DEES DENY DRUG CRISIS
Melbourne captain Max Gawn has strongly denied there is an illicit drug culture at the AFL club, despite allegations suspended teammate Joel Smith had sent text messages to players offering them quantities of cocaine.
Gawn said drug use was a society-wide issue and he was not aware of Smith’s behaviour or wider drug-taking within the club, after fresh assertions made against the Melbourne forward came to light amid the ongoing Sports Integrity Australia investigation.
Gawn said on Wednesday he hadn’t read the details of the
SIA allegations and repeatedly denied there was a culture of illicit drug use at the club.
AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon also backed Melbourne to continue to manage its own off-field issues as he said the league’s illicit drug policy was “under review”.
Gawn said allegations Smith had been trafficking cocaine were “quite shocking” but said the forward would have his support as the SIA investigation continued.
“You would respect that there is an investigation. I haven’t read a lot of it to be fair … but it obviously is quite shocking,” he said.
Gawn defended chief executive Gary Pert’s off-season comments that the club had the best culture he had ever seen during his time in football.
“All I can say is for 16 years I’ve been getting drug tested, 10 years I’ve been getting hair tested, in that 10 years I’ve never been told that our club has a drug culture,” Gawn said.
“Yes, the investigation if it proves to be true, there is a player who’s taken illicit drugs, but we’re naive to think that doesn’t happen in society. I get we’re a high-level-performing industry and we’d love zero, but until I get told that we have an issue or I can see the issue with my own eyes, I can only go off face value.
“I like to think I’ve got a good grasp on our group. I’m incredibly bullish that we’ve got the right culture. We’re always working on it.
“I’m not hiding. There are issues and we have to make sure we get that right.”
Gawn said the Demons, who were on a threeday break, would have a discussion about the allegations against Smith internally if the club’s leadership decided it was necessary.
“We’re professional footballers and we should stay away from it, but I’m also aware that there’s a society issue,” Gawn said.
“Probably in my time, 45 players (on a list), we’re never going to get to zero, hopefully we do, hopefully the AFL gets to zero and there’s no one.
“Right now, it’s speculation and I’m just there for Joel as support – he’s still a friend, could be a teammate, who knows.”
Dillon said there was no cause for the league to intervene at Melbourne and that the club could handle the issue. “The use of illicit drugs is a society issue, and we don’t shy away from that,” he said. “We’ll continue to educate; I think we were one of the first sports in the country to bring in an illicit drugs policy, and there are many players over nearly 20 years who have changed behaviours because of that.”