Alleged cover-ups continue to haunt Eagles

A damning report from 2008 detailing the extent of West Coast's past drug problems has cast a shadow over the club heading into their 2017 campaign.

Will the ghosts of West Coast's drug era ever go away?

It's a question the Eagles must be asking themselves every day, especially after the leaking of a 2008 document about the club's toxic culture at the time.

As each year passes, more and more details about West Coast's misadventures of the 2000s are revealed.

Even more damning are the alleged cover-ups by club officials.

The consequence of letting the player culture slip to such an extreme is now sadly evident in the ongoing downward spiral of former captain Ben Cousins, who is in jail after pleading guilty to drug and stalking charges.

Daniel Chick, Chad Fletcher, Adam Hunter and Daniel Kerr are just some of the other players from the premiership team of 2006 whose party lifestyle at the Eagles eventually caught up to them.

But the question remains: Who should cop the brunt of the blame?

Many point the finger at Trevor Nisbett, who has been the club's chief executive since 1999.

Nisbett felt so responsible for the cultural demise he even offered his resignation at the height of the drugs scandal only for the club's board to reject it.

Rumours were rife throughout the 2000s about the off-field misbehaviour of several high-profile Eagles and their connection to illicit drugs.

Nisbett has since expressed ongoing regret over the saga, blaming it on a combination of his naivety and a betrayal of trust from some players.

"... And that is why I said to the board, the easy fix is really for me to go," Nisbett revealed in a ABC interview last year.

"And then the board could say we have had someone, we have moved them on, and we have got someone else in to fix this problem..

"They chose what I thought was a tough stance and a tough decision for them because it would have been easier for them to dismiss me ... they decided to make me fix it."

Former Eagles coach John Worsfold, who was at the helm from 2002-2013, claims he and the club took action when they could.

But the problem was players kept lying to him, with Worsfold unwilling to take action based on just rumours.

Like Nisbett, naivety was at play and it let things fester even more.

The extent of West Coast's problems were documented this week in a release of a damning 2008 report by retired Supreme Court judge William Gillard.

It claims Nisbett and other club officials oversaw a six-year culture of cover-up that allowed toxic behaviour to flourish.

The contents of the previously secret report were published in an eastern states newspaper on Monday, causing more grief for West Coast.

The Eagles have worked hard over the past 10 years to clean up their culture, with Nisbett leading the charge.

But the ghosts of the past era keep haunting them.

On the eve of the 2015 grand final, retired defender Daniel Chick revealed shocking details about the club's drug problems during his time there.

Chick claimed a club staffer had even hidden certain players from drug testers and that the use of cocaine, ecstasy and methamphetamine were widespread in the squad.

The Eagles ended up losing the 2015 grand final to Hawthorn by 46 points, with the lead-up to the match dominated by Chick's revelations.

Now, heading into what the club hopes will be a premiership season, the Eagles have been rocked by yet more revelations.

Former Swans Barry Hall claims West Coast's 2006 flag was tainted and other AFL greats agree.

Whatever the case, the fallout of West Coast's past mistakes don't appear to be fading any time soon.

As the Eagles have found out the hard way - sweeping things under the carpet only works for so long.

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Source: AAP



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