Demons Drug Crisis - Why not the same scrutiny as West Coast?

[Philhawk]

For those old enough on this board to remember, the West Coast drug crisis of the mid 2000s was all that anyone spoke about when referring to that champion team, from Chad Fletcher

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“flat lining in Vegas”, to Cousins being found drunk outside the Convention Centre and many more incidents.

The Melbourne footy media subsequently engaged in a brutal war against the club, questioning their success among a number of other accusations implied.

On the back of Joel Smith being arrested now for drug trafficking - a far more serious crime than any of the above, why on earth isn’t the same level of scrutiny being launched against the Demons?

For starters, I’m not saying the moronic insinuations that the media laid against West Coast regarding stripping flags or anything to that extend should be applied whatsoever, but blind Freddy can see there’s a serious drug problem embedded in that club between the Smith story and a bunch of others over the past few years which I won’t name.

When are heads going to finally roll to fix the mess at that club?

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

I reckon the trafficking charge is overreach.

A guy offering to get a baggy for a mate is technically trafficking, and while it’s obviously against the law I just can’t give a * when it’s something that hundreds of thousands of professionals are doing weekly in this day and age, when organizing social occasions with friends.

 

[owen87]

For those old enough on this board to remember, the West Coast drug crisis of the mid 2000s was all that anyone spoke about when referring to that champion team, from Chad Fletcher “flat lining in Vegas”, to Cousins being found drunk outside the Convention Centre and many more incidents.

The Melbourne footy media subsequently engaged in a brutal war against the club, questioning their success among a number of other accusations implied.

On the back of Joel Smith being arrested now for drug trafficking - a far more serious crime than any of the above, why on earth isn’t the same level of scrutiny being launched against the Demons?

For starters, I’m not saying the moronic insinuations that the media laid against West Coast regarding stripping flags or anything to that extend should be applied whatsoever, but blind Freddy can see there’s a serious drug problem embedded in that club between the Smith story and a bunch of others over the past few years which I won’t name.

When are heads going to finally roll to fix the mess at that club?

I reckon you've misunderstood quite a few things.

 

[Forward Press]

I reckon the trafficking charge is overreach.

A guy offering to get a baggy for a mate is technically trafficking, and while it’s obviously against the law I just can’t give a * when it’s something that hundreds of thousands of professionals are doing weekly in this day and age, when organizing social occasions with friends.

Ben Cousins, Chad Fletcher, Daniel Chick, Adam Hunter etc never got charged with anything during their playing days.

Meanwhile, you have Joel Smith and Clayton Oliver in actual trouble with the law.

Now, whether you think that's due to incompetence or corruption over in WA compared to Victoria is probably another argument but there is a point to be made that you had people like Robert Walls saying he wouldn't want his son playing for West Coast and putting asterisks next to flags etc. Have we heard similar rhetoric about Melbourne?

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

Ben Cousins, Chad Fletcher, Daniel Chick, Adam Hunter etc never got charged with anything during their playing days.

Meanwhile, you have Joel Smith and Clayton Oliver in actual trouble with the law.

Now, whether you think that's due to incompetence or corruption over in WA compared to Victoria is probably another argument but there is a point to be made that you had people like Robert Walls saying he wouldn't want his son playing for West Coast and putting asterisks next to flags etc. Have we heard similar rhetoric about Melbourne?

I think you’ve quoted the wrong guy.

 

[Mitchell Madness]

I think a big issue is that many West coast players were acting up in public.
Had they kept it private I reckon nothing would've been made of it

 

[owen87]

People are aware that Sports Integrity Australia (aka ASADA) are the ones 'charging' Smith with anti-doping rule violations (ADRV's) and not the Victoria Police charging him with crimes, yeah?

 

[adammania9]

Ben Cousins, Chad Fletcher, Daniel Chick, Adam Hunter etc never got charged with anything during their playing days.

Meanwhile, you have Joel Smith and Clayton Oliver in actual trouble with the law.

Now, whether you think that's due to incompetence or corruption over in WA compared to Victoria is probably another argument but there is a point to be made that you had people like Robert Walls saying he wouldn't want his son playing for West Coast and putting asterisks next to flags etc. Have we heard similar rhetoric about Melbourne?

On the other hand, nobody at Melbourne has died, or died and been revived. Lives were ruined by the Eagles’ drug crisis.

 

[bradfisher14]

People are aware that Sports Integrity Australia (aka ASADA) are the ones 'charging' Smith with anti-doping rule violations (ADRV's) and not the Victoria Police charging him with crimes, yeah?

Are VicPol likely to do so given the evidence uncovered by SIA?

 

[Philhawk]

I reckon you've misunderstood quite a few things.

Genuinely, would like to hear other thoughts on what I may have missed.

This isn’t some stupid attempted hit job on the Demons, more a comparison I’ve noted from observing the daily front page headlines and furore about the Eagles drug culture in the 2000s compared to what’s currently going on at the Demons.

 

[Philhawk]

On the other hand, nobody at Melbourne has died, or died and been revived. Lives were ruined by the Eagles’ drug crisis.

Do we need to wait till it gets to that point before the spotlight is shined upon this?

 

[Forward Press]

I think you’ve quoted the wrong guy.

Yeah I meant to not quote you but just a general observation.

On the other hand, nobody at Melbourne has died, or died and been revived. Lives were ruined by the Eagles’ drug crisis.

Of course, I don't deny that. I hope I am not downplaying what happened with Chris Mainwaring (RIP) and Chad Fletcher. We deserved the blowtorch. And we cleaned it up, finally.

But now we have a player that is being alleged to have been trafficking cocaine. Don't think we can shrug it off that lightly. It points to significant cultural problems at the club when combined with past incidents with other players. And I also hope Melbourne clean it up.

 

[owen87]

Are VicPol likely to do so given the evidence uncovered by SIA?

Unless the quantity of drugs was quite significant on the trafficking front, I wouldn't have thought they'd be going after him for that.

I suppose they could possibly go for possession which is pretty minor.

 

[Philhawk]

But now we have a player that is being alleged to have been trafficking cocaine. Don't think we can shrug it off that lightly. It points to significant cultural problems at the club when combined with past incidents with other players. And I also hope Melbourne clean it up.

This.

If any positive came from the spotlight on the Eagles, it changed the culture and made them clean up.

Meanwhile we have Demons officials and the coach himself continually claiming they have no problems with their culture.

At what point do heads roll and the overdue cleanup finally happens?

 

[owen87]

Genuinely, would like to hear other thoughts on what I may have missed.

This isn’t some stupid attempted hit job on the Demons, more a comparison I’ve noted from observing the daily front page headlines and furore about the Eagles drug culture in the 2000s compared to what’s currently going on at the Demons.

For a start he hasn't been arrested for, or charged with a crime by the Police.

He's been 'charged' with an anti-doping rule violation (five of them now) by SIA (ASADA's new name).

It could progress, but the quantity for trafficking in a legal sense is much different to the quantity in a sports-doping sense.

 

[lmach]

Not a big enough club

 

[Guardian Hawk]

I think the scrutiny is yet to come. It's still relatively early in the piece (re: Joel Smith) in that it is still being investigated and it hasn't had the same number of West Coast 'stories' yet.

Even the 'flatlining' piece quoted in the OP didn't name West Coast, didn't name Chad Fletcher

Chad Fletcher

Age

44

Ht

179cm

Wt

83kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

21.6

5star

K

12.5

5star

HB

9.1

5star

M

4.4

4star

T

2.4

4star

No current season stats available

D

15.2

4star

K

10.0

4star

HB

5.2

4star

M

2.4

3star

T

1.2

3star

(until much later) and was a story several other journos refused to run until Andrew Rule went with it.

West Coast had a former player die, had their star player and captain on the run from police, found in a bad way outside multiple venues, avoiding drug tests, enrolled in rehab - in the same year that he played a key role in them winning a flag. They had another player die (i.e. flatline) before being revived, a car crash, stolen prescription pads, etc, etc.

Even then, most of the perceived scrutiny is in retrospect - as whilst there was reporting at the time - most of the real scrutiny came later when everything had been piled up at the full extent of the issue had reached fruition. I mean, it wasn't until 2017 that West Coast was properly investigated! (through the Gillard report). Even then, they weren't allowed to investigate anything prior to April 2007 (conveniently the start of the season after their flag) - which was also after the worst of it. Gillard’s report was unequivocal in concluding that the club’s management had “covered up” years of blatant illicit drug abuse and allowed a rotten off-field culture to fester before 2007 but wasn't permited to investigate any of it. Hell, drug issues had emerged at West Coast as early as 1998 (the benders in Spain), was a club wide problem by 2000 but the reporting didn't come until years later and the real scrutiny, later again.

I think the scrutiny will still come for Melbourne (as it should), especially if they start building up the same number of stories/circumstances West Coast did.

 

[kane249]

But now we have a player that is being alleged to have been trafficking cocaine. Don't think we can shrug it off that lightly. It points to significant cultural problems at the club when combined with past incidents with other players. And I also hope Melbourne clean it up.

Not insignificant that former club president Glen Bartlett and long-time club doctor Zeeshan Arain were both moved on in recent times when they raised concerns about the club culture

 

[Roogene]

Every where Gary Pert goes trouble follows. He has to go.

 

[maskmcgee]

Because it's only one guy, and drug use is more socially acceptable than it was 20 years ago. Treated as an illness not as a crime.

 

[Forward Press]

Because it's only one guy, and drug use is more socially acceptable than it was 20 years ago. Treated as an illness not as a crime.

 

[Bunk Moreland]

Times have changed. It was 17 years ago.

Society was more uptight about drugs then, and the Eagles didn't just unravel... they spun out of control in a very public way, right in everybody's face.

Cousins did his triathlon in 2006 and then, in the space of about six months in 2007:

• The story about Fletcher flatlining dropped (was leaked to Andrew Rule by a footy official)
• The photos and story of Cousins of his face and asleep in the street appeared (given to the media by a member of the public who took them)
• Cousins left to go to rehab in the US, then returned and released a video statement about his substance abuse problems
• Chris Mainwaring passed away of an overdose
• Cousins got arrested in the street for drug possession and was paraded around half naked

It was all a media wet dream. Drugs were pretty edgy stuff back then so it was a great scandal. People are more accepting of drug use now.

But give the Dees time, if they keep messing up in public then the heat will come.

 

[DanWCE]

There's not enough space for the media to be outraged at the Demons when Kane Cornes is busy being triggered by West Coast dressing up for a Captains run during pre-season.

 

[brmi]

It clearly has to add another * next to their already * flag.

 

[eggtardo]

Times have changed. It was 17 years ago.

Society was more uptight about drugs then, and the Eagles didn't just unravel... they spun out of control in a very public way, right in everybody's face.

Cousins did his triathlon in 2006 and then, in the space of about six months in 2007:

• The story about Fletcher flatlining dropped (was leaked to Andrew Rule by a footy official)
• The photos and story of Cousins of his face and asleep in the street appeared (given to the media by a member of the public who took them)
• Cousins left to go to rehab in the US, then returned and released a video statement about his substance abuse problems
• Chris Mainwaring passed away of an overdose
• Cousins got arrested in the street for drug possession and was paraded around half naked

It was all a media wet dream. Drugs were pretty edgy stuff back then so it was a great scandal. People are more accepting of drug use now.

But give the Dees time, if they keep messing up in public then the heat will come.

agreed.
In time I think the Dees will play out the same. Thanks for taking Hunter