- Daniel Chick caught up with old footy teammates
A handful of former West Coast Eagles stars were on hand at Optus Stadium last Sunday as they celebrated the 20 years on from their 2006 premiership – but it was the radically different appearance of one club great that turned heads.
While the likes of Ben Cousins and Chris Judd are easy to identify despite the passage of time, the same can’t be said for Daniel Chick.
The tagger – now aged 50 – looked very different to his former self as he joined the likes of David Wirrpanda and Michael Braun in Perth.
Chick, who famously had a finger amputated so he wouldn’t miss any games in the 2002 AFL season, is believed to be working in construction these days.
The 103-game West Coast veteran has also endured plenty of brushes with the law after hanging up his playing boots in 2007.
They include being fined $500 when police found meth after discovering Chick sleeping in his car, and being fined $900 for possessing meth and drug paraphernalia in 2019.
A handful of former West Coast Eagles stars were on hand at Optus Stadium last Sunday in Perth as they celebrated 20 years on from their 2006 premiership, including Daniel Chick (left), Ben Cousins (centre) and Chris Judd (third from right)
While the likes of Ben Cousins and Chris Judd are easy to identify despite the passage of time, the same can’t be said for Chick (pictured right, with teammate Michael Braun)
Chick infamously had a finger amputated so he wouldn’t miss any games in the 2002 AFL season. He then struggled with a meth addiction after retiring from footy
In 2016, Chick opened up about the drug culture in the team during the flag-winning 2006 season with West Coast
Chick was also fined $7000 for importing steroids from Thailand in 2010.
In 2016, Chick opened up about the drug culture in the team during the flag-winning 2006 season in a bombshell interview.
Chick claimed players were abusing drugs that were provided through the club – including Xanax, Stilnox, Sudafed and Valium – to get high.
He claimed Ben Cousins, Daniel Kerr and himself personally took huge doses of the asthma drug prednisone, which can have serious side effects.
‘At those levels it’s the same as being a full-on meth addict,’ Chick said.
It followed years of allegations that West Coast officials repeatedly covered up the wild behaviour of their footy stars at their peak.
In 2017, it was revealed the AFL previously conducted a secret report dubbed the Gillard investigation in 2008 – and the findings were shocking.
The 87-page report by retired Victorian Supreme Court judge William Gillard stated that cocaine, speed, ice, ecstasy and marijuana were abused by Eagles players – and club bosses turned a blind eye to the illicit drug use.
In 2001, coaches were warned by WA Police about players dabbling in recreational drugs, and in another incident, the report claimed a prescription form stolen from a club doctor was used by Kerr to buy 50 Valium pills.
Gillard suggested in his report the Valium pills could assist teammates to ‘prolong a high’.
The report was also scathing of then coach John Worsfold and Eagles chief executive Trevor Nisbett.
