Players and the turps - should they all stay off it?

[MaddAdam]

Given the De Goey and Simpkin incidents over the weekend saw both players self-impose a drinking ban for the season, begs the question, should all players swear off the gargle for the season?

Or are a few beers part and parcel of having a balanced life - they are young men after all.

And, can going over the top even be counter-productive? Daniel Hanneberry swore off the infidel's potion last pre-season and into the games proper and played like crap, then appeared to regain form when he chilled out on his self-imposed booze ban.

Do you subscribe to the "They are professional athletes with a limited career span, they should lay off the booze and be the best footballer they can be" school.

Or do you feel that everything in moderation is fine, and if a few beers helps them relax, go for it.

And then there's the old skool view - as long as you can produce when the ball is bounced, it doesn't matter if your training regime is based on ten cans and a packet of Winnie Blues a night.

 

[OhhhhhCyril]

Players are or should be responsible adults. If they choose to drink then that is their choice. Obviously if it starts to effect their game then being a professional athlete they/the club should consider reasonable actions. The same can be applied to anybody, professional or not. Drinking/gambling drugs ect; moderation and control should be fine for anybody.

 

[MaddAdam]

Players are or should be responsible adults. If they choose to drink then that is their choice. Obviously if it starts to effect their game then being a professional athlete they/the club should consider reasonable actions. The same can be applied to anybody, professional or not. Drinking/gambling drugs ect; moderation and control should be fine for anybody.

Should be is the key question. But if finding out they can't handle it effects their work in dramatic fashion - as it tends to - is the situation not different.

Take Jy Simpkin. If I'd gone out and had one bowl of laughing soup too many and got hit by a motorbike and hurt my ankle, I might have missed the Monday at work max. And it wouldn't have an ongoing effect on my work.

He's going to miss a month of work and possibly more - and it may have an ongoing effect on his ability to produce at the top level.

I suppose you could make the same argument for a tradie who would be way more severely effected by a physical injury too.

 

[doppleganger]

No one solution fits best.

Some people would be miserable without having the odd blowout, so players would be no different.

DeGoey is physically fine and ready to play, him making the stupid decision to go pick his car up instead of waiting til the morning isn't a football matter.

Footy simply isn't the most important thing to all players.

 

[ItsAllAboutMe]

Absolutely not, they are young adults who have a right to do what every young man likes to do.. Go out on the drink with mates chasing ladies.. There has been nothing that i have seen that suggests going out on the drink effects performance.. In fact the opposite is probably true with players like Dane Swan, Dustin Martin, Ben Cousins, Wayne Carey, Brendan Fevola etc etc all players who enjoyed drinking and were stars of the game.

 

[Snake_Baker]

The problem is that journo's never used to lag on them in public.

Now they fall over each other to publish the "scoop"

 

[ItsAllAboutMe]

The problem is that journo's never used to lag on them in public.

Now they fall over each other to publish the "scoop"

Smartphones have killed all fun for anyone with a public profile.. Because if their was mischief it was always their word against mine and nothing could be proven.

 

[Cold Sober]

A few of these blokes need to take a couple cement pills, grog's not the problem.

 

[legend166]

I don't drink and haven't been socially conditioned into thinking it's a necessary part of life so it's easy for me to say, but if my ability to earn possibly millions of dollars was based entirely on my athletic ability I'd probably avoid drinking, yes.

 

[Scotland]

Nah, they should be allowed as many beers as they want provided:

- it doesn't impact their training and conditioning
- they don't do dumb s**t like get into fights, drink drive etc.

Everyone that isn't an AFL player needs to calm their ****. If you saw the best player in the WAFL or VFL or SANFL at the pub having a couple of pints you wouldn't think anything of it, but if some fringe player from a bottom 8 AFL side does it apparently that's a scandal. FFS people, get a life.

When I rise to power I will make it compulsory for teams to share beers in the changerooms after the game. Home team supplies the cartons, eskies and stubby holders.

 

[ferrisb]

 

[Thats Wright]

Given the De Goey and Simpkin incidents over the weekend saw both players self-impose a drinking ban for the season, begs the question, should all players swear off the gargle for the season?

Or are a few beers part and parcel of having a balanced life - they are young men after all.

And, can going over the top even be counter-productive? Daniel Hanneberry swore off the infidel's potion last pre-season and into the games proper and played like crap, then appeared to regain form when he chilled out on his self-imposed booze ban.

Do you subscribe to the "They are professional athletes with a limited career span, they should lay off the booze and be the best footballer they can be" school.

Or do you feel that everything in moderation is fine, and if a few beers helps them relax, go for it.

And then there's the old skool view - as long as you can produce when the ball is bounced, it doesn't matter if your training regime is based on ten cans and a packet of Winnie Blues a night.

The weed could be creating an imbalance in your estrogen levels mate.

 

[demondavey]

Absolutely no issues with them having a drink if it does not impact their ability to do their job properly. In the case of footballers they need to be in peak physical condition, so as long as it doesn’t impact that, it’s fine. The problem with alcohol is that it does affect weight, recovery etc, so staying steady would be a good move, but hey, having a cold one is fine.

It’s the same as everyday life. If one of my staff came in after drinking 13 beers the night before and couldn’t do his/her job properly, I’d be pissed off. If they could do their job to the standard I expect, no issues. Most people I work with have a drink every night, they need to use their brains at work so as long as they can do that, it’s ok.

 

[Gone Critical]

The way Collingwood handled De Goey was shocking and then North trumped us by being so over the top with Simpkin. Both players have had their personalities trashed and excessive penalties imposed. This is the pc world gone mad.

 

[demondavey]

The way Collingwood handled De Goey was shocking and then North trumped us by being so over the top with Simpkin. Both players have had their personalities trashed and excessive penalties imposed. This is the pc world gone mad.

De Goey deserved to have his personality smashed to pieces after getting behind a wheel and driving drunk. What would you expect Collingwood to do? His lucky he hasn’t had his licence suspended for 5 years, which he should have for committing such a dumb act that could’ve killed an innocent person or put them in a wheelchair.

**** me......

 

[master bate]

It's easy to say you're going out and only having 5 beers but once you've had 5 it's much easier to have the next 5. That's a problem for AFL players and for Australian society.

I'd like to see the tax on alcohol come down in venues that offer live music, are a limited capacity and have a good record of responsible service. The net effect of which would be to create smaller, safer, friendlier places for people to go out.

Simpkin doesn't hurt his foot if he isn't plenty of beers deep and in the middle of King St. Similarly De Goey must've had plenty of drinks to blow such a high reading. As a P plater he's really stuffed up but I doubt he even knew how far over he was.

 

[demondavey]

The way Collingwood handled De Goey was shocking and then North trumped us by being so over the top with Simpkin. Both players have had their personalities trashed and excessive penalties imposed. This is the pc world gone mad.

How do the families of car accident victims feel about PC when they’ve suffered a loss at the hands of someone who made a choice to commit a crime? It’s not about PC, it’s about putting De Goey on the front page of a paper and publicly tearing him apart.

 

[Gone Critical]

De Goey deserved to have his personality smashed to pieces after getting behind a wheel and driving drunk. What would you expect Collingwood to do? His lucky he hasn’t had his licence suspended for 5 years, which he should have for committing such a dumb act that could’ve killed an innocent person or put them in a wheelchair.

**** me......

I believe De Goey was incredibly stupid and needs to be sanctioned fully by the law of the land as he will be.

If you think everyone found guilty of a DUI should have a 5 year licence suspension I respect your very extreme view of punishment but disagree with it.

If you think De Goey deserves a 5 year suspension but other people committing the same offence should only receive the current 6 month suspension then I don't understand your opinion at all.

 

[demondavey]

I believe De Goey was incredibly stupid and needs to be sanctioned fully by the law of the land as he will be.

If you think everyone found guilty of a DUI should have a 5 year licence suspension I respect your very extreme view of punishment but disagree with it.

If you think De Goey deserves a 5 year suspension but other people committing the same offence should only receive the current 6 month suspension then I don't understand your opinion at all.

No, I don’t, I believe that De Goey is a member of the public like you and I, and if you were caught that far over I’d expect you to cop 5 years.

My whole point is that giving him a 6 month suspension for committing a crime that could’ve ended someone’s life is pathetic. Don’t you think? If Jordan De Goey hit and killed your family member, would you be happy with him having his car back after 6 months? Think of it that way.

 

[demondavey]

I believe De Goey was incredibly stupid and needs to be sanctioned fully by the law of the land as he will be.

If you think everyone found guilty of a DUI should have a 5 year licence suspension I respect your very extreme view of punishment but disagree with it.

If you think De Goey deserves a 5 year suspension but other people committing the same offence should only receive the current 6 month suspension then I don't understand your opinion at all.

How is my view extreme? It’s because no one actually respects the fact you can’t Drink & Drive. You want people to stop doing it? Make the punishment really hurt.

 

[Redline]

Let them drink if they want and if it doesn't effect their performace.

I think this generation of footballers have far worse addiction issues than alcohol. It is just easy to target alcohol.

 

[Thats Wright]

How is my view extreme? It’s because no one actually respects the fact you can’t Drink & Drive. You want people to stop doing it? Make the punishment really hurt.

Not sure you can punish folk on the imaginary consequences. If we did, we'd be just another shithole country.

 

[demondavey]

Not sure you can punish folk on the imaginary consequences. If we did, we'd be just another shithole country.

The consequences aren’t imaginary. Go into a rehabilitation clinic for people who have been in serious car accidents or been hit by cars. It’s not very nice.

 

[Golden_6]

The Simpkin thing isn’t a great case study here. If you have a history of getting on the piss and making poor decisions as an AFL player, then you should look at your consumption habits. Seems like that was more of a freak accident that could happen to anyone rather than getting into a car and choosing to drive.

 

[Gone Critical]

No, I don’t, I believe that De Goey is a member of the public like you and I, and if you were caught that far over I’d expect you to cop 5 years.

My whole point is that giving him a 6 month suspension for committing a crime that could’ve ended someone’s life is pathetic. Don’t you think? If Jordan De Goey hit and killed your family member, would you be happy with him having his car back after 6 months? Think of it that way.

How is my view extreme? It’s because no one actually respects the fact you can’t Drink & Drive. You want people to stop doing it? Make the punishment really hurt.

I am glad your view is consistent and really has nothing to do with De Goey himself but with your belief that DUI punishments are very inadequate.

I don't agree with you and believe taking a licence for 5 years for a 1st offence is too severe. I think 6 months is about correct. Still a pretty big disincentive to DUI