AFL players caught with drugs mid-season are as much in the wrong as Jake Carlisle, writes Mark Robinson

JAKE Carlisle returned to work in the face of severe humiliation but before he could humiliate himself even more he was rushed away when questions from the media became more pointed.

St Kilda first day of pre season training at Albert Park lake. Jake Carlisle talks with coach Alan Richardson . Pic: Michael Klein.

JAKE Carlisle returned to work yesterday in the face of severe humiliation.

Before he could humiliate himself even more, Saints people rushed him away when the questions from the media became more pointed.

Pity Geoff Huegill, the former swimmer, didn’t have the same people looking after him.

Yesterday, Huegill flogged his new company as he semi-recalled his cocaine-hell-in-a-toilet at the Sydney races.

The arrest in 2014, he said, galvanised his love for the wife and kids and the “hardest part” was forgiving yourself.

FIRST DAY: CARLISLE COPS PRE-SEASON PUNISHMENT

Oh, poor Geoff.

But back to Jake.

The Carlisle situation is weird.

Weird, firstly, because can you think of anyone who has committed a crime and been so stupid in the aftermath? It’s like the Irish bank robber who wore a see-through balaclava.

It’s weird, secondly, because of how it’s been handled.

Absolutely it’s better to be a footballer caught by the AFL for snorting speed/cocaine/ice than it is to be caught by the public.

If you’re caught by the AFL for the first time, you receive a strike and can still play footy.

The most recent drugs stats, released in 2014, showed 15 players recorded positive illicit drug tests and four players were on two strikes — and they could play and were not named.

Carlisle was caught because he filmed his stupidity.

And it’s why the AFL charged him for the sin of bringing the game into disrepute.

When Ben Cousins was suspended for 12 months under the same umbrella charge, I always thought it was because Cousins was an addict and the AFL was trying to help him.

Now, I don’t have the same belief.

Jake Carlisle talks with Saints coach Alan Richardson on his first day of pre-season training. Picture: Michael Klein

The evidence suggests the AFL’s image is more important than the player.

Carlisle and the 15 players who failed tests for stimulants, such as cocaine and amphetamines, are guilty of the same crime.

But that apparently is not the issue. The issue is how they were caught, not that they were caught.

Because Carlisle was splashed all over the news heaving into a line of whatever, the AFL felt compelled to act.

The league charged him and suspended him for two games, the Saints rewrote his contract, he’s $50,000 out of pocket next season and mostly everyone in Australia thinks he’s a dingbat.

I’d argue the players caught with coke mid-season are as much a dingbat as Carlisle.

At least Carlisle waited until he got out of the country. Some of these other players took drugs mid-season and were caught by the drug testers. How stupid is that?

Why doesn’t the AFL charge them for disrepute? Is it about the image or about the crime?

In July, Harley Bennell was publicly shamed when he and a line of powder were on the front pages of every News Corp newspaper in the country.

He copped a $5000 fine and was stood down for three matches — and that was that.

Why didn’t the AFL charge Bennell under the same umbrellas as Carlisle? Both are players. Both took drugs. Both snorted lines. Both denied nothing.

The AFL’s penalty rates are a dog’s breakfast.

The issue shouldn’t be so powerfully about the game’s image, it absolutely should more about the crime.

In this regard, and only in this regard, is there a sense of unfairness towards Carlisle.

He was hit with a sledgehammer and the other 15 were hit with a wet facewasher — for doing the same thing.