When a player with drug issues or positive tests is sat down by the doctors and ruled unfit to play, the club typically describes them as having โpersonal issuesโ or alike that have compelled them to take a break from the game. There are, of course, other types of personal issues that can rule a player out but do not involve drug use.
The club doctors will remain the primary figure in caring for players who have positive tests, with the panel only brought in for a small group of players with significant issues impacting on their health.
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A source said there would likely be scope for psychologists or psychiatrists, who have relevant expertise to be involved in handling players under the updated illicit drug code.
While the AFL will remove โstrikesโ for positive tests and replace urine testing with more revealing hair tests, as reported by this masthead on Tuesday, the AFLโs plan is for the new policy to make the players who take illicit drugs more accountable and subject to more rigorous standards.
The leagueโs view is that the expert panel makes the assessment of players with significant drug problems more formal. It arguably removes pressure from club doctors, who have closer bonds with players, although the AFL is still consulting club doctors on how their role will shift.
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The AFLโs executive responsible for mental health, Dr Kate Hall, has been involved in the management of high-profile players with off-field issues and has become an influential voice in the AFLโs approach to the mental health of players and others within the game.
But Dr Hall, who treated players before joining the league, is not expected to be part of the expert panel, which will bring in experts from outside the AFL.
The AFL policy is a medical model for treating and assisting players with drug issues and has often been criticised for been insufficiently punitive, especially to players with persistent problems in using illicit drugs. But it is a voluntary code, only continued with the consent of the players and their union.
