{"id":531173,"date":"2026-03-10T14:09:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T14:09:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/531173\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T14:09:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T14:09:13","slug":"strikes-to-be-removed-in-revamped-code","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/531173\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cStrikes\u201d to be removed in revamped code"},"content":{"rendered":"

Players will be compelled to make a financial contribution to their treatment as part of the policy, as previously reported by this masthead.<\/a><\/p>\n

Clubs have been largely supportive of what is considered a policy that is more structured and forces players who record positive tests to be more accountable during treatment, according to three competition sources who spoke about the changes that had been widely communicated.<\/p>\n

But the club and AFL doctors will retain the capacity \u2013 as they do in the present version \u2013 to rule players unfit for selection. In practice, this lever has been the method used to stop players with illicit drug issues from taking the field.<\/p>\n

This practice has been criticised by the likes of independent MP Andrew Wilkie, who said players testing positive for illicit drugs were often asked to fake injuries to cover up their results. However, the league has been unapologetic about not letting players take the field when they might inadvertently test positive to a substance deemed performance-enhancing on match day under the separate anti-doping policy.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf there\u2019s a chance that they may have something in their system, we don\u2019t want them training and we don\u2019t them taking part in matches for their health and welfare above anything else,\u201d Dillon said in 2024.<\/p>\n

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Former St Kilda champion Nick Riewoldt has been at odds with the players\u2019 union in arguing the current regime leaves too much wriggle room for players to avoid consequences for illicit drug use.<\/p>\n

However, the move to hair testing means that more players will be tested overall, potentially leading to more positive tests. Hair testing can detect drug use that happened weeks if not months earlier.<\/p>\n

Until 2026, hair testing was used only for clubs and the AFL to gain a snapshot of their clubs\u2019 extent of illicit drug use, without identifying players, but the hair testing did not directly trigger strikes.<\/p>\n

A number of players, including Melbourne\u2019s Joel Smith, have had game-day positives under the WADA code (which focus on performance-enhancement) because some illicit drugs that act as stimulants are banned on game day and carry years-long suspensions.<\/p>\n

Confidentiality will remain a key condition, given that the policy is voluntary and would not be enacted without the consent of players.<\/p>\n

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The overlap between drug use and mental health also has seen players placed in an AFL medical group, where they are treated confidentially and only tested for treatment purposes.<\/p>\n

Much of the decision about the players\u2019 treatment for drug use is in the hands of the club doctors, who have patient\/doctor confidentiality. Under the new policy, according to sources apprised of some details, there will be more rigour in how players are treated, placing more responsibility on the players themselves.<\/p>\n

Keep up to date with the best AFL coverage in the country. Sign up for the Real Footy newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Players will be compelled to make a financial contribution to their treatment as part of the policy, as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":531174,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-531173","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/531173","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=531173"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/531173\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/531174"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=531173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=531173"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=531173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}