Melbourne’s Joel Smith slapped with career-ending ban for cocaine use and trafficking

Melbourne Demons player Joel Smith has been hit with a career-ending, four-year ban for cocaine use and trafficking, with at least four of his teammates understood to be sweating on the outcome of his investigation.

Joel Smith at the MCG on August 18, 2023. His AFL career is now believed to be over. Picture: Michael Klein.

Melbourne footballer Joel Smith has been slapped with a career-ending four-year ban for cocaine use and trafficking.

Smith, 28, tested positive to cocaine following a match at the MCG in August 2023.

He was later hit with additional drug trafficking charges by Sport Integrity Australia investigators.

The huge ban is expected to be announced by the AFL and SIA on Friday.

At least four of Smith’s Melbourne teammates have been sweating on the outcome of the trafficking probe.

A text message from Smith uncovered by SIA — in which he told them he had obtained several grams of cocaine and asked if they were interested — is understood to have been sent to a group of star Demons players.

Smith after the Demons were defeated by the Blues in the first AFL semi final match on September 15, 2023. Picture: Getty

The Smith camp was initially hoping for a suspension of just three months before the trafficking allegations surfaced.

Smith had the option to contest his case at the AFL anti-doping tribunal but his father, former Melbourne high-flyer Shaun Smith, believed he was being pressured to stay silent and take the fall in a bid to contain a bigger scandal.

“It feels like my son is being manipulated into being the fall guy here, in order to protect the AFL brand,” Smith said in April.

“He’s being made a scapegoat, and I’m really worried for him.”

Shaun Smith also revealed he had urged his son to seek alternative legal advice as part of the SIA process, which had damaged his relationship with his son.

“Because I’ve been pushing for another legal opinion, it’s really hurt my relationship with Joel,” he said.

“They have driven a wedge between my son and his family.”

Figures close to Smith insist that he never used cocaine before signing on at Melbourne as a rookie in 2016.

Smith has now copped a career-ending ban. Picture: Dylan Burns

Smith supporters initially hoped he would cop just a short suspension. Picture: Dylan Burns

Any attempt to supply a prohibited substance, even in small quantities, can be considered trafficking under national anti-doping regulations.

In a statement handed to federal MP Andrew Wilkie earlier this year — assessed by SIA — former Demons doctor Zeeshan Arain estimated two thirds of the club’s squad were either “frequent” drug users or “occasionally” used illicit drugs.

Mr Wilkie also exposed a secret “off the books” illicit drug testing regime operating within the AFL, which helps players evade detection for breaches of the world anti-doping code.

The AFL released a statement in February this year saying: “Sport Integrity Australia (SIA) has notified Smith that three ADRVs (Anti-Doping Rule Violations) for ‘Trafficking or Attempted Trafficking’ of cocaine to third parties are asserted against him. Under the code, trafficking in an anti-doping context is relevantly defined to be ‘selling, giving, transporting, sending, delivering or distributing a prohibited substance, by an athlete … to any third party’ …”

Smith would continue to be provisionally suspended pending the finalisation of the case, the AFL said at the time.

“Under the code, the new asserted ADRVs will be further investigated by SIA and these matters may ultimately be heard by an AFL Anti-Doping Tribunal in the coming months,” it said.

Smith, 27, was already facing a suspension of two years after testing positive to ­cocaine on a game day late in the previous season.

Smith’s management and legal teams ­declined to comment at the time, while a SIA spokesman said the agency would not comment on “operational matters”.

Federal MP Andrew Wilkie. Picture: Linda Higginson

Demons chief executive Gary Pert, who announced his resignation on Thursday, claimed last year that Melbourne’s culture was “the best I’ve seen in 40 years”.

But a series of off-field scandals have plagued the Demons since the 2021 premiership, including a bitter legal war with former president Glen Bartlett surrounding allegations over the club’s culture.

Star midfielder Clayton Oliver was shopped around by the club before this year’s trade period, while Norm Smith medallist Christian Petracca was also linked to a trade amid concerns over the treatment of a serious injury he suffered during a game at the MCG.

Former Dees president Kate Roffey, who replaced Bartlett, stood down seven weeks ago.

Melbourne is expected to unveil the findings of two separate reviews into the club’s operations on Friday.

Originally published as Melbourne’s Joel Smith slapped with career-ending ban for cocaine use and trafficking