St Kilda defender Liam Stocker opens up on his prescription drugs nightmare

In July 2020, sitting in a hotel bathroom, St Kilda’s Liam Stocker lost count of how many tablets he’d taken. He was, in his own words, ‘past spiralling’.

St Kilda defender Liam Stocker has opened up on his battle with prescription medications that wiped out a season of his career at Carlton and left him “in tatters”.

In an exclusive interview with the Herald Sun, Stocker, 25, detailed the night in the Queensland hub in 2020 when he “lost control” of his life and abused prescription medications to “quieten the noise” amid some serious mental health issues.

“It was my second last day in the hub and I had been spiralling since I had got up there, in fact I was past spiralling,” Stocker said.

“I was training on it (medication) and all sorts of stuff and you get to a point where you are not even a human being.”

REBUILDING LIAM STOCKER: READ THE FULL EXCLUSIVE FEATURE HERE

Liam Stocker has fought back from the brink. Picture: Michael Klein

Ahead of ‘Spud’s Game’ against his former Carlton teammates at the MCG on Friday night, Stanton revealed the frank conversation with former assistant coach Brent Stanton that promoted his six-month break from the game to deal with his drug and mental health issues in 2020.

He said the support he received from the AFL helped save his life, and ultimately put him on a path to resurrect his career at St Kilda under senior coach Ross Lyon.

The Sandringham product first stepped into an intensive spotlight when the Blues pulled off the AFL’s first ever live draft pick swap to claim Stocker with pick 19 in 2018.

But Stocker said his four years at the Blues were a struggle and took full responsibility for his patchy form and relationship issues which led to his shock exit from the club in 2022.

The tough defender said he was immensely proud of how his life now looks in his second AFL chapter at the Saints.

REBUILDING LIAM STOCKER: READ THE FULL EXCLUSIVE FEATURE HERE

The former Blue has opened up on his mental health battles. Picture: Michael Klein

“When I got delisted (from Carlton) I was pretty relieved,” he said.

“Things just seemed a lot brighter outside of the AFL world.

“But slowly I started to get the hunger back and started realising (he wanted to give it another go) after reading Wayne Bennett’s book ‘Don’t die with the music in you’.

“But it was about doing it so I could enjoy it (football) in the long term.

“Not just the flash in the pan where I feel good straight after a win but then during the week I’m miserable.

“I wanted some consistency and with the help of my psychologist and my psychiatrist I got a really good plan in place where my football didn’t determine my mood.”

Originally published as St Kilda defender Liam Stocker opens up on his prescription drugs nightmare