there is a problem and that the AFL and clubs have a duty of care to respond.

[Culprit]

If the AFL, AFLPA & AFL Clubs were serious it would be zero tolerance. What we have is two sets of rules. No wonder Footballers think they are untouchable. If you get pulled over by a drug bus and test positive the police don't send you on your way and say you get a second chance. You kill someone whilst behind the wheel of your car drug affected you don't get a second chance. If you drive a Semi trailer, Aircraft and test positive there is no second chance. There is no way a footballer should get a second chance. I heard Bartlett on SEN say the young ones should get a second chance. There is enough information and classes provided from TAC upwards about the issue.

[Johnny1975]

[uuuuu..... The LoneSTAR]

Most would agree that education should be a cornerstone of any illicit drug policy for the AFL. This should also incorporate programs to ensure that players have off field options available to them in order to help prevent 'idle hands'! It's very important that each club cater to their own playing group in this regard.

Still, I'm not sure that the AFL should be running their own kangaroo court. There are laws for illegal substances that blanket society.