The 10 biggest AFL scandals of the decade: From Essendon supplements scandal to Buddy’s shock Sydney switch
No scandal has dominated the past decade like the Essendon supplements saga. But there have been plenty of times where footy has found itself in the headlines for the wrong reasons. Nick Smart rates the top-10 AFL scandals of the decade.
AFL News
Don't miss out on the headlines from AFL News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
The AFL is never far from the headlines.
But when it’s drawing front page — rather than back page news — it usually means trouble is brewing.
There was no shortage of headline-making moments in the past decade.
From the never-ending Essendon supplements saga to the continued fallout from the Melbourne tanking scandal, footy has seen it all.
Here are the 10 biggest scandals of the past 10 years.
1. ESSENDON SUPPLEMENTS SAGA
It’s the scandal that went on and on and on.
And everyone has one particular moment they remember.
Take your pick.
There was James Hird “shocked to be sitting here” moment, Stephen Dank’s picket fence, “Sarah’s” Triple M interview, AOD-9604, “The Weapon and his interview with Luke “say that again” Darcy.
Or maybe it was the almost daily doorstops at Hird’s house, David Evans’ breakdown, Essendon being booted from the finals, Jobe Watson losing his Brownlow or the WADA appeal.
There was also “links in the chain”, peptides, Andrew Demetriou’s line he would “go to my grave” knowing Hird wasn’t paid, Tania Hird’s 7.30 interview, the list goes on.
The AFL has never seen anything like it, and hopefully never will again.
2. PHIL WALSH MURDERED
The football world was shocked and saddened when Adelaide coach Phil Walsh was murdered in July, 2015. Police were called to Walsh’s house in the middle of the night and found the Crows coach with multiple stab wounds. Not long after, Walsh’s son, Cy, was picked up by police and charged with murder. The Crows’ next scheduled match, against Geelong two days later, was cancelled with both teams awarded two premiership points, making it the only game cancelled outright in the league’s history. Cy Walsh was later found not guilty over the murder due to mental incompetence.
3. JOHN MCCARTHY DIES IN LAS VEGAS
The 2012 season was to have a tragic postscript with the death of Port Adelaide player and former Magpie John McCarthy.
The Power utility was in Las Vegas on an end-of-season trip with some teammates when he became lost trying to find his hotel in the early hours of the morning.
McCarthy was killed after falling nine metres while trying to jump from a casino roof to a palm tree in an attempt to slide down it onto a footpath, US officials believed.
The accidental death shattered the AFL community and everyone at the Power.
4. AFL DRUG BANS
When you think of drug bans during this decade, Essendon comes to mind and then there is daylight.
Although, they weren’t the only players to feel the wrath of ASADA.
Then Saint Ahmed Saad tested positive after a banned substance in an energy drink, Ryan Crowley copped a 12-month ban after taking methadone, which was contained in a painkiller, for a back injury, and Magpie pair Lachie Keeffe and Josh Thomas took illicit drugs laced with clenbuterol.
Another Magpie, Sam Murray, also copped a ban after traces of cocaine were detected in a game day test in late July 2018.
Currently, West Coast goalsneak Willie Rioli is highly unlikely to be available in 2020 after being provisionally banned for allegedly tampering with a urine sample during a regulation drug test in August.
5. MELBOURNE TANKING SCANDAL
It was the Fox Footy interview that lit the fuse.
In 2012, then Carlton player and former Demon Brock McLean was asked about why he’d left Melbourne.
“Look, circumstances that happened in the second half of the year never really sat well with me,” McLean said at the time.
“Well, they don’t call it tanking — we were calling it experimenting or whatever it was and it just went against everything I was taught as a kid, taught as a footballer, as a person.”
It sparked a lengthy investigation that eventually led to Melbourne being fined $500,000 but found not guilty of tanking.
Coach Dean Bailey and footy manager Chris Connolly were banned for acting in a manner “prejudicial to the integrity of the game”.
Bailey went to his grave protesting his innocence, while Connolly still maintains he did nothing wrong.
MORE AFL NEWS:
Brendon Bolton opens up about his exit from Carlton and the stress of coaching in the AFL
Brendon Goddard rates Collingwood’s list as the AFL’s best, ahead of reigning premier Richmond
Champion Data releases SuperCoach AFL positions for 2020, new DPP players
6. ADAM GOODES BOOED
It was the shameful booing scandal that led to the early retirement of one of the game’s all-time greats.
Over the years, and particularly in 2015, Sydney Swans star Adam Goodes was repeatedly and loudly booed by opposition supporters every time he touched the ball.
The reasons for why generated huge public debate, but Goodes was convinced it was for racial reasons.
The booing appeared to intensify after Goodes, during the indigenous round game, performed an indigenous war dance, in which he mimicked throwing a spear in the direction of the Carlton cheer squad.
Goodes took indefinite leave during the 2015 season, and then returned before retiring at the season’s end.
The AFL and all its 18 clubs this year issued an apology for its “failures” during the period.
7. ROSS LYON’S FREO SWITCH
Four days after St Kilda’s 2011 season ended, its coach Ross Lyon had gone AWOL.
For a whole day, repeated calls by club officials went unanswered.
The Saints were drafting a press release to announce he’d signed a new four-year deal and were baffled by his absence.
They had no idea that 10 days earlier, Lyon had been cold-called by Fremantle chief executive Steve Rosich.
Rosich got straight to business and asked whether Lyon had any interest in moving to Perth to coach the Dockers.
The Saints thought Lyon was close to re-signing, but instead he inked a secret four-year deal with Fremantle worth $3.2 million.
The casualty was Mark Harvey, who had a year to run on his Fremantle coaching contract.
Like the Saints, he never saw it coming.
8. LANCE FRANKLIN THE SWAN
By midway through 2013, it appeared everyone knew Lance Franklin was leaving Hawthorn.
And everyone knew exactly where he was going – the GWS Giants.
Big Buddy would end up heading to New South Wales as many expected, but it wouldn’t be to the AFL’s newest expansion club.
To the shock of all, Franklin would sign with the Sydney Swans in what was the biggest deal in the history of the AFL.
His jaw-dropping 10 year, $10 million deal – which remarkably never leaked out before the deal was done – blindsided the Giants and infuriated the AFL.
9. LACHIE WHITFIELD SUSPENDED
The GWS Giants have been playing in the AFL for only eight years, but they’ve already notched up a few scandals.
The biggest involved former No. 1 draft pick Lachie Whitfield and his attempt to avoid a drug test by staying at the house of then football boss Craig Lambert.
Whitfield copped a six-month ban while Graeme Allan, the ex-GWS football boss, and Lambert were handed 12-month suspensions for their part. Following the announcement of the sanctions, Allan resigned from his position at his new club in Collingwood.
10. FEV SACKED BY BRISBANE LIONS
By the end of 2009, and after 187 games, Carlton’s patience with Brendan Fevola and his off-field behaviour had worn out.
They wanted a trade and the Michael Voss-led Brisbane Lions were happy to oblige.
Voss wanted to pair Fevola with Jonathan Brown up forward, but the marriage would not last wrong.
The spearhead played just 17 games for the Lions before being sacked in early 2011. The axe came following an indefinite suspension and an arrest on New Year’s Eve.
He had been at a Brisbane clinic receiving psychiatric care for severe depression when the decision was made.