Banned ex-Melbourne player Joel Smith breaks silence after drugs ban

Joel Smith was hit with a huge suspension under the AFL anti-doping code after a positive match-day test in 2023 – now, for the first time, the 29-year-old has spoken out.

Banned ex-Melbourne player Joel Smith has revealed he knew he was in trouble the moment he was tapped on the shoulder by a drug tester post game.

Smith has broken his silence for the first time since his suspension, detailing how his drugs ban unfolded, the mental toll on him and his loved ones, and his hopes to return to the AFL ranks once his suspension finishes on January 9, 2028.

The then-Melbourne forward had just kicked two goals in a win over Hawthorn in the penultimate round of 2023, further cementing his spot in the Demons’ best side.

Speaking on The Watch podcast with Ben Gibson, his promising career all came crashing down when he was approached by a drug tester post-game.

“It was a bit of a deflating feeling because I’m like ‘Oh f---, I think I’m in trouble here’,” Smith said on The Watch podcast.

“And when you get the call from the club saying, ‘You need to come in, something’s come up’, and then I went in and they handed me with the game-day test thing, it was a shocking feeling.

“And they get involved in lawyers, you don’t really understand how much (a) lawyer cost until you’re dealing with them.”

Joel Smith said he knew he was in trouble. Picture: Dylan Burns/AFL Photos

Smith, 29, was subsequently hit with a suspension of more than four years for five rule violations under the AFL anti-doping code, including a positive match-day test after Melbourne’s round 23 clash against Hawthorn in 2023, cocaine possession and trafficking.

But at the time a three-month suspension remained a realistic possibility, with Smith insisting he did not use cocaine on match-day.

The 42-game Demon worked his backside off preparing to be ready to go for season 2024 at the end of that three-month block, until a call came in that turned his world upside down.

“For that three months I was just flogging myself… I was pretty much doing a mini pre-season by myself,” Smith explained.

“The first three months was horrible but I thought I was going to be back playing in three months, which is the thing that sucks.

“I did it close to a game, but I definitely didn’t do it the day of the game. That’s the thing that sucks, that they just didn’t really see through that.

“So if you don’t do it day of the game it is three month (ban).

“I think it was like a week after day one (of pre-season), so I was fit, and then to get the call just before the last day of it, to say that they’re going to give you four years.

“I was like, just shocked. I was like, how? Like, how? Like, I’ve given them everything.

“It was horrible, and I was going to fight it. And then obviously got hit with some more charges, unfortunately.

“And then I just had to just sort of come to an agreement with it all, because it was just getting too much for me mentally and my family. So we come to the terms and yeah, just have to accept my punishment really.”

Smith’s ban is up in 2028. Picture: Robert Cianflone/Getty Images

The son of Melbourne and North Melbourne player Shaun Smith was then forced to depart the club effective immediately.

But a “tight little group” of his former Melbourne teammates have supported him the whole way through.

“Literally the day I got it, you can’t train with anyone from the club,” Smith said.

“You can talk to people from the club, but you can’t talk anything about footy, anything footy related.

“No training, can’t see them. So it was tough.”

“You don’t expect how much people actually do care for you. Like reaching out to you, just checking in on you, how you’re going, and that made it a bit easier on me too, people always reaching out.”

More than 18 months on from the match-day indiscretion, a contrite Smith took full responsibility for his actions.

“I don’t really feel sorry for myself, really,” Smith said.

“Like, end of the day, no one forces you to do it, you make your decisions. It’s all my fault, really in the end. My mistake, I’ve just got to own it, and that’s just what it is.

“There’s no point pointing fingers at other people, because what’s that going to get you? Just got to man up, and just is what it is.

“So I took a lot of great learnings from this – yes I made a mistake, but people make mistakes and you grow and you learn.

“My partner always says to me, ‘You just look happier and healthier now than you did then’. So I feel like that’s a positive for me to come out of it and just a mistake you’ll never make again.”

Will he make a football return? Picture: Michael Klein.

However, Smith took umbrage with being labelled a ‘trafficker’ under anti-doping rules, but said he is at peace after making the call to accept the penalties rather than extend the saga through legal action.

“Obviously under the rules of the sport, like, technically it is. But I just feel to call me a trafficker, it’s pretty harsh, like that’s one thing I’m definitely not,” Smith said.

“But that’s the rules that they have got written in sport in the code. Just is what it is.

“To be fighting those two (legal) cases. Like, it probably would have rolled on for, I don’t even know, I’d probably still be fighting it if I was.

“And just the time and with my family and just everyone that it was sort of just affecting around me, I just said, ‘I just can’t do this’.

“So just had to come up with a solution. So we did, and honestly I’m just happy it’s all done with now.

“Just had to cop my whack, and then yeah, just moving on with my life, staying happy, healthy, and then whenever I can play footy again, I won’t make that mistake ever again – I can tell you that for a fact.”

Now working in construction, Smith has had two children, Tilly and Tommy, since the Sports Integrity Australia investigation began.

He says becoming a father has been pivotal in turning his life around.

UNLIKELY RETURN

Smith is ineligible to play in any World Anti-Doping Authority compliant competition until January 9, 2028 but can train with a club from November 2027, with Smith unable to play any official organised sport including social basketball.

He will be almost 32 by the time his ban comes to a close, but he said an unlikely return to the AFL is in the back of his mind.

Smith will be 32 by the time he’s allowed to play again. Picture: Tess Gellie

“I’m going to go back to play footy. Jeez, if I get another crack, AFL, or whatever it is playing local. But I’ll definitely go back into playing footy of some sort,” Smith said.

“I’ll be a young 31, at least the body isn’t going to get knocked around.

“Still got two and a half years so we’ll just stay fit and work and just be a good dad in that time.

“I haven’t really properly looked at (the pathway to return to the AFL), I haven’t really spoke to anyone. I just think it is something I’ll start looking into closer, but right now I am just working and being a dad and just staying happy and healthy.

“And when it gets closer, that’s when I’ll start asking the questions about it all, but it’s definitely something that is in the background that I would be keen to give another crack.

“Even if I just come back, play four years, like 36 (year-old). If I can come and potentially give a team something that are chasing a flag, like that’d be great. Four years, I feel like I’d get a lot out of that.

“But it’s just about staying healthy and keeping the body ticking over. Because if it does, you never say never really. Like if it does happen, it’d be great, but there’s always local footy as well.

He still watches the Demons play and is looking forward to the day he can return to a footy field – wherever that may be.

“I can’t wait to get back out there and play with my mates again. Because it’s the best fun when you’re out there playing with 22 of your best mates,” Smith said.