Lachie Whitfield drugs furore leaves Graeme Allan with a target on his back

RIGHTLY or wrongly, the Lachie Whitfield furore has left Graeme “Gubby” Allan with a target on his back, writes Mark Robinson.

Lachie Whitfield in action for GWS.

A COLLINGWOOD premiership player once turned up to early morning training in a taxi in such a wobbly state, he was put back in the cab and sent home.

The belief was he was still drunk.

The fear was he was drunk and on illicit drugs.

There was no thought of plying him with coffee or dunking him under a cold shower and sending him out to run a couple of laps.

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To paraphrase Slug Jordan, the edict was: Get the boy out of here.

The threat, however minimal, of an ASADA drug tester being at Collingwood on that very morning to test that very player meant the club had to act.

This is one example of a club acting to avoid a possible drugs test.

There are hundred of more examples and all clubs are guilty.

Graeme Allan shares a laugh with Leon Cameron and Shane Mumford.

One club chief executive told the Herald Sun: “This happens at all clubs. Officials look after players, they love the players, that’s how it is.”

This latest accusation centred on Lachie Whitfield and whether or not he took illicit drugs and whether or not Graeme Allan and Craig Lambert squirrelled him away to Lambert’s house to avoid potential drug testers will play itself out.

The difference between this situation and the hundreds of others is that it is official.

The difference between this situation and the hundreds of others is that it is official: There’s the former girlfriend, there’s text and email exchanges, the AFL investigated and it’s soon to be in the hands of ASADA.

The commentary in the past 48 hours has centred around one person: Gubby Allan.

Make no mistake there’s always politics at play and you have to wonder about the coincidence of the story being revealed 24 hours before Allan was scheduled to be announced the new football boss at Collingwood.

GWS didn’t blow the whistle.

It would be astonishing if the AFL was the whistleblower given they wanted a bye before the finals so we could all talk about the exciting finals series ahead.

So who’s left?

Lachie Whitfield at GWS Giants training. Picture: Mark Evans

It’s been suggested it might’ve been someone at Collingwood upset at the management manoeuvrings.

It’s a bold suggestion. That person would have to be so bitter and so self-consumed that they would not only push Allan under a bus, but all of Collingwood. That’s nasty.

But clearly Allan has the target on his back.

If it’s true, or at least if it’s proven, then Allan’s future looks bleak.

An intent to avoid a drugs tests is serious — despite it being treated, at times, with disdain by clubs — and if guilty Allan would be banned.

Collingwood president Eddie McGuire has been unusually quiet. Ed’s got an opinion or a news line on everything, but he’s kept mum on this issue on his radio station.

Maybe he thinks it’s a GWS problem and not a Collingwood problem.

If Allan is banned, it most certainly will be a Collingwood problem because Allan won’t be Collingwood footy boss and the man he replaced, Neil Balme, possibly won’t be at Collingwood either.

Perhaps it leaked from Brisbane, where Lambert is welfare manager and where civil war is taking place.

There’s a lot of “ifs” and “maybes” and it’s reminiscent of the Dustin Martin chopsticks furore.

As it was then, media folk wanted Martin booted from the game before the facts emerged. Some of the same media commentators want Allan booted from the game before the investigation is completed.

Let’s determine what is factual and what is not before blood replaces ink.

As for the Giants, they say they have nothing to fear. That’s not quite right, either.

If Allan and Lambert are found guilty of subverting one of the drug codes — WADA and the AFL’s — or even just AFL’s all-powerful rule 1.6, the one about bringing the game into disrepute, then the Giants should also expect to be punished.

Essendon was punished for its lack of governance despite the blame being levelled at rogue elements. If guilty, wouldn’t Allan and Lambert be considered as rogue elements and GWS would have to take a hit as well?

As for the ex-girlfriend with the colourful turn of phrase — she called Whitfield a c...t on Tuesday — short odds Gubby regrets not hitting reply on that first email.

Originally published as Lachie Whitfield drugs furore leaves Graeme Allan with a target on his back