Brisbane coach Michael Voss says he is trying to sift through what is “fact and fiction” after another allegation of illicit drug use was levelled at the AFL club.
The Courier-Mail on Tuesday reported that a Brisbane player sat out some games last decade in a bid to cover up an illicit drug issue.
It came a day after the newspaper reported a “self-confessed drug-dealer” threatened to expose match-fixing, illegal gambling and drug use allegations involving the AFL club between 2002 and 2009.
The AFL’s integrity unit is believed to be investigating.
Voss conceded he could not rule out players using drugs during that period.
“They could have been (doing anything),” Voss told Triple M radio on Tuesday.
“I’m not naive enough to sit here and say that it hasn’t happened.
“I couldn’t say that with 100 per cent certainty.
“But there has been a whole bunch of things mentioned and I’d really question the validity of those allegations.”
When asked about the claim of a player sitting out games to hide a drug issue, Voss said: “I’m learning some things here, apparently.
“Trying to sort through what is fact and fiction is a little hard at the moment.
“There are inconsistencies that players have missed games … because as officials and (other) players, we don’t get notified.
“The doctor does that with the (individual) player and we don’t know.
“That shouldn’t be general knowledge and no-one should know except the player and the doctor.”
The story came after it was reported Jason McGrath, said to be the cousin of 2003 premiership player Ash McGrath, made a series of threats on his Facebook page to reveal his claims of illegal practices from 2002-09.
Jason McGrath told the newspaper he had been a drug supplier between 2002 and 2009 and named six Lions players from that period whom he claimed were heavy users of speed, ecstasy and marijuana.
He also claimed he was involved in fixing an AFL match involving the Lions in 2003 and had regularly received team information from Lions players before games for the purposes of betting.
Voss led the Lions to flags from 2001-03 as captain, retired in 2006 and was coach by 2009.
Asked if he’d ever met Jason McGrath, Voss said: “Not that I can certainly recall.
“That’s why we say they (the claims) are unsubstantiated.
“The names that have been thrown around I haven’t even seen before.
“Speaking to some of my other teammates yesterday they don’t know who he is either.
“But he might be familiar to some of our players at that stage of our careers, but he certainly wasn’t to a majority of us.”
The Lions released a statement on Monday dismissing the initial newspaper report and Voss said on Tuesday they were treating allegations of illicit drug use “very seriously”.
Voss said anyone with information should go to the police or the AFL’s integrity unit.
“We encourage that process to happen. We’re not sitting here saying we’re trying to avoid it,” he said.
