I've heard the "I know people with diabetes who are extremely fit" argument before, but it's one thing being extremely fit with it when you're setting your own program, based around your diabetes management, where you can just go out and say run 5km a day and get into a routine and rhythm with it and easily work out how much insulin and so-on you need, because you're doing the same thing at the same intensity every day, but it would be a whole different ballgame when you're talking about training for AFL team, where they're not just going out and training the same way and at the same intensity and so-on every day, and then they're going out once matches start and playing at the highest level of intensity.I'll admit I don't have a good grasp of the effects of type 1 diabetes but I know multiple people with the condition who are extremely fit and lean.
I'd accept the training loads restrictions as an excuse if it was just his tank but he's just plain fat for an elite athlete and I don't diabetes is an excuse for eating too much.
No doubt Diabetes combined with concussions and the pressure of being a number one pick is a lot to manage for a young bloke but he should be held to the same standards as his teammates.
I would suggest that it's a lot harder to get into a routine with that, where you're not the one who's able to set what you do and when you do it and keep it consistent with that, to make it easier to manage. Instead you're having to work in with their program, which is not based around making it easy for someone who has diabetes to get into a consistent routine that's predictable and so-on.
Hence taking until only recently where the club said they finally felt like he had his diabetes management down pat, resulting in him now being in much better shape and moving much better.