THE AFL yesterday identified the curbing of binge drinking as a priority, labelling it a common denominator in players behaving badly.
Under a new plan to be directed by the AFL Players' Association, all players will be warned about the perils of excessive drinking the moment they begin their annual holidays, rather than at the end of them, after a Melbourne University study into the AFL's drinking culture found that players are most likely to cause trouble at the beginning of their break.
Behind closed doors in a two-day conference between the AFL's executive and the 16 club chief executives, league chief executive Andrew Demetriou floated the possibility of working in partnership with brewer Foster's, one of the competition's major sponsors, to promote responsible drinking.
Addressing the media yesterday in the same week that Fremantle forward Jeff Farmer admitted he had an alcohol problem, Demetriou said the group discussion about players' alcohol consumption a "watershed moment".
Several clubs have already approached the players' association about running seminars with their players as soon as their seasons end this year, in either late August or September.
Typically, player workshops about alcohol and drug use have been conducted in February, but the Melbourne University study found that end-of- year talks would have greater impact.
Sensitive to the fact that it is discussing the use of a licit substance, the players' association is now investigating ways to convey its message of caution without sounding sanctimonious.
"I think everybody walked away from this meeting saying that this is really a watershed moment to tackle this issue. I think some real progress can be made," Demetriou said.
"If we tackle this as an industry, I think we can make great progress. I was pleased finally that this topic came up. It's one of the topics that in my time in football hasn't had a run.
"We're not saying 'don't drink alcohol' but there are certain things that we can all do as an industry that revolve around responsible drinking and actually highlighting some danger areas where the incidence of these things happening is heightened."
Players' association head Brendon Gale, the association's psychology services manager, Dr Pippa Grange, and the general manager of player development, Steve Alessio, addressed the chief executives at the conference on Wednesday.
Deputy Police Commissioner Simon Overland and John Fitzgerald, an associate professor at Melbourne University involved in the player alcohol survey, were also speakers.
Demetriou said: "The research showed that players who indulge in excessive drinking, particularly immediately out of season in the vacation period, were much more likely to get into altercations while socialising."
The chief executives were also updated on the league's continuing work on its illicit drugs code which, according to player feedback, was proving successful.
"There's no doubt that the player groups have reported to the AFL that they believe the policy has seen a significant change in general player behaviour over the past two seasons," Demetriou said.
But, having met club presidents and chief executives in the past week, Demetriou admitted they were split "50-50" over whether players should be granted two or three strikes before being suspended.
The current three-strikes policy, which has been challenged vigorously by federal politicians, had been agreed to for four years with the players' association.
Demetriou said that the finalisation of league policy on the matter of sanctioning players for unacceptable behaviour generally would be raised again with the clubs in November, before the AFL Commission meeting in December.
