Adelaide premiership skipper Mark Bickley has hit back at Jeff Kennett’s suggestion that the parents of AFL players should be made aware of their child’s first strike under the league’s drug policy.
Speaking in the Herald Sun, Kennett said the current system is “unworkable” and believes letting parents know has “validity”, feeling it might make a difference.
Bickley doesn’t believe the former Hawthorn president’s idea is feasible in most cases.
“I think in some cases where you’ve got young players, that may be appropriate, but there are some issues with it,” Bickley told SEN SA Breakfast.
“First and foremost is that it’s someone’s personal medical information.
“I don’t know if anyone’s ever tried to do something on behalf of their children, if you’ve got children in their 20s, if you try to ring up and talk to their doctors, it’s impossible. You need the actual person.
“So if you’re saying we’ve got this intensely private information and you’re just going to give it out to people’s parents, now different people have different relationships with their parents, but I’m not sure you can throw that around.
“Let’s extrapolate that to some of the older players. Pick a player in their 30s and they have a strike, are you really going to ring up their parents? I don’t think that’s appropriate.
“It’s an interesting thought bubble, but I’m just not sure that’s ever going to happen or be feasible.”
The former Crows captain has also called out the “hypocrisy” surrounding how AFL players are judged on societal issues when compared to others in high profile situations.
“The hypocrisy around society with footy players sometimes is hard to comprehend,” Bickley added.
“Let’s take Barnaby Joyce the other night. Drunk, face down, swearing, carrying on – I would say if that was an AFL player, they would’ve been suspended, pilloried, called disgusting – yet this is a guy who was the acting Prime Minister of our country and he was back at work the next day.
“Where should we be focusing our attention?
“If a footy player does anything wrong it’s the end of the world.”
Listen to the full chat from SEN SA Breakfast below
