AFL off-field behaviour
Updated
AFL 2022
AFL suspends Bulldog Bailey Smith for two matches
Western Bulldog star Bailey Smith has been handed a two-match ban by the AFL after photographs and video emerged of him taking an illicit drug.
- by Jake Niall
Latest
Opinion
Opinion
Smith’s drug revelations were less of a surprise than what came next
Bailey Smith’s drug-taking isn’t model behaviour, but his actions that followed sent a positive message to his many young followers.
- by Marnie Vinall
Mathew Stokes: My road back after cocaine arrest
In 2010, Geelong premiership player Mathew Stokes was suspended by his club after police caught him buying cocaine. He details the aftermath and what helped him learn from his mistake.
- by Mathew Stokes
‘Confidentiality is critical’: AFL players won’t budge on drug policy
AFL players will insist on a regime that supports them, rather than punishes them, when the AFL and the players agree upon a revised policy for dealing with illicit drugs.
- by Jake Niall
Smith ‘dropped the ball’ but secret data clears Bulldogs of major drug problem
Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge has called for clubs to be able to provide greater help to players who test positive to illicit drugs, coming as the Bulldogs anxiously await Bailey Smith’s fate.
- by Jon Pierik and Nell Geraets
AFL integrity unit interviews star Bulldog Bailey Smith
Bulldogs star Bailey Smith has completed an interview with the AFL’s integrity unit over his self-confessed use of an illicit substance.
- by Jake Niall
Smith didn’t know if he’d ‘get back on the straight and narrow’, Kennett calls for overhaul
Bulldogs young gun Bailey Smith has spoken out after footage emerged of him with an illicit substance, while Hawthorn president Jeff Kennett says the AFL needs to drastically tighten its illicit drugs policy.
- by Damien Ractliffe and Michael Lynch
Analysis
AFL 2022
Four Points: Why Smith will be punished for embarrassing the AFL
What comes next for Bailey Smith, the young Hawk who deserves plenty of credit, and the problem with the bye rounds.
- by Michael Gleeson
Opinion
Western Bulldogs
Smith tackles poor choices head-on with illicit substance confession
The damage to Bailey Smith, the Western Bulldogs and the AFL has been mitigated – at least partially – by Smith’s own response.
- by Jake Niall
Analysis
AFL 2022
Red faces at Melbourne as dirty linen is aired
Last weekend’s clash between Demons teammates Jake Melksham and Steven May at a restaurant was not the only embarrassing news for the reigning premiers.
- by Caroline Wilson
Updated
AFL 2022
Teammates had to separate Demons pair in Prahran fight
Teammates of Melbourne’s Steven May and Jake Melksham had to separate the pair as an altercation that began inside a Prahran restaurant escalated into a fight on Greville Street on Sunday evening.
- by Peter Ryan