AFL premiership-winning coach Mick Malthouse fears a soft sanction for Melbourne Demons star Joel Smith will do nothing to deter players from taking illicit substances.
Smith tested positive for cocaine on match day in round 23 against Hawthorn on August 20 and was handed a mandatory provisional suspension on October 10.
However, a caveat in the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) code could be used to reduce a potential four-year ban to just three months.
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That could be further reduced if Smith undertakes a drug diversion program approved by the AFL.
For Malthouse, a light sentencing will do little to deter other players from chancing their arm and could set the tone for repeat cases in seasons to come.
"There is every chance of him being successful. The penalties, if you have a soft penalty, you get a soft result. It's got to be very, very harsh first up," Malthouse told Nine's Today.
"This is a random one, but it's got to be at least half a year to a year. You've got to set the tone. If someone pays a high price, it is a deterrent for the next person who thinks about it.
"It's all nonsense. You know the consequences, you've got to suffer the penalty and the penalty has got to be really harsh."
Malthouse said players must understand that they are in the public eye and cannot be seen to be bringing the sport or their respective clubs into disrepute.
Despite being in the midst of the off-season, Smith has already served three weeks of his suspension.
Malthouse was critical of the AFL and its apparent willingness to let Smith reduce his penalty and allow the process to drag out.
"They seem to reach in and find things that can minimise the impact of the penalty," Malthouse explained.
"Unfortunately, the AFL is always about image – and when you've got that, sometimes a lot of these things get spread out, pushed underneath carpets and so forth.
"Keys stakeholders are rarely involved in this. As a coach point of view, you wouldn't know whether a player tested positive or not because you wouldn't know because you're not allowed to know, so therefore you have no input into how to help that player.
"The other thing we've got to know too is people have got to take responsibility. In the public eye, you love playing the game, you love getting good pay, but there's a price to pay and the price is that drugs are out. You are told that from the word go.
"I have sympathy for young men, or young people. Yes, I don't think they should be nailed in the head first up, there has got to be a second chance but the provision for penalties has got to be that harsh that it's gonna make a lot of people think where this ends up instead of just a slap on the wrist and we go back and then we wait for the next one to appear.
"I don't have any sympathy for the person because you've known from the word go, but then what you have to do is you have to look after that person. The price you pay for being a league footballer has got to be high because you're in the public eye and you cannot avoid that."
Smith played 14 games for the Demons this season, kicking 11 goals. Since his debut in 2017, he has played 42 matches.
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