Sheahan Ink: Friends say bust-up left ex-Saint Sam Fisher broken and depressed

Friends of former St Kilda star Sam Fisher say a break-up may have been to blame for his long downwards spiral, after he was left heartbroken, broke and depressed.

Sheahan Ink.

A relationship breakdown may have been the catalyst behind Sam Fisher’s descent from underrated AFL backman to a jail cell.

The former Saint is behind bars dealing with a very dark situation following a raid at his Sandringham address in which police seized drugs and a Mercedes-Benz.

Fisher is now facing charges for trafficking a commercial quantity of illicit substances.

Friends of the popular St Kilda player say a former lover’s infidelity led him into a shocking state of depression after his career had come to an end.

His body was physically shot by the rigours of professional footy and he didn’t have any professional skills to fall back on and faced an uncertain future.

“The breakup f--ked him,” the friend said.

“She took the house, his superannuation, she got everything.

“He was that f--ked he had to start from scratch again.”

A friend has claimed Sam Fisher was in such a bad place he at one stage approached St Kilda requesting financial assistance.

Fisher was destined for big things as a teenager. He was an exceptional golfer, playing off a handicap of 1, winning many tournaments at home in South Australia prior to being drafted to the Saints in 2003 as a 20-year-old.

He would debut the following year and cement himself as one of the league’s most versatile backman.

“He was thrust into the big wide world of AFL football and it was all footy, footy, footy till the day he retired,” the friend told Sheahan Ink.

After Fisher retired, he had nothing to turn to.

The failed relationship, few career prospects and next to no money became a stark reality for Fisher.

“He was in a deep depression. His body was f--ked and he needed help.”

The friend claimed Fisher was in such a bad place he at one stage approached St Kilda requesting financial assistance.

He told mates he didn’t know what to do and was running out of options.

“He is a ripper bloke,” the friend said.

Fisher’s fate is a long way from determined but will come with an expensive legal bill that could exceed $40,000.

Top barristers can charge between $8000-$9000 a day on their own without the costs associated with solicitors.

Mark Bouris says Eddie McGuire once screwed him over a sponsorship deal.

Eddie got me good

The man behind Wizard home loans has revealed former Collingwood president Eddie McGuire screwed him over a sponsorship deal.

Mark Bouris recalled how a last-minute sponsorship deal with the NRL’s State of Origin series catapulted his loans business beyond what they could ever have hoped.

But following the success of the NRL deal the price increased to $1.2m and Bouris thought it best to move on.

Enter TV personality and then-Magpie’s boss McGuire, who saw an opportunity to capitalise.

“Eddie got me deluxe,” Bouris chortled.

“Eddie rang me up and asked if I was still sponsoring the State of Origin and I told him no. ‘You interested in sponsoring Collingwood?’, McGuire asked me and I said, ‘Not really’.

“I said ‘Where are you guys?’ and he said, ‘Second last. The deal is $750,000, much cheaper than the State of Origin but what you’ve got to do is pay a bonus if we get into the semis’.

“So I figured I’d be pretty safe considering they finished second last.

“Then the next year they finished in the grand final and it went from $1m to $1.6m.

“Those were the days when sponsorship was a very powerful thing.”

A laughing Bouris had the crowd was in stitches with the tale, before moving on to late billionaire Kerry Packer, who he said was the smartest person he had met.

Mark Bouris says Kerry Packer changed the country.

He heaped praise on Packer as someone who changed the country – putting one day cricket on the map, he had more money than nearly anybody in the country and was smart as a whip with wise cracks that became legendary.

“He was one of the smartest, most insightful people I’ve ever met — ever in my 45-odd years in doing business,” Bouris said.

Bouris spoke at an exclusive lunch at founder Shaun Wallis’s Good Blokes Society function in Sydney, citing the keys to his success and how Packer’s guidance gave him the insight to be great.

Kerry Packer.

“The moment you panic, different sorts of chemistry start to operate in your body, most of it is cortisol and it’s coming from certain glands in your body, as well as adrenaline.

“As soon as this starts, your body goes into fight or flight mode. When your body goes into fight or flight mode, even if you’ve just had a meal of food, your stomach stops digesting the food.

“Everything stops just so you can get away or defend yourself or attack.

“If you are in panic mode and you don’t know how to control that, whether this be by meditation or experience, or people just to calm you down, if you get in to that bad state of mind, you won’t make good judgments at all and you will stuff it up.

“What’s really important is to understand that about yourself and where you fit into that formula.

“For any of you that have been in the fighting game, the first time you jump in the ring, you can be the fittest guy on the planet and be the most skilled person, but if you get adrenaline flip flopping around in your system and then you get this adrenaline fatigue before you even put the gloves on or get into the ring.

“So controlling that stuff in your system and understanding that from a chemical sense and how we physiologically work is really important.

“It was so important for me to have a sage like Kerry who I never saw him panic. I never saw him get angry. He was just one mode all the time probably because he had so much money it didn’t matter to him.”

Manager to the stars Nick Fordham has hit pay dirt after investing in a weight-loss drink.

AFL bucks party success

The exclusive beachside areas of Portsea and Sorrento have survived an influx of former AFL footballers descending on the Mornington Peninsula as the group celebrated the bucks party of Tom Bellchambers.

Bellchambers’ days as a bachelor are over so he and his boys bussed down the highway yesterday, where they spent the day drinking beers and shots in honour of the former Essendon ruckman as he prepares to tie the knot to Melbourne glamour girl Olympia Valance early next month.

For any future bucks parties looking to travel far on a bus, Bellchambers recommends a vehicle with a toilet.

Sheahan Ink secret shorts

Manager to the stars Nick Fordham has hit pay dirt after a very shrewd business decision to invest in a weight-loss drink.

The big time deal-maker who looks after celebrities such as Sylvia Jeffreys, Mark Bouris, Sonny Bill Williams, James Bracey, Mark Taylor, Lisa Wilkinson, Melbourne Storm coach Craig Bellamy and former Sydney Swans premiership coach Paul Roos, has offloaded his share in the Man Shake.

His investment in the Man Shake is believed to have netted him a whopping $50m and now he is looking to reinvest into Sydney’s housing market.

Fordham’s mates have told Sheahan Ink he is now looking to sell his Surry Hills home and buy bigger and better.

Nick Fordham is the brother of Sydney shock jock and 2GB broadcaster Ben Fordham.

A Wayne Carey fan's tattoo. Picture: Supplied

*NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet was spotted pounding the pavement Wednesday in Sydney’s sunshine. The new father surprised diners along the celebrity filled boulevard at the Woolloomooloo wharf, where they watched the Premier sweat out his stresses running alongside one of his staffers. Perrottet ran to the end of the pier where Russell Crowe’s waterfront penthouse sits then returned back past the diners and into the CBD.

The Liberal leader was running at fairly decent speed, too, indicating a handy level of fitness.

*AFL great Wayne Carey was left a little shocked when out to dinner with friends during the week. One Carey fan spotted him in a restaurant, revealing to the North Melbourne champion she had inked his signature on her arm.

The lovely lady also has tennis star Rafael Nadal’s signature alongside the King’s stating the two were her favourite idols.