Peter FitzSimons says cocaine has NEVER been responsible for footy stars committing an off-field atrocity or causing a serious health problem. Here's why he's wrong

Rugby union star turned high-profile columnist Peter FitzSimons has claimed cocaine has not been a factor in footy stars engaging in scandalous behaviour or suffering from serious health problems in an article about the illicit drugs scandal surrounding the AFL.

The 62-year-old made the eye-opening statements in a Sydney Morning Herald story asserting that the AFL should be far more worried about players consuming alcohol after the league was rocked by allegations it played a role in covering up stars' positive results to illicit drugs.

FitzSimons said alcohol had been at least partly responsible nearly 'every time you see an off-field atrocity registered against a footballer's name'.

He then light-heartedly explained how he had tried and failed to recall a time when cocaine was blamed for a player's appalling actions and wrote: 'I am not being a smart-a**e. Name one time, just one time, that taking a surfeit of cocaine has been proven to be at the base of shocking behaviour, or even serious ill-health? ... Alcohol is the one doing the damage, not cocaine.'

Just hours after the story was published, former St Kilda AFL star Sam Fisher pleaded guilty to trafficking cocaine and now faces years in jail.

But he's far from the only footy star whose life and health have been ruined - or even ended - by the drug.

A coroner ruled that West Coast great Chris Mainwaring died of a cocaine-induced seizure on October 1, 2007 after his former wife Rani flushed the drug down the sink earlier that day in an effort to stop him from taking it.

The coroner's report revealed Eagles star Ben Cousins visited Mainwaring after being called by Rani and found him with cocaine on a plate.

Cousins' battle with addiction to cocaine and other drugs is well documented.

In November 2007, just a month after he was sacked by the Eagles after being arrested for alleged drug possession, he was hospitalised in Los Angeles after overdosing on cocaine.

A woman who made an emergency call made to the Hermosa Beach Police Department said Cousins had 'been on cocaine for the past five days'.

The footy star was in the USA to attend rehab at the time and remained in hospital for two days.

In 2010, ex-AFL star Mark Eustice, who played at total of 137 games in an 11-year career with Essendon, Richmond and Sydney, revealed he almost lost his life to a drug addiction that lasted for six years.

At one point he was 'drinking a bottle of vodka a day, six stubbies [of beer], doing two bags of coke'.

Eustice said the habit that almost cost him his life began when he tried cocaine one off-season.

Former St Kilda star 'Rocket' Rod Owen admitted he'd been addicted to cocaine and a range of other drugs to such an extent that he would miss training sessions and matches.

His habit led to his life spiralling out of control - what he called 'a downward spiral to hell' - before he turned his life around by attending rehab in 2018.