The golden West Coast era of the mid-2000s brought the game into disrepute

Former West Coast star Daniel Chick has made stunning claims about drug use at the the Eagles' mid-2000s, including their 2006 premiership year. Fairfax Media columnist Robert Walls stirred passionate debate in 2007 when he penned this opinion piece when revelations about the Eagles first became public.

First published in The Age on March 31, 2007

Tainted premiership? Eagles players celebrate their 2006 flag.Credit: Vince Caligiuri

TONIGHT at Telstra Stadium in Sydney, I want to see the Swans smash West Coast. I want good to triumph over evil.

Perhaps that sounds a bit dramatic, but you cannot help how you feel, so for the good of football, for right over wrong, for two teams to get what they deserve, I want Sydney to win and win well.

Daniel Chick has made stunning claims about his former team.Credit: John Donegan

Problem is, however, you don't always get what you deserve.

Sadly, the actions of too many Eagles have brought our great game into disrepute. Coach John Worsfold, who is the most solid of solid citizens, tells us up to eight of his players have told him that they have used illicit drugs.

We all know who three are, so question marks are put against the rest of the Eagles squad. That's unfair on the clean members of the team, but the actions of Ben Cousins and co have created speculation and shame for their teammates to bear.

It will be interesting to see whether the Eagles can keep their focus on football, when the spotlight on their team's drug abuse has been so intense. All players would have been hounded by media, friends and family over the past fortnight.

Ben Cousins, left, went into rehabilitation in America in 2007. Credit: Getty Images

They all would have been questioned about Cousins: "Did you know?" "To what extent?" "For how long?" "Who else?" "Are you?" It must be driving them mad.

Last weekend, most of the Eagles players got out of the Perth fishbowl on their weekend off. This weekend, they leave town again, to travel across the country to Sydney, and face opposition fans for the first time.

It won't be pleasant. The comments from over the fence will be cruel, cutting and constant. But they had better get used to it for the next six months. And they have only themselves to blame.

These Eagles are big fish in a very small pond in Perth. They are put on a pedestal because there's not much opposition. Plenty of international sportsmen and celebrities who come to Australia don't venture to the isolated Perth.

The best horse racing, car racing, golf, tennis, swimming, rugby and soccer is played on the eastern seaboard. It's no big deal to see world-class sporting stars on the streets of Melbourne and Sydney, but in Perth, the public goes troppo if a Cousins, Daniel Kerr, Chris Judd or Dean Cox is spotted.

In Sydney, it is the reverse, where stars such as Barry Hall, Brett Kirk and Peter Everitt revel in the anonymity of the biggest city in the country.

Out West, dozens of billboards show the faces of Fremantle's Matthew Pavlich and Peter Bell and, of course, Cousins and Judd. It would take a well-grounded individual not to get caught up in the adulation and hero worship bestowed upon them.

A great strength of the Swans has been the high standards set by the leadership group. Hall, Kirk, Jude Bolton, Ryan O'Keefe, Leo Barry and even Adam Goodes have had to grind their way to be the best they could be.

None had it easy early. All had rough edges, and it took sacrifices and a strong work ethic to slowly turn them into A-grade footballers.

That hasn't been the case at West Coast, where the likes of Cousins and Daniel Kerr were teenage sensations. Often, if a skill or talent comes easy, it's not as appreciated as one that has to be earned, or that has to be worked for.

The strength of the Swans' leadership group is the reason why Everitt has been taken on board. Soon to turn 33, Everitt left his two previous clubs, St Kilda and Hawthorn, without too many people sorry to see him go.

As talented as he is, Everitt is seen by many to be an undisciplined individual playing a team sport. Few other clubs would have welcomed him into the fold. Sydney has because it believes its leadership group will convince him that he has to put the interests of the team first every time. And if he doesn't, he won't be allowed to play - and Nick Davis will vouch for that.

The bottom line is that "Spida" is one of the best tap ruckmen going around. And the big fellow suits Sydney's style because the Swans create more stoppages than any other team.

So Spida will be given ample chances to excel. Had he played for Sydney in last year's grand final, the Swans would have won.

Over the past couple of years, I have marvelled at a certain Eagles player who relished and thrived on the in-close bash-and-crash contests. It seemed he actually enjoyed being hit. Now I'm left to wonder if they were real or fabricated efforts I observed. Doubts will dog the Eagles for a long time to come.

Their long road back to credibility starts in Sydney tonight, where I hope they get hammered. And as for the actual 2006 premiership cup, it already has lost its shine. It will be tarnished forever