Mick Malthouse calls for Joel Smith to be handed lengthy drug ban

Former AFL coach Mick Malthouse has called on the league to make an example out of a star player who tested positive for cocaine.

Mick Malthouse wants the AFL to come down hard on Joel Smith. Pic: Michael Klein

AFL legend Mick Malthouse has called on the league to make an example out of Melbourne’s Joel Smith.

The Demons star returned a positive game-day drug test following the team’s round 23 contest against Hawthorn on August 20.

He was handed a mandatory provisional suspension by the league on October 10.

Watch every match of the 2023 NAB AFLW Season LIVE & ad-break free during play on Kayo Sports. Join now and start streaming instantly >

While a potential four-year ban hangs overhead, an anti-doping provision could allow him to serve a largely reduced ban.

The World Anti-Doping Agency provision notes that athletes who test positive to cocaine, ecstasy, heroin or cannabis could receive a three-month ban instead of a four-year suspension.

In order to be able to get the provision to work in his favour, the 27-year-old needs to persuade the authority he didn’t take the banned substance to enhance his on-field performance.

If successful he could have the ban reduced further to just one month if he undertakes and completes an approved AFL drug treatment program.

Joel Smith could get his ban reduced to just one month. Photo by Michael Klein.

The potential light sentencing however didn’t sit well with Malthouse.

The premiership winning coach said if Smith were to escape with a minimal ban it would do nothing to deter players from following suit.

“There is every chance of him being successful. The penalties, if you have a soft penalty, you get a soft result. It’s got to be very, very harsh first up,” Malthouse told Nine’s Today.

“This is a random one, but it’s got to be at least half a year to a year. You’ve got to set the tone. If someone pays a high price, it is a deterrent for the next person who thinks about it.

“It’s all nonsense. You know the consequences, you’ve got to suffer the penalty and the penalty has got to be really harsh.”

Malthouse also took aim at the AFL for dragging out the process which has so far seen Smith serve three weeks of his suspension.

Smith during the round 23 clash. (Photo by Dylan Burns/AFL Photos)

Malthouse wants Smith dealt a harsh penalty. Picture: Mark Stewart

“They seem to reach in and find things that can minimise the impact of the penalty,” Malthouse explained.

“Unfortunately, the AFL is always about image – and when you’ve got that, sometimes a lot of these things get spread out, pushed underneath carpets and so forth.

“Keys stakeholders are rarely involved in this. As a coach point of view, you wouldn’t know whether a player tested positive or not because you’re not allowed to know, so therefore you have no input into how to help that player.

“The other thing we’ve got to know too is people have got to take responsibility. In the public eye, you love playing the game, you love getting good pay, but there’s a price to pay and the price is that drugs are out. You are told that from the word go.

“I have sympathy for young men, or young people. Yes, I don’t think they should be nailed in the head first up, there has got to be a second chance but the provision for penalties has got to be that harsh that it’s gonna make a lot of people think where this ends up instead of just a slap on the wrist and we go back and then we wait for the next one to appear.

“I don’t have any sympathy for the person because you’ve known from the word go, but then what you have to do is you have to look after that person. The price you pay for being a league footballer has got to be high because you’re in the public eye and you cannot avoid that.”

Originally published as Mick Malthouse calls for Joel Smith to be handed lengthy drug ban