The sad but ultimately hopeful story of Chris Yarran's battle with ice addiction cannot help but vindicate critics of the AFL's illicit drugs policy and raise the eyebrows of football supporters who analysed every nuance of that 2015 trade period.
Richmond entered the 2016 season full of hope off the back of three successive finals appearances and a newly contracted coach. Having stood solidly behind its star Dustin Martin over the chopsticks affair before Christmas the negative vibes for the club began in earnest when Yarran turned up at pre-season training out of sorts and out of shape.
The Tigers had traded in Yarran under some pressure after an unremarkable previous trade period and having just missed out on Adam Treloar in controversial circumstances. The deal was done shortly before the final deadline after Carlton had held firm demanding pick No. 12 for the prodigiously talented but troubled player. Ultimately the Blues accepted pick No. 19.
The following points are made in the full knowledge that Yarran's efforts in playing AFL football at all were mighty given the personal challenges he has faced all his life. His well-being going forward is the first order priority and should he continue to beat his demons then that too will be a mighty effort.
But that doesn't change the fact that Richmond, like every other club,had a right to know what some at the AFL must have known as it closely monitored that trade period. While it is not known whether Yarran came to the Tigers with one or two drug detections he was soon placed on a very strict management program and had confessed his ice problem to assistant coach Mark Williams.
Clearly Yarran's drug problem had not developed from nowhere over that first unhappy pre-season at Tigerland. Richmond might put its hand up now and admit the club could have delved further into the player's issues given his known problem with gambling, problematic final season at Carlton and his troubled background. But Yarran's manager Paul Connors is one of the most respected and successful in the game.
His reputation is that he knows his players as well as any agent and yet he insists he didn't know about this player's ice issue. Ditto Carlton who held out so determinedly for that first round draft pick.
So - if those to parties are to be believed - how could Richmond be expected to unearth the problem when the game's system focuses so heavily upon protecting the player's privacy? As 2017 nears the end at least two big name players have been the subject of massive long-term contracts, a practice that will continue as free agency matures and yet the club has no way of knowing whether any of those players may come to a new club with a 'problem'. It's happened before on several occasions and in most cases been successfully managed.
The AFL and the player's Union continue to insist drug addiction or even evidence of a drug habit is a private issue. Both compare it to mental illness which players and bosses agree has become the biggest challenge facing footballers and by extension their clubs.
But - and clearly the two are often connected - clubs have become increasingly frustrated at the total lack of any avenue to check on a potential recruit's drug history. Drug use is not only illegal but more importantly can negatively impact more than just one player. And like a congenital knee condition it can be quite easily tested. There is no suggestion Yarran's drug addiction became a problem for his short lived team mates.
Their only issue was frustration that a big name recruit was seemingly not putting in. And Richmond reportedly has no plans to take the issue to head office. That ship has sailed. In fact the club according to the league deserved much credit for how it cared for Yarran, for the length of time it supported him and for the more than reasonable settlement it reached. And for the manner in which it respected and honoured his privacy.
The Mark Williams News Limited column attested to all of the above. But - and clubs are the most ruthless bodies in football - failed trades can have a domino effect among club personnel. Damien Hardwick came under huge job pressure last year as did his football boss Daniel Richardson and list manager Blair Hartley.
The Tigers' failed season cannot be squared at Yarran but it was one early and key morale deflator. And his decision to go public on that powerful piece of film has not only given hope to fellow sufferers but has also empowered a number of club chiefs and their boards who have railed for years against the AFL's drugs policy.
