A quarter of Australian Football League side Collingwood’s playing list "recorded positive tests to illicit drugs over summer," according to Mark Robinson of the HERALD SUN. The bombshell "is evidence that the AFL and its 18 clubs are losing the fight" against their use. Eleven Magpies had tested positive to drugs over the offseason, despite two teammates -- Josh Thomas and Lachie Keeffe -- "last year being rubbed out for two seasons after being caught with illicit substances in their systems." Collingwood is "not the only club with alarming hair-test results." Industry sources said that "at least two other clubs recorded worse drug-test results than Collingwood," while several other clubs' results were "said to be close to those of the Magpies." The AFL, Collingwood and the other clubs "could not discuss the revelation" because of a "confidentiality agreement struck between the AFL and the players." But sources have said several clubs have been "shocked by the amount of positive results" among their players. The Magpies believe the drug code "must change" because the players' behavior is not "being altered by the current policy." The club is in favor of a suspension "after a single positive strike." Changes to the drugs code were made last year. The changes saw the three-strike policy "move to a two-strike policy this season," which will see players publicly named, fined and suspended if they test positive to an illegal substance a second time. Collingwood CEO Gary Pert said that the new policy "should be reviewed even further as part of the discussions surrounding the new collective bargaining agreement." Pert: "I know there are some people in the industry -- and I must admit that I have got some pretty strong views on it, if we move to a model that is designed to stop the behavior rather than just a medical model" (HERALD SUN, 3/24). The AAP reported Collingwood President Eddie McGuire responded to the report on Fox Footy and said that "the club’s hands were tied when it came to the AFL’s illicit drugs policy that guarantees player confidentiality." McGuire: "It's a question without any basis in fact but as far as I know it could well be the truth because we don’t find out. We get piecemeal information. We’re speaking to the AFL in the next couple of weeks about the hair-testing results but until the clubs have actually got some control over it there’s no point talking to the clubs" (AAP, 3/24).
