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Kane Cornes slams “roadblock” AFLPA over new drug policy pushback
Nic Negrepontis • February 17th, 2025 11:25 am
Kane Cornes has slammed the AFL Player’s Association for pushing back on the AFL’s proposed new drugs policy.
The change, reported by Caroline Wilson in The Age, would include year-round hair testing and allow clubs to know when a player receives a strike.
AFL players would be fined $5000 for a first offence, with a second strike seeing players named publicly and suspended – both significantly harsher than the existing system.
AFLPA CEO Paul Marsh however is against the move away from anonymity and increased fines.
Responding in the same article, the AFLPA CEO said it could be used against players in contract negotiations and put players’ protection at risk.
Cornes has called for Marsh to step out of the way, saying he is blocking a necessary tweak to the system.
“Of course the AFLPA has hit it with a roadblock,” Cornes told SEN Breakfast.
“Of course they say ‘nah, nah this is too far, the players voluntarily go through this program and what if someone is named publicly then that will affect their trade value and be a deterrent for other clubs’ – of course it would be!
“Of course it would be a deterrent for other clubs. Just like if a club has no knowledge of a player with an issue that goes to recruit them and then they come to their club on a huge deal and then they find out they had a problem they had no knowledge of.
“So, Paul Marsh and the AFLPA have been so weak on this issue and to read to his comments and his rejection of this fair proposal by the AFL, it is somewhat alarming.
“These guys haven’t had much more time off, they’ve never been paid more and all we are asking is for them to be responsible and treat their bodies like they are elite athletes and set a great example for fans out there.
“I get it’s an issue across society, but these aren’t regular people. I think it is more than fair to be anonymous after one strike, but fined and more people at the club know about it, and then on a second offence you are actually named.”
Former Melbourne forward Joel Smith copped a four-year ban under the Australian Football Anti-Doping Code for cocaine use and trafficking.
He had five rule violations to his name, including a positive match-day test for cocaine in 2023 and four counts of trafficking or possession between 2020 and 2022.
