‘We don’t have a problem’: Demons adamant they do not have a drug culture

Melbourne football boss Alan Richardson insists the Demons do not have a drug culture, while the club remains locked in talks with the AFL about potential salary-cap relief after Angus Brayshaw’s shock retirement.

The Demons have had a tumultuous off-season, capped this week by allegations from Sport Integrity Australia that forward Joel Smith, 27, has been involved in trafficking cocaine. This came after Smith’s phone was found to allegedly have multiple text messages referencing cocaine. Smith had tested positive to cocaine on game day during the 2023 season.

Joel Smith.

“No, we don’t. We’ve certainly had an incident with respect to Joel that’s still being investigated. We don’t get enormous information, at this stage they are still allegations and his legal team are working through that. Our role with Joel is almost at arm’s length from that perspective. It’s closer in terms of supporting him,” Richardson told SEN on Friday.

“No, we’ve had a couple of issues, and we’ve been working through some things with Clayton [Oliver] and I don’t want to go into too much detail there. I think we all know that’s quite a unique case, and he’s had some challenges, he’s going really well now and whilst there’s still a bit of work to do, that’s going well. But no, we don’t [have a drug culture].”

But Richardson conceded he could not guarantee the Demons did not have a drug culture because of the way the largely secretive nature of the AFL’s illicit-drugs policy. However, Demons captain Max Gawn this week said hair-testing results have not indicated they should have any concerns.

The AFL is still reviewing the current three-strikes illicit drugs policy. The doctor is currently the only club person notified after the first “detection”.

“I don’t know if you can ever be certain for the reasons … just explained. The information at times, even for a person in my position, is not quite where you would like it to be, and that’s by design to make sure the welfare of the player is at the forefront of the information that comes back to your doctor, and you get a feel for how you’re going as a footy club and at times you’ll get feedback in terms of where you’re sitting,” Richardson said.

Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge last year suggested the AFL drugs policy should be scrapped because players with diagnosed medical health conditions are “never going to be exposed to the policy” given their exemption.

Former Hawthorn president Jeff Kennett has also called for two-year bans and “zero tolerance” for players who had illicit drug strikes to their names.

“I’ve worked at eight footy clubs, so I can really confidently say to you no, we don’t have a problem. Have we had some challenges? Yes. Will we continue to have some challenges? Yes. As will every footy club,” Richardson said.

“We’ve got 45 young blokes between 18 and 32. They’re going to every now and then make blues and, really importantly, we’ll then deal with those situations, so it’s really clear to everyone in our footy club that this is important to us in terms of playing and living the Melbourne way.”

The Demons on Friday remained in discussions with the AFL about the salary-cap implications of Brayshaw’s retirement due to multiple concussions. Brayshaw has retired on medical advice, the midfielder having inked a six-year extension in 2022 earning between $700,000 and $800,000 per season.

“We are working through that at the moment … ‘Gus’ will be fine,” Richardson said of the premiership star.

“In terms of some TPP [total player payments] relief, we are working through that now with the AFL … I am pretty confident commonsense will prevail, and we will get a result that works for everyone.”

An AFL spokesman confirmed discussions were ongoing.

Brayshaw’s retirement after 167 games also means the Demons could push to be able to add another player to their list, although Richardson said this was “unlikely”.

Richardson said Oliver’s improving health, and the ability of others to potentially play more midfield time, meant the Demons may wait until the mid-season draft, when they could further assess what specific role needed to be filled.

“I have already had some early discussions with [list manager] Tim Lamb about his thoughts. We are pretty comfortable about the players we have now and potentially to be able to flick a few around if we need to,” Richardson said.

Happier days: The Demons are confident they can go someway to replacing Angus Brayshaw in the midfield.

“The fact that Clayton [Oliver] has got himself in a real promising position has given up some real confidence that we can still cover the role ‘Gussy’ played for us in the midfield. We can’t cover exactly what he brings because of his ability to execute, his ability, because of his footy smarts, to help his teammates. He is brilliant at that, and we will miss that … but we think that [Trent] Rivers can potentially play a bit more of a role through there, if needed, that [Christian] Salem can probably do the same thing.”

Richardson said it was too early to declare whether Oliver will line up in the season-opener against Sydney on March 7.

“He is pushing hard to play … we will work through that with our guys, and his team. We are hopeful,” he said.

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