AFL players under fire over 'nasty and unfair' attack

The AFL Players’ Association’s response to an article alleging more than 120 players and coaches have a gambling problem has been slammed as “unfair”.

A Herald Sun article put gambling in the spotlight on the weekend with Geelong star and AFL Players’ Association President Patrick Dangerfield hitting back at the claims a number of players and coaches were battling the issue.

“I was really disappointed by it … the fact that we, as a PA, were not even consulted or spoken to in regards to the article, so we can’t put forward the different measures that we have to help support players,” Dangerfield told Channel 7.

“I think fundamentally it comes back to mental health, and whether it’s drug use, alcoholism or gambling … so the fact that we weren’t even spoken to by Mark really frustrated me.”

The AFLPA also claimed Beams was “not a qualified psychologist or psychiatrist” in a statement released following the article.

But on Monday, Brisbane coach Chris Fagan said the AFLPA targeting Beams as a professional was “probably not fair”.

“She’s a woman of great experience,” Fagan said on Fox Footy.

“She’s worked with a lot of AFL players from various clubs for a long, long time.

“She probably understands this issue as good as anyone going around.”

Fagan went on to claim gambling was the biggest issue AFL faced.

“I’ve been involved in the AFL for 22 years and seen a lot of things at different clubs,” he added.

“I think it’s a massive issue. I think it’s the biggest thing we face in AFL football.”

Melbourne great David Schwarz also weighed in on the debate, claiming Beams was a great professional.

“I have referred a lot of people to Jan and she knows what she’s talking about,” Schwarz said on 3AW.

“She gets results — I think the players association calling her disgruntled is really unfair and quite nasty.”