What is considered the most checkered period in the history of the West Coast Eagles, this was the period of pretty much the open consumption of drugs by West Coast Eagles players. Sometimes unashamedly referred to as the West Coke Eagles, the West Coast Eagles management and coaching staff were well aware of the consumption of illicit drugs by the players and did nothing about it.

The team was experiencing a period of relative success, a tainted period of high performance where the players were treated as rock stars on the western seaboard of Australia. In Perth, the players were treated as high status individuals, they were admired by the masses. The team won the 2006 premiership and that is where the partying accelerated, as a consequence of this success, the players became unstuck. Their arrogance was their downfall, and geez, what a plummet into shame it was.

Former West Coast Eagles team mate Chris Mainwaring died from a drug overdose [cocaine seizure] in 2007, the last person to meet with him was the then captain of West Coast and drug addict Ben Cousins. A large team cohort was suffering from drug dependency along with the associated public meltdowns and arrests. Many of these players lost their savings, a number of them lost their freedom and a few ended up with lifelong mental issues. What is know is the drug culture was well entrenched in 2003 dating back to around 2000, the period from 2001 to 2007 was the worst.

Midfielder Chad Fletcher flatlined during their post season trip in Las Vegas spending four days in hospital. The West Coast management initially attempted to explain this as an allergic reaction to a yellow fever vaccination but later backtracked under pressure. Ruckman Michael Gardiner, with his open association with bikie gang members was traded to St Kilda. Daniel Kerr was making news headlines for erratic behavior, Daniel Chick was also newsworthy. Ironically, one former player interviewed by The Sydney Morning Herald stated it was easier to name the players who were not involved in drugs.

Daniel Chick has come out in the media and stated they did take drugs on game day trashing Ben Cousin’s insistence that he never used drugs during a game. Chick let it slip that players would snort crushed Xanax and mix Valium with vodka on flights. It is claimed when drug testers showed up at the club, players would notify Ben Cousins and he would miss training along with other players. This is a failure of the AFL, any player missing a drugs test should be immediately investigated, immediately present for testing or be suspended.

The club had become so dysfunctional that the AFL was required to call in Justice William Gillard to internally investigate the club. So damning was Justice Gillard’s investigation findings that the report has never been released by the AFL. What has happened though was Justice Gillard’s recommendations had to be implemented by the club with the AFL overseeing this process as the West Coast management had lost all control of the players. As it turns out, former players have been suffering from mental and behavioural issues that have affected their life post AFL.

This is humiliating for not only the West Coast Eagles, the Western Australian Football Commission, the owners of the West Coast Eagles but also the arrogant Eagles supporters. The supporters who are unrepentant really do not comprehend the significance of the Gillard investigation report. What is known is cocaine, ecstasy and methamphetamine were rife during that period and not purely limited to the midfield group, it appears just about the whole player group dabbled in drugs. West Coast CEO Trevor Nisbett said in an interview that he would give back the success for player health – but no one believes that.

Yet, West Coast Eagles CEO Trevor Nisbett, the longest serving CEO in the AFL is still in charge of the club. Nisbitt came on board in 1999, so that is a long tenure. What Nisbitt has overseen is the creation of a culture of substance abuse enabling. The Gillard investigation identified a failure of governance, the hierarchy were well aware of the drug usage. It has been claimed coaching staff assisted the players avoiding drug tests, any player who complained about the drug culture in the club was shut down internally.

But since they were winning games they chose to look the other way and this is the standards the West Coast management endorsed. As the AFL has never released the outcomes of the Gillard investigation, we will never fully know the extent of the drug taking that what went on at this club, but there is plenty of publicly released information to know drugs and cover-ups were rife at the West Coast Eagles and the management did nothing to shut this down as drug induced success is still success.