In today’s AFL Briefing, your daily wrap of footy news:
- AFL great Nick Riewoldt calls for overhaul of league’s illicit drugs policy
- Dale Thomas says Blues can go all the way
St Kilda great Nick Riewoldt says there have been players who for too long have shown contempt for the league’s illicit drugs policy, declaring it’s time for an overhaul.
As revealed by this masthead on Saturday, the AFL and AFL Players Association are in talks about tightening the league’s three-strikes policy.
Nick Riewoldt will commentate for Channel Seven this footy season.Credit: Simon Schluter
This includes a proposal to introduce a full-scale and year-round hair testing program, immediate fines, the removal of the controversial self-reporting loophole, and widening the number of club officials informed of a player’s positive test.
Riewoldt, who in 2022 emotionally spoke of the drug issues former teammate Sam Fisher had endured, said the time for change was now.
“If it happens, great. I have been banging that drum for about a decade. I think it clearly needs more rigour. It will be good for the players and the players’ association to take some accountability there. I am supportive of an overhaul because I think it needs it,” Riewoldt told this masthead.
Riewoldt, speaking on Wednesday at the launch of Seven’s expanded AFL coverage, said the self-reporting provision had been a particular source of frustration for him.
“I think the ability to self-report. It creates loopholes that are easily exploited, which might not be a problem in itself, but I think it can become a gateway to greater problems down the track,” he said.
As it stands, a player, having taken a drug, is allowed to self-report once in his career, using this mechanism to avoid a strike. The AFL wants this loophole closed.
Riewoldt, who has joined Seven’s commentary line-up in a prominent role, said a toughened policy could have helped an earlier generation of players.
In discussions: AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon wants changes to the illicit drugs policy.Credit: Getty Images
“I think it could have helped a lot of guys. We have read some pretty tragic stories lately,” Riewoldt said.
“Any time there are loopholes, and you create flexibility, in my opinion, that level of wriggle room is not a good thing. I think, in the end, a lot of players have had contempt for the policy.”
AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon said on Wednesday that there would be changes.
“We are reviewing it at the moment. What we’re looking to do is refine the policy and strengthen it. We’re in conversations with the players and AFLPA on that at the moment,” Dillon said.
“There will be changes to it. When that takes place, we’ll have to work with the PA on it. It is, ultimately, a voluntary code that the players are signing up to which is above and beyond what most other sports in Australia and worldwide are doing.
“We’re clear on that, but we also know illicit drug use is a community issue, a societal issue. We want to make sure we can educate our players as well as we can.”
The AFL’s proposed crackdown on illicit drugs has received substantial support, including from former Hawthorn president Jeff Kennett and independent MP Andrew Wilkie.
Under further proposals backed by the AFL commission, the AFL would expand the number of league officials immediately notified of the drug offender’s identity. This would include having a player’s identity reported to a newly established AFL panel, a plan the players’ association has raised confidentiality issues about.
As it stands, only the club doctor and an AFL doctor is informed of a first strike.
The league is also proposing that under a second strike, in both the men’s and women’s leagues, the offending player will be publicly named and suspended.
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Thomas bullish about Blues’ premiership chances
Jon Pierik
Former Carlton star Dale Thomas says the club’s prized draftee Jagga Smith can this season replicate the rookie-year deeds of Collingwood’s Nick Daicos, providing the injection of youth that puts them in the sweet spot to end a 30-year premiership drought.
Jagga Smith raises his fist in celebration at Carlton training.Credit: Penny Stephens
Thomas, speaking at the launch of Channel Seven’s beefed-up AFL coverage, said the Blues were in a prime position to contend for their 17th flag.
“I feel … it (a premiership) has to be in the next couple of years. I know the supporters feel the same. You want to be in that window, and you are not in that window forever. I feel the Blues are in that sweet spot to really contend,” Thomas told this masthead.
“A grand final is too hard to say as a pass mark. If you say all things are equal, making it to the minimum second week of the finals is a fair expectation. Hopefully, internally, they are shooting higher than that. No doubt, they are. But, as we know, only one team can win it, and it’s bloody hard to get through the first two weeks of the finals.”
Dale Thomas will be prominent on Channel Seven’s footy coverage this season.Credit: Getty
Thomas, a premiership player with Collingwood before crossing to Princes Park and playing 101 games with the Blues, said a key for Michael Voss and his team was to have a healthy Charlie Curnow.
The champion forward had minor knee surgery on Tuesday, the third time this summer he has gone under the knife. The dual Coleman medallist had already had an ankle reconstruction and knee surgery.
Thomas, who had significant ankle issues in his career, said he did not fear for Curnow’s future, but said the Blues needed to ensure he had the best management.
Thomas, now a prominent commentator on Seven, said Adam Cerra fitness was important for the Blues, as he added polish to their midfield, while draftee Smith, who already has the body and mind of a senior professional, will be one to watch.
Smith was taken with the No.3 pick last year after being captain of the Oakleigh Chargers and Vic Metro. He shapes as a star midfielder, to the point Thomas expects him to replicate what Daicos did in his rookie season when he averaged almost 26 possessions per game and was named the AFL Rising Star.
“You have an All Australian in the backline, you have a midfield that now boasts a two-time Brownlow medallist, and a young kid in Jagga Smith who looks like he is going to be a replica of what Nick Daicos did early on,” Thomas said.
“The reliance on Crippa (Patrick Cripps) has probably been too heavy at times. Hopefully, Cerra can stay fit. If you look back to his numbers a couple of years ago, he was one of the more dominant mids, and kicking goals as well. For the Blues, I am pretty bullish about what they can do this year.”
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