Sam Fisher struggled to find purpose after football and fell into drug addiction during lockdown

Ex-Saint Sam Fisher was a ruthless defender, but when he left footy he lost his purpose and fell into addiction, a court heard.

Like so many others, Sam Fisher became lost after footy.

After 13 years of structure and support that came as a ruthless defender with the St Kilda Football Club, he struggled to find a purpose.

He was just 34 years old and football was all he knew — apart from odd retail jobs he held as a teenager.

With sport and fitness a large part of his life, Fisher decided to do a personal training course when he retired from the AFL in 2016 after playing 228 games for the Saints.

But that led to nothing.

He later scored a job with a real estate digital advertising group, which lasted just eight months.

For the year after that, he worked as a recruitment firm relationship manager before giving that away too.

A sense of just how dysfunctional his life had become post-football, jumping from job to job and trying to fill a void, was revealed this week when Fisher fronted Melbourne Magistrates Court charged with drugs offences.

Sam Fisher jumped from job to job after footy without ever finding his purpose. Picture: AFL Media

The most serious charge — trafficking a large commercial quantity of methylamphetamine — carries a maximum penalty of life behind bars.

The court heard the two-time best and fairest player vehemently denies the trafficking allegations.

But he conceded he had a drug addiction and had turned to taking illicit substances as “a result of having had nothing else to do” and a “sense of dislocation”.

His barrister Dermot Dann, QC, said Fisher had suffered an adjustment disorder following hanging up his boots.

This became exacerbated with the coronavirus pandemic and Melbourne’s lockdowns, Mr Dann said.

“He was no longer able to distract himself,” Mr Dann said.

“(Fisher) had reduced access to his normal support system, particularly his family who all reside in South Australia.

“He did not manage his psychological distress appropriately.

“Instead of seeking support he sought to self medicate and numb his emotional and mental deterioration.”

The court heard Fisher, now 39, was a regular user of methylamphetamine and was taking 30ml of GHB a day.

Fisher is asking to be released from custody and into rehab over drugs charges. Picture: 7News

A raid on his Sandringham home on May 18 allegedly found a crack pipe and other smoking implements, alongside 7.19g of methylamphetamine in his ensuite, syringes containing human growth hormones in the fridge and ecstasy tablets and a box of diazepam in his bedroom.

Two ecstasy tablets and a bottle of 1,4-Butanediol was also found.

The estimated value of the drugs seized was more than $230,000.

Detective Sergeant Nathan Ractliffe, from Victoria Police’s Trident Taskforce, told the court they swooped on Fisher after being tipped off by Western Australia Police about his alleged involvement in a cross-borders drug trafficking ring.

Sgt Ractliffe said text messages from Fisher discussing drugs being sent between WA and Melbourne in kitchen appliances through couriers were found on the phone of accused Perth-based drug trafficker, Julien Morvan.

Mr Morvan was arrested on April 21 and remains on remand in WA, charged with attempting to possess a trafficable quantity of methylamphetamine with intent to sell and supply.

His arrest came after WA authorities intercepted a parcel allegedly containing 1kg of crystal meth and 84g of cocaine secreted in a Euromaid rangehood.

Investigations allege Mr Morvan had purchased the appliance online, and that Fisher had picked it up from the Harvey Norman Moorabbin store before packaging it up with drugs and dropping it off at Eclair patisserie in Hampton for a courier to pick up.

The bakery was owned and run by Mr Morvan’s father, who was unaware of the drug peddling, Sgt Ractliffe said.

WA Police also intercepted a Melbourne-bound parcel containing $129,000 on the same day.

When Fisher was arrested and charged, his former teammate and Saints legend Nick Riewoldt repeated his concerns from the past that more support was needed for retired footballers.

He told Fox Footy that too many players were “slipping through the cracks” and that the AFL Players Association needed to champion this cause.

“Enough is enough,” he said. “There are not a lot of Sam Fisher-type incidents that we’re hearing about now.

“When they come out the other side, their lives are ending up in pretty horrific conditions.”

Many other retired footy stars have spoken publicly over the years about their struggles to transition into post-football life.

In 2014, former Carlton captain Anthony Koutoufides told the Herald Sun of how he suffered depression, describing it as a “darkness”, when finishing his distinguished 278-game career with the Blues.

Fisher admits he has a drug problem and was using GHB every day. Picture: AFL Media

“I think a lot of footballers out there, without us realising it, are lost after footy,’’ Koutoufides said.

Hawthorn champion Gary Buckenara has also previously bravely opened up about his battle with depression after being “thrown on the scrap heap at the age of 35”.

“The tipping point was lining up at a Centrelink in Fremantle to apply for the dole, and I found it so hard to accept my life had come to this,” Buckenara said in 2020.

He said in his playing days, there was no post care of planning for life after footy.

“When footy ended a lot had nothing to fall back on and a lot fell on hard times,” he said.

As for Fisher, his barrister told the court the once stellar footballer, who played in the 2008 All-Australian team, wants to get on top of his drug addiction and reconnect with family.

“The consistent theme is Mr Fisher is willing to undergo treatment,” Mr Dann said.

“He’s willing to commit himself to this. He recognises his addiction. He recognises his problems. He recognises he was lost.”

But receiving treatment will be dependent on whether he can be freed on bail.

Mr Dann asked magistrate Bernard FitzGerald to release Fisher into a 90-day residential rehabilitation program at Arrow Health.

He would be required to not leave the facility for that period, and undergo regular drug testing.

The move has been opposed by the prosecution.

Mr FitzGerald will hand down his ruling on Tuesday.