Ex-AFL player Sam Fisher faces court over alleged involvement in drug trafficking ring

Former St Kilda star Sam Fisher is almost through his 90-day treatment program in rehab as he awaits a hearing for his drug trafficking charges.

Former St Kilda star Sam Fisher has made “excellent progress” in drug rehab as he eyes a release into the community ahead of a hearing over his alleged involvement in a major drug trafficking ring.

Fisher, 39, was in June bailed to a residential rehab facility after he was arrested and charged with trafficking a large commercial quantity of methylamphetamine, trafficking cocaine and possessing drugs of dependence.

A court previously heard investigators uncovered an array of drugs in Fisher’s Sandringham home in May, following a tip from their Western Australian counterparts who had uncovered encrypted messages from Fisher in the phone of alleged Perth drug trafficker, Julien Morvan.

Among the drug items found were 7.19g of methamphetamine in his ensuite bathroom, syringes containing human growth hormones inside the fridge and ecstasy tablets and a box of diazepam in his bedroom.

Sam Fisher was bailed to a residential rehab facility in June. Picture: Getty

Dressed in a suit, the former Saints defender fronted the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court remotely from his treatment facility on Wednesday.

The court previously heard the two-time best and fairest was using 30ml of GHB daily, and was a regular user of methamphetamine, before his arrest.

His defence barrister, Dermot Dann, said his client had been doing well in addressing his addiction issues, but flagged the criminal case against him faced major delays.

Mr Dann said prosecutors were yet to hand over to the defence team a range of material including DNA, fingerprint and other forensic evidence.

The Saints defender pictured in his playing days in 2014. Picture: AFL

The court heard prosecutors were still waiting on analysis from swabs taken from electrical tape used to wrap packages that were found stuffed in a rangehood.

A bail hearing in June heard that drugs and cash were regularly being concealed in whitegoods and sent between Melbourne and Perth.

“The worrying thing is that there’s no ability to give an estimate of when that material will be ready,” Mr Dann said on Wednesday.

Prosecutor Laura Zubreckyj said analysts were facing a significant delay and could not provide a meaningful answer to when the outstanding evidence would be ready.

Both parties sought to adjourn the matter for one month.

Mr Dann also flagged Fisher’s 90-day treatment program was nearing its end and he would soon be making an application to allow him to be released from the facility into the community.

The matter will return to court on September 21.