Just days after Sydney secured second spot on the ladder and two home finals, the club banned five players - including superstars Chad Warner, Isaac Heeney and Nick Blakey - for the rest of the season for their behaviour at a Melbourne hotel in the early hours of Monday morning. Riley Bice and James Jordon also received season-ending bans in a strong statement from the Swans board. The players have been linked to an ongoing police investigation into sexual assault allegations at a Melbourne hotel, with no formal interviews taking place and no charges laid as yet. Swans chairman Andrew Pridham conceded the club had effectively torpedoed its own premiership hopes by handing down the bans, but said it was the right stance to take.
ESSENDON SUPPLEMENTS SAGA
Essendon were suspended from the 2013 AFL finals and coach James Hird was banned for a year over the club's 2012 supplements regime. A total of 34 past and present Essendon players were eventually found guilty of taking banned substance Thymosin Beta-4 during the 2012 season, resulting in 12-month bans that ruled them out for the entire 2016 season. Former captain Jobe Watson handed back his 2012 Brownlow medal, knowing he was probably going to be stripped of it anyway.
BEN COUSINS AND WEST COAST'S DRUG CULTURE
In a sad saga that is still having repercussions to this day, Ben Cousins was at the head of a toxic drug culture at West Coast during the early-to-mid 2000s. Cousins' drug addiction spiralled so far out of control, the club eventually cut ties with him at the end of 2007, just a year after their premiership. From news of Chad Fletcher being revived after flat-lining in Las Vegas during a wild end-of-season trip in 2006, to punch-ups between teammates - the Eagles were a club in freefall off the field. Adam Hunter has since died, Daniel Kerr has been in and out of jail, while Daniel Chick has been vocal in his criticism of West Coast's drug culture and the effect it had on him.
WAYNE CAREY'S AFFAIR WITH A TEAMMATE'S WIFE
In a saga that ripped North Melbourne apart, superstar forward Wayne Carey's affair with Kelli Stevens - the wife of his vice-captain and best friend Anthony Stevens - was exposed during a team barbecue at Glenn Archer's house on the eve of the 2002 season. Carey quit the Kangaroos in disgrace and later joined Adelaide for two underwhelming seasons in 2003 and 2004. Denis Pagan, who was North's coach at the time of the controversy, later said the incident destroyed the fabric of the football club. Stevens has never forgiven Carey.
ADELAIDE'S DOOMED PRE-SEASON CAMP
Adelaide's 2018 pre-season camp was meant to bond the player group and increase their mental toughness just months after tasting grand final defeat. Instead, it ended up forever fracturing the team and traumatising individual players. From First Nations rituals being allegedly misappropriated to players having personal and sensitive information hurled against them - the camp run by Collective Mind was an utter disaster. "Post the camp, the club completely fell apart. It's the worst idea I've ever witnessed or been a part of in my adult life," former Adelaide forward Josh Jenkins later said.
CARLTON SALARY CAP BREACH
The Blues were found guilty of deliberate, elaborate and systemic salary cap breaches across the 2001 and 2002 seasons. As part of the punishment, Carlton were stripped of picks No.1, 2, 31 and 34 in the 2002 national draft and its first and second-round picks in 2003. The loss of top-end draft picks in consecutive years effectively set Carlton back more than half a decade, with the Blues not making finals again until 2009.
GEELONG'S CONCUSSION CLAUSE
In a controversy that only recently came to light, Geelong signed a secret concussion waiver with Jake Kolodjashnij in 2024 following concerns about the premiership defender's history of head knocks. Kolodjashnij agreed to the deal in a bid to continue his AFL career, with the waiver effectively exonerating the club and its medical team from court action for any potential future brain trauma. The AFL has sent Geelong a "please explain" and it remains to be seen what sanctions - if any - the Cats will face.
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