The AFL Players Association and Greater Western Sydney chief Dave Matthews are at loggerheads over a call for illicit-drug testing to be part of a player's standard contract in a revised industry policy.
As debate over the three-strikes policy rages, Matthews said on Saturday that change needed to be made and clubs must know about a player's positive drug test after one strike, and has even questioned the "seminar stuff" and role the AFLPA has in handling such issues.
"I think we should [know after one strike] but I think we need to think about. In the past [the policy] has been a negotiation between the players' association and the AFL. I actually would rather see it as a condition of employment," Matthews said.
"I would rather say: 'If you nominate for the draft, you come into this draft accepting that these are the work conditions'."
This prompted a rebuke from PA chief Paul Marsh, telling Fairfax Media: "I'm not sure forcing an approach on the player group is in anyone's best interest.
"More broadly, we see the area of player development as one of genuine partnership between the Players Association, AFL and clubs," he said.
"This is certainly the approach being taken in the clubs where we are seeing the best results."
Several club chiefs have said they believe the three-strikes policy is too lenient, reinforced by the Gold Coast Suns cocaine scandal, which has intensified after the publication of photographs of player Harley Bennell.
Matthews added his voice to the debate on SEN radio, declaring the players' association was not doing enough.
"At the moment, it's a workplace agreement really – the illicit-drugs policy between the association and [the AFL] – there is no doubt that in itself is ground-breaking and I am sure it has made a level of difference and there has been progress," he said.
"Now, as Gillon [McLachlan] says, he has time to look at it and how do we strengthen it up."
The illicit drugs code is a voluntary agreement between the AFL and players but Matthews said it should become a mandatory clause of a player's contract.
He then questioned the role the union has when handling drug issues.
"Then I think the most difficult thing is that ... in the end, the player development and player welfare and all those issues are best managed by the clubs – they are not managed by the players' association," he said.
"The players' association roll out some training and accreditation but when there is an issue it usually doesn't even sit with the player managers, it sits with the club.
"The first person at our club to manage a difficult situation would be Craig Lambert and 'Gubby' Allan. They would be the guys that I have complete trust and confidence in, in dealing with a difficult issue."
The AFLPA, clubs and the AFL are reviewing the policy, which has prevented the release of last year's positive-test figures.
Matthews said the Giants "go above and beyond in our education on things like the illicit-drug policy. We just don't roll out the standard seminar stuff that sometimes puts players to sleep."
He said Allan, one of the league's most experienced football managers, had drafted in the most senior woman in the Queensland police to speak to the Giants' playing group about the perils of illicit drugs, the latest occasion being three weeks ago.
"She just lays it out in the most brutal terms I have ever heard – unbelievable presentation," Matthews said.
Several clubs believe key executives, rather than just the club doctor, should be told after one positive strike against a player, thereby helping deal with the player's welfare, and that players should be sanctioned, possibly up to eight matches, after two strikes. The current policy is so strong in its welfare that it's almost impossible for a player to have three strikes.
In his previous role at AFL headquarters, Matthews was instrumental in having code-hopper Karmichael Hunt join the Suns. Hunt and about a dozen Suns are embroiled in a cocaine scandal that has engulfed the AFL and sparked even more calls for a tougher policy.
"I did play a big role in it [signing Hunt)]and it was thoroughly thought through ... clearly what has emerged ... has probably played out in a negative way and that's exceptionally disappointing," he said.
Matthews was confident the Giants' leadership would let club chiefs know if there were any concerns over drug use at the expansion club.
