Three sources with direct knowledge of the case said that Mathieson had chosen not to contest the case at either the AFL Anti-Doping Tribunal or the National Sports Tribunal, which athletes can choose to attend to mount a defence.
Mathieson in the gym in 2025.Credit: Instagram
A source with direct knowledge of the case explained some of the reasons behind his sentence being reduced from four years – the ban typical for use of a PED – to three years.
One was that he had admitted to the breach.
Secondly, according to the source, the suspension was backdated to reflect that the matter stretched back more than a year, having first surfaced, via his positive test in August 2024.
Players found to have used PEDs can receive bans of up to four years, but they can reduce that sanction if they cooperate.
Rhys Mathieson during his Lions career. Credit: Getty Images
Mathieson played 16 games for Wilston Grange in 2024, including a final and was among the competition’s best performed, averaging more than 30 disposals. He has not played this year, while under provisional suspension, which also places restrictions on playing other sports.
Local leagues, such as the state leagues, are still subject to the same anti-doping rules as the AFL.
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Unlike Melbourne’s Joel Smith, whose late 2023 positive for was the presence of cocaine on a match day, sources said Mathieson’s alleged breach of the doping code was for a substance that is banned in and outside of competition.
Mathieson, originally drafted from the Geelong Falcons, spent eight years with the Lions and became known as “the barometer” for his impact on his team’s performances. He did not make the Lions’ grand final team in 2023, before he was delisted from a powerful squad that won back to back flags in 2024 and this year.
Mathieson’s physical development, from a strong player, to a highly muscular powerful athlete during last year, was highlighted online, with Mathieson having posted photographs of his imposing muscle-bound build on social media.
He also hosts a podcast with ex-Lion teammate Mitch Robinson, the pair having interviewed Bulldog Jamarra Ugle-Hagan this year about his battles with mental health.
This masthead contacted Mathieson and forwarded him questions multiple times before revealing in August that a former AFL player had tested positive to a performance-enhancing substance, but did not receive a response, while the case was being navigated by his legal representative, the AFL and SIA. He was acted for by the AFL Players’ Association.
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The AFLPA declined to provide a comment when asked for a response on Mathieson’s behalf.
Most recent anti-doping cases in the AFL have involved positive tests to illicit substances – such as cocaine – that are deemed performance-enhancing only on game day. Positive tests to substances that banned in all circumstances – such as human growth hormone, anabolic steriods, testosterone and certain peptides – have been rare in the AFL.
Collingwood pair Josh Thomas and Lachie Keeffe received two-year bans from 2015 after testing positive to PED Clenbuterol, having admitted the banned substance probably entered their bodies after taking illicit drugs in February.
Melbourne’s Smith was part of a long-running SIA investigation and received a lengthy ban of four years and three months, for a match-day positive on August 20, 2023 against Hawthorn, and for four separate rule violations, including trafficking or attempted trafficking of cocaine. He had been provisionally suspended since October 9 of 2023 following an in-competition positive test.