Mitchell Johnson: AFL clubs including West Coast Eagles shouldn’t dictate what players do in personal time

You might think West Coast have been embarrassing at times on the field this season. Well that has been taken to a whole new level by the club hierarchy over the past couple of days through their disproportionate response to defenders Jackson Nelson and Josh Rotham being caught going to a nightclub last weekend. For the club to condemn them in such strong terms and suggest that their list spots are now at risk is ridiculous. These players might get paid well for being good at a sport, but it doesn’t make them any less human than anyone else. Who didn’t want to go out and have a good time when they were in their 20s? Rotham and Nelson are aged 24 and 26 and this is what young people do on the weekend. Young people have been intermittently told for more than two years now that they can’t go out. Imagine being single and not being able to meet people. And even if you are in a relationship, not being able to go out and have a good time as you normally would. It would be interesting to know how many other players on the list have done the same thing this season without being caught. The fact a nightclub ban was even in place shows that the level of control over players’ personal lives has got to the point of overreach. These two footballers, who would no doubt feel bad enough as it is, are being treated not only as kids but as criminals when there is no evidence they have committed any offence. We are yet to hear any claims they were overly drunk or involved in a fight or any anti-social behaviour. Their crime was simply being there. Of course, Nelson catching COVID in a week when the Eagles were struggling to field a side is a poor outcome and I can understand the club’s frustration on that front. But he could have caught the virus going to the shops. There is risk everywhere in society and that’s just part of living with COVID. And while the timing isn’t a great look on the back of a triple-figure loss, the club should not punish these players out of frustration for everything that has gone wrong this season. In the third year of COVID, West Coast’s hard line doesn’t appear to show much regard for the players’ mental health either. I can speak from experience when I say that the first impact of being part of a professional sporting team performing badly is that it becomes an isolating experience for the players. It must be even harder to be part of a struggling team in this environment, with COVID precautions removing a lot of the chances for support and bonding that players would normally have. The 2012/13 tour of India, yes the one infamous for ‘homework-gate’ for those with long memories, was the toughest cricket tour I ever went on. It had generally been hard for Australian teams to find a way to be successful on the subcontinent and we lost the Test series 4-0. But it was also a time of sweeping change under coach Mickey Arthur and the group was fractured. There were teams within a team. When we were stuck in a rut like this I tended to lock myself away, which for cricketers meant staying in your own hotel room rather than joining dinner or spending time in the team room with the boys. Keeping to yourself meant you tended to dwell on the negatives even more. We needed to be aware of blokes who were struggling in that situation and help lift them out of it. Having spoken to plenty of Australian cricketers last summer, I know many were fed up after two years of bubbles, quarantine and rules. It’s simply draining. The COVID situation must be making life at the bottom of the ladder even tougher the Eagles. The stringent protocols would be frustrating enough when you are winning. Imagine what it’s like having your personal life controlled like that when you’re getting thumped every weekend. Players from the Perth Scorchers made a lot of personal sacrifices last summer, essentially living in a bubble on the east coast during the tournament as they managed to avoid being cut down by COVID to the extent some other BBL teams were on their way to claiming the trophy. But committing to those sort of strict team rules for a two-month season while you’re winning is a lot easier than doing it for a six-month footy season while you’re losing. COVID has been tough on all of us in different ways. A little more understanding and a little less condemnation would go a long way.