Cocaine scandal a crushing blow
IT WAS heralded as a massive coup in the battle of the footy codes. AFL’s most powerful man helped make a play for a rugby league superstar and managed to snare him.
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IT WAS heralded as a massive coup in the battle of the footy codes. AFL’s most powerful man helped make a play for a rugby league superstar and managed to snare him.
It was a stunning deal lauded as stroke of marketing genius as the AFL prepared to expand in rugby league’s heartland.
Few footballers can say they’ve been courted by Andrew Demetriou.
But then serial code-jumper Karmichael Hunt had the philosophy “you reap what you sow”, instilled in him from early in his career.
A fullback, Hunt had already proven himself in rugby league, helping the Brisbane Broncos to the 2006 NRL premiership, competing for the Queensland Maroons in State of Origin and for the Australian Kangaroos at international level.
Then Hunt found himself at Demetriou’s Toorak home on May 23, 2009, where the then-AFL boss made a generous pitch for the services of the NRL champ, even spilling the coffee all over the place in the process.
Earlier the same day, retired Collingwood star Nathan Buckley had put Hunt through his paces in a 40-minute training drill.
The day after his meeting with Demetriou, Hunt was treated to a superbox at Etihad for a clash against St Kilda and Brisbane.
Then Hunt’s family was entertained in the AFL boardroom at Docklands before Game 1 of the NRL’s State of Origin series.
By mid-July, the Kiwi had already knocked back rugby union offers from the All Blacks and Wallabies and was signing on the dotted line for the new Gold Coast Suns.
And he was handsomely rewarded. The Herald Sun believes he nabbed about $3 million over three years, with most of that billed to the marketing budget rather than being under the salary cap.
It was not bad for a guy who had played “eight or nine’’ Aussie rules games in his final year of school in Brisbane.
Gold Coast entered the competition in 2011 and, publicly, Hunt was an angelic figure — a poster boy for the AFL.
This image was not hindered at all when he took homesick young Gold Coast star Harley Bennell under his wing in 2011.
Bennell said at the time: “He came up to me at training and asked how my life was going outside of footy, and when I told him it wasn’t going the best he said he’d like me to come and live with him.
“I just feel at home every time I walk through the door.’’
By February, 2012, after a forgettable AFL debut and with just 16 games with the fledgling club under his belt, Hunt was named in the Suns’ leadership group.
His work ethic and toughness had impressed his teammates.
It was in that year that Hunt had his finest AFL moment — booting a goal after the siren to grab an upset win over Richmond in Cairns.
The goal came at the end of what footy legend Paul Roos described as “the worst 50 seconds of football in history”.
But less than three years later, Hunt has experienced the worst day in his sparkling career. And, at the same time, Queensland sport has had its blackest day.
On February 19, Hunt, 28, was issued with a notice to appear in a Gold Coast court on March 5 relating to four counts of allegedly supplying cocaine.
Gold Coast Titans players Beau Falloon, 27, and Jamie Dowling, 24, were also issued with notices to appear on supplying cocaine charges, along with an unnamed woman.
The Queensland Crime and Corruption Commission said the arrests were part of a wider joint investigation with police into a drug trafficking syndicate in southeast Queensland, which is related to the earlier arrests of two former NRL stars, Jason Smith and Matt Seers.
“The CCC will allege ... these four individuals were identified contacting the syndicate and arranging for the supply of cocaine,” said a statement from the commission.
“The CCC will allege the three men and one woman arranged for the supply of cocaine for personal use or to on-supply cocaine to friends and colleagues between June and December 2014.”
Then the drugs scandal got worse.
Last Sunday, Gold Coast Titans Greg Bird, Dave Taylor and Kalifa Faifai Loa were issued with notices to appear in court for allegedly arranging the supply of cocaine. Former Titan Joe Vickery was also accused of arranging the supply of cocaine.
The Titans five plan to defend the allegations.
The Queensland Crime and Corruption Commission said it expected any further arrests of current or former sportspeople to happen by the end of this week or early next week.
It is understood that investigators gathered surveillance from a booze cruise held as part of the Titans’ end-of-season celebrations. Parties involving Titans players, including a buck’s night, also came under the microscope.
Police will allege that former NRL stars Smith and Seers were linked to a multimillion-dollar cocaine cartel. One source told the Herald Sun the Gold Coast is awash with cocaine.
“Then you have these vulnerable young men with plenty of cash and even more spare time. It is an explosive combination,” the source said.
A former Gold Coast football figure agreed the so-called glitter strip, with its bars, beaches and balmy nights, could be a recipe for disaster for impressionable young men who think they’re bulletproof.
“It’s all here. It’s hard, when you’re young and you have the money and the time, not to get caught up,” he said. “I’m not saying it’s right but it happens.”
It remains to be seen how much further the scandal will spread.
The Suns say they have not received any information that leads them to believe any of their players are using drugs or are under official investigation. No Suns player has been arrested or questioned by police.
AFL chief Gillon McLachlan said on SEN yesterday that he had no information about anything that could have happened or may be coming out at the Suns. “I’m not naive about the challenges and the community pressures that our kids are facing like everyone does,” McLachlan said.
“We know, because we do the testing, that we have some instances, mostly during the off-season, of our players making poor decisions.”
McLachlan said, broadly, he was confident in the culture of the Suns.
“There’s a lot of noise and a lot of speculation and there may well be something comes out, but people are making pretty broad statements and assumptions about that club and there’s no basis yet for saying it.”
Hunt quit AFL last August after 44 games with the Suns, citing a year of “pure bad luck” where he suffered a broken toe, staph infection, concussion and hamstring problems.
“There is no sport like it,” Hunt said of AFL.
“In terms of the whole package, it is the best game that is out there.
“Yeah, I love the game, and I can declare now if I was fit and able to run the kilometres that these boys do at pace, I dare say if I was in form I would stay.
“But it is not to be. My genetics suggest that I should be playing another game.”
Hunt turned to another code — rugby union; debuting with the Queensland Reds earlier this month.
The Reds say the alleged offences happened between September 1 and October 3, and his contract with the club didn’t start until January 1.
It would mean he was still contracted to the Suns at the time.
The Australian Rugby Union has stood down Hunt, a father of two, until further notice.
McLachlan said that the AFL had no intention of distancing itself from Hunt: “He has made a significant contribution to our industry and the Suns and I’m not going to walk away from it.”
Revelations this week that Suns players came to the attention of police two years ago over allegations some were supplying and using cocaine among themselves adds fuel to the fire.
Intelligence reports alleged players used cocaine in private homes as far back as 2012.
The suspected use occurred outside the official AFL competition season and club officials were kept in the dark.
Everyone at the Suns insists they are shocked to hear of Karmichael Hunt’s alleged involvement in the cocaine scandal.
“He’s lovely, his family is lovely, he’s an extremely talented player and he’s got natural charisma. He’s a likable fellow,” said one former Gold Coast official.
In 2008, Hunt was one of three NRL players embroiled in a sexual assault allegation.
Police never charged the players, saying there was insufficient evidence.
But the Suns have had their fair share of other problems.
Adelaide import Nathan Bock was banned for two games and fined $10,000 in 2011 after it was revealed he told a family member and a mate ahead of the Suns’ round 24 clash against Hawthorn he would be playing up forward, sparking a betting plunge.
Then in 2013, Bock was dragged into the supplements saga when it was revealed he was being investigated by the AFL and Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority because of concerns he may have been given banned peptides.
Bock was allegedly given a substance described to him as an amino acid that was cleared for athletes to use.
He left the Suns towards the end of last season.
One club figure says the young players have voted to stay out of Surfers Paradise.
“All the troubles we’ve had have been with the oldies. The young ones all voted to stay out of Surfers Paradise, it’s the old ones where the trouble comes up,” the figure says.
Retired Brisbane legend Jonathan Brown said this week that the revelations from the QCCC investigation probably would not be a big surprise to everyone.
“I think we would be naive to think there wouldn’t be some players taking them in the AFL as well,” Brown said.
“I’ve never been that way inclined but potentially they might need to look at stiffer penalties when it is such a big problem. In society, drugs is a big problem.
“It’s always going to find its way into professional sport especially when the people involved are on big wages and a very public profile.
“There’s a lot of temptation for the young athletes nowadays, for any professional athlete.’’
The AFL has long argued it is one of few sports anywhere in the world that tests athletes for illicit drugs out of competition season.
But one ex-West Coast official say he had no idea that the club’s players had chosen to dabble in illicit drugs until someone told him: “That’s not Mt Franklin water, making them bounce off the walls like that.”
A former interstate club official says athletes prefer cocaine to alcohol because it hurts less the next day.
“Cocaine is the wonder drug for everyone to feel merry, without affecting performance,” he said.
“Alcohol stays on your hips and skinfolds, and your conditioning staff are not happy. It’s left to the AFL to do the illicit out-of-competition testing but I don’t know how many people they’re getting with that.”
Former West Coast Eagles star Ben Cousins’ battle with drug addiction has been well documented.
Former Sydney AFL player Dale Lewis was pilloried back in 2002 when he controversially said he believed around 75 per cent of players had done some sort of recreational drug.
And other footy codes haven’t been immune from drugs scandals. In 2006, dual-code international Wendell Sailor, formerly a Bronco, tested positive to cocaine on the eve of a game for the NSW Waratahs. He copped a two-year ban, which cost him his ARU contract and $2 million in earnings.
Hunt has been tight-lipped so far on the allegations levelled against him.
Reds coach Richard Graham said the situation was “inherited” from another sport, but he had offered his support to Hunt.
“He’s dealing with a range of issues at the moment that are quite complex,” Graham said. “The thing about him is he’s a strong character and he has a lot of good support around him.
“He’s innocent until proven guilty and he’s got his day in court next week.”
WHO’S IN THE DOCK
KARMICHAEL HUNT, 28
FOUR COUNTS OF SUPPLYING COCAINE
The tri-code superstar has played in the NRL, AFL and made his rugby union debut on February 13 for the Queensland Reds.
BEAU FALLOON, 27
FOUR COUNTS OF SUPPLYING COCAINE
Gold Coast Titans NRL player
and the club’s player of the year.
JAMIE DOWLING, 24
SEVEN COUNTS OF COCAINE POSSESSION, TWO COUNTS OF SUPPLYING COCAINE
A fringe first grader at the Gold Coast Titans who plays utility/fullback.
GREG BIRD, 31
TWO COUNTS OF SUPPLYING COCAINE
Former Gold Coast Titans captain who has played 15 State of Origin matches and 12 Tests.
DAVE TAYLOR, 26
ONE COUNT OF SUPPLYING COCAINE, ONE COUNT OF POSSESSION
2nd rower who has played eight times for Queensland and once in a Test match for Australia.
KALIFA FAIFAI LOA, 25
ONE COUNT OF SUPPLYING COCAINE
Wing/centre/fullback who arrived on the Gold Coast last season, having previously represented New Zealand and Samoa.
JOE VICKERY, 25
SEVEN COUNTS OF SUPPLYING COCAINE
Ex-Gold Coast Titans wing/centre.
UNNAMED WOMAN, 22
TWO COUNTS OF SUPPLYING COCAINE
NOTE: INDIVIDUALS HAVE NOT OFFICIALLY BEEN CHARGED, BUT HAVE BEEN ISSUED WITH NOTICES TO APPEAR IN COURT
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