Club boss says AFL coaches, commissioners should be drug tested

“Strong thought should also be given to extending the testing from just players, to senior officials, presidents, CEOs, commissioners and coaches.

“The AFL, as Australia’s leading professional sport, should be setting a positive example to our fans, and in particular, kids. Taking drugs of any sort needs to come with consequences.”

The AFL declined to comment.

Hair tests allow for the detection of drug use over a longer period than urine samples, which means there is potential for more positive tests.

The new policy would still allow clubs and AFL doctors to rule players who have tested positive for illicit drugs unfit for selection, thus protecting them from taking to the field and being subjected to match-day testing for performance-enhancing drugs.

The AFLPA has pressed strongly in negotiations with the AFL for a medical approach to remain. It is in favour of holding players who test positive to illicit substances accountable for receiving treatment and support.

“What we want is players voluntarily sign up for this,” AFLPA boss James Gallagher said.

“There’s an expectation that when you do that, that if you’re identified, you’re going to get high-end support. That’s what we’ve been working towards – the system and the model around that.

“Part of that is the responsibility of the game to deliver. That’s ultimately something we’re hopeful it will be finalised when we get to a landing point in the policy.”

Western Bulldogs chief Ameet Bains said the league, and the players’ association, had heeded feedback from clubs wanting a more stringent policy.

“The harm-reduction model continues to be the right way to work through it, certainly from our perspective around some of the medical challenges individuals face,” Bains said on SEN.

“On the flip side, the two elements we’ve all been pushing for that seem like they’ll be taken up in a form is increased deterrence, and increased accountability.

“The deterrence not to undertake the behaviour in the first place and, from an accountability point of view, if players are in the harm-reduction model and requiring different medical care, then they need to sign up to it properly, and if they don’t, given the nature of the model, then there needs to be consequence for that.”

Former GWS captain Phil Davis, a former AFLPA delegate, said the new policy was a move in the right direction.

“You want to make sure no one is taking liberties with how it’s constructed and opening themselves up to bigger challenges later,” Davis said on SEN.

“Some people start because they can get away with it, you’ve got to think about the bigger damage that can happen if it becomes a serious addiction.”
– Andrew Wu

Kysaiah Pickett returns to Darwin days before Dees’ season starts

Danny Russell

Dynamic forward Kysaiah Pickett has returned to Darwin this week to deal with a relationship split and has missed several training sessions ahead of Melbourne’s round one clash.

The club confirmed that Pickett left for the Top End on Tuesday with the Demons’ blessing and is expected back on Thursday.

Melbourne tackle St Kilda at the MCG on Sunday afternoon.

Demons great Garry Lyon reported Pickett’s absence on SEN on Wednesday morning. Lyon said the 24-year-old Pickett had been training on his own to make up for the missed sessions, after his partner relocated to Darwin.

Pickett and partner Ardu Cubillo have a daughter Belleny, who was born in April 2024.

The Age reported that Pickett signed a seven-year contract extension in June which will take him through until the end of 2034 at a cost of $12 million.

Lyon said he was told Pickett supported his partner’s move back to Darwin to be with her family.

New Melbourne coach Steven King said on Wednesday the club had been proactive regarding Pickett’s situation.

“Kozzie needed to get back for family reasons and I fully support any father at our club to make sure they get to support their family. This was a no-brainer for us,” King said.

“Kozzie will be back tomorrow. He will play. It’s something that I want to provide flexibility for our staff and players that family is equally or more important than just a game of footy, and we can make the two co-exist.

“We will give Kozzie all the time he needs to take care of his family and his daughter. He will be fine. We will work that [through] with him throughout the season.”

King said the club could accommodate Pickett’s training needs.

“I think moving forward, we will set up an opportunity if there is a requirement for him to go back throughout the season, it will be structured with facilities up there that they have got at the Michael Long Centre,” King said.

“I know Michael McLean is up there and a lot of us at the club, here and through Kozzie, have a lot of contacts in the Northern Territory.

“So if he does have to go back once or month or so, we will make sure he ticks off what he needs to do from a physical standpoint and obviously as well he doesn’t miss out from an education point of view from what we need to keep growing in our game.”

The Demons head into this season without midfield stars Christian Petracca and Clayton Oliver who relocated to Gold Coast and Greater Western Sydney during the off-season.

Mitchell ‘enormously disappointed’ by Hawks’ pre-season arrests

Jon Pierik

Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell says he was deeply disappointed with Dylan Moore and Connor Macdonald after they were jailed for a night in the USA during the pre-season, but insists they have worked to regain the trust of the club.

Moore, 26, and Macdonald, 23, were arrested for trespassing during a training camp in Phoenix, Arizona, late last year, and still have a pending court date in June and July.

The drunken pair were taken into custody by police after a decision to climb onto a scissor lift.

Moore has described the incident as a “foolish mistake”, leading to him losing the vice captaincy.

“I was in the US, I was out having a few drinks, and made a foolish mistake, decided to get on a scissor lift and next thing I know the cops are there telling me to get off, and I got off, and next thing I know, I’m in police custody,” Moore told Seven on Tuesday.

The Hawks did not reveal why he had been removed from the role when they announced Jai Newcombe would join James Sicily as co-captain in January.

Speaking after training on Wednesday, Mitchell said he had been “enormously disappointed”, but he had also been concerned about the welfare of his two players.

“I was very disappointed on first hearing about it but, it was a few months ago now, and they have done every single thing that you would expect of them since then. So, there is a big part of us that have moved on, but we understand that they made some really poor decisions,” Mitchell said.

“But, to their credit, every moment before and every moment since, they’ve acted in a way that you would hope as representatives of this football club, of the game itself, of their own families. So, I think overall, they’re really good young lads, and the decisions you make will dictate the life you lead. This is a little hard patch for their lives because of some of the decisions they have made.”

Mitchell said he had had stern conversations with the pair after they had returned.

“Once a little of the original dust settles, then we have a couple of eyeball conversations about standards of behaviour and expectations. Once they were understood, it was pretty clear to be fair, it’s not like this is a lingering thing from us,” he said.

Moore and Macdonald were fined an undisclosed sum by the club, and also by Phoenix authorities. They have also completed a diversion program on alcohol and will carry out community service.

Hawthorn football department boss Rob McCartney said the club had kept the AFL’s integrity department informed. The AFL left it to the Hawks to deal with the matter.

McCartney said the club had not gone public with the incident because of legal issues.

“We always knew that this had the ability to be a story, and I think we’ve managed that extremely well throughout this process,” he said.

Moore and Macdonald addressed the incident with teammates on Wednesday, where they expressed remorse and bitter disappointment.

McCartney said no thought had been given to suspending the pair and that the Hawks would not introduce any restrictions for future overseas travel.

It is a distraction as they prepare to face arch-rivals Essendon on Friday night.

The Hawks and Merrett will come face to face for the first time since the Bombers refused to let then-captain Zach Merrett depart for Hawthorn.

Mitchell did not give much away when asked about Merrett. “That’s been well documented. He plays for them right now, so he’s the enemy,” he said.

Mitchell did not rule out another bid for Merrett at the end of the season when asked if he was still keen on the star midfielder.

“That’s the furthest thing from my mind right now. I’ll get through Friday night,” Mitchell said.

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