West Coast scandal exposed in top-secret AFL report

UPDATE: RAMPANT illicit drug use by West Coast stars — and the club’s attempted cover-up — are laid bare in a top-secret AFL report exposed by the Herald Sun.

A DECADE of rampant illicit drug use by West Coast Eagles stars and the club’s attempts to cover it up are laid bare in a top-secret AFL report.

The Herald Sun today publishes the confidential 2008 Gillard investigation into one of footy’s biggest scandals.

The dossier was hidden away for nine years by AFL chiefs.

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The most detailed account yet of the drugs-fuelled crisis which ­infected the Eagles, it casts a shadow over their 2006 flag win.

And it comes as fallen West Coast hero Ben Cousins was yesterday remanded in custody after pleading guilty in a Perth court to 11 offences, including aggravated stalking and drug ­possession.

The damning 87-page report by ­retired Victorian Supreme Court judge William Gillard reveals:

COCAINE, speed, ice, ecstasy and marijuana were abused by players;

THE earliest incident involved three players in Spain in 1998 “observed ­behaving in a highly stimulated fashion despite not drinking alcohol”;

CLUB bosses adopted a “covering-up approach … without confronting the real cause and seeking to eradicate it”;

COACHES were warned by police as early as 2001 of players using drugs;

MIDFIELDER Chad Fletcher was strapped to a hospital bed after collapsing and “flat-lining” in Las Vegas, days after allegedly showing off camera images of what looked to be ice;

A PREMIERSHIP player lied to police about a car crash; and

A PRESCRIPTION form stolen from a club doctor was used by Daniel Kerr to buy 50 Valium pills — with Gillard asserting they could help teammates “prolong a high”.

There has been strong reaction this morning, with former club champion Chris Judd going on radio to defend the Eagles’ 2006 flag saying he did not believe it was tainted.

Premiership defender Sam Butler also said the drugs problem was “a terrible thing” but did not sweep through the club’s entire playing list.

However, Richmond legend Kevin Bartlett, speaking on SEN, said the revelations put a “black line” through the Eagles’ premiership.

West Coast Eagle Daniel Kerr, pictured carrying the 2016 premiership cup, used a prescription form to buy 50 Valium pills, according to the report.

Former West Coast Eagles AFL player Ben Cousins arriving at court in January. Picture: AAP/Richard Wainwright

Gillard argues for tougher drug-testing and an independent body to deal with serious misconduct.

The report is critical of coach John Worsfold — now at Essendon — and Eagles chief executive Trevor Nisbett.

Gillard says: “The culture could be described as the view held by players and the club, that if they were successful on the field, what they did outside the club was of little consequence ... and if trouble resulted, the club would take steps to minimise the gravity of the misconduct and impose a fairly lenient sanction especially if the player concerned was one of the better players.”

RITA PANAHI: PROTECT THE EAGLES BRAND, WHATEVER THE COST

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AFL’S TOP SECRET EAGLES REPORT SPECIAL:

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THE GILLARD REPORT (PDF, OPENS IN NEW WINDOW)

BETRAYAL OF A DUTY OF CARE: WEST COAST CHIEFS LASHED OVER TOXIC CULTURE

AFL URGED TO SET UP INDEPENDENT BODY TO PROBE MISCONDUCT

WHAT BEN COUSINS SAID ABOUT HIS DRUG USE

EAGLES MIDFIELDER CHAD FLETCHER STRAPPED TO LAS VEGAS BED

WEST COAST FAILED ON KERR’S VALIUM SCAM

WEST COAST PREMIERSHIP PLAYER STEVEN ARMSTRONG LIED TO POLICE OVER CAR CRASH

CHRIS JUDD ‘OUT OF TOUCH ON DRUG POLICY’

EDITORIAL: BOMBSHELL DEMANDS SO MANY ANSWERS

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Originally published as West Coast scandal exposed in top-secret AFL report