Not sure if it's the same but WA Today has this:
Sport Integrity Australia is reportedly probing the death of a former Melbourne and Fremantle player as part of its investigation into the AFL’s illicit drug policy.
Harley Balic died in January 2022, days after his 25th birthday.
Two people close to Balic, who would not speak publicly because of the sensitivities of his case, have confirmed to this masthead that he battled drug addiction, anxiety and mental health issues.
The Herald Sun reported on Wednesday that Balic’s case was referenced in a statement made by former Melbourne doctor Zeeshan Arain, which was handed to SIA by federal MP Andrew Wilkie last month, and that Dr Arain had been interviewed by SIA investigators.
The Herald Sun reported that Dr Arain said in his statement: “Often list management is used to solve a lot of problems.
“It gets to the point where they (AFL clubs) are like, ’Well, if we can’t help this player, we will move them on.
“And the problem is that the player doesn’t cease to exist to be a person once they are not in your club, the duty of care still goes on.
“Take Harley Balic, for example. A few years after Harley Balic left the Melbourne Football Club he was dead related to drug use.”
At the time of Balic’s death Victoria Police said they would prepare a report for the coroner.
His death was not treated as suspicious.
Sport Integrity Australia announced in March it would investigate allegations around illicit drug tests in the AFL, following accusations made in Parliament by Wilkie.
Wilkie claimed in the House of Representatives that club doctors were conducting tests in the week leading up to a match on players who had previously failed an illicit drug test for banned substances to avoid running foul of anti-doping rules and risking long bans from the sport.
Wilkie said others alleged that players who failed these tests were then rested, “ostensibly on account of injury”.
Dr Arain has since told this masthead he did not intend to blow up the AFL’s illicit drugs policy or the use “of-the-books” tests to protect players from testing positive to performance-enhancing drugs on match day.
“I wasn’t attacking the illicit drugs policy,” Arain said. “I wanted to expose cultural problems, not off-the-books testing.
“My comments about the testing were just factual. I wasn’t revealing a scandal. The illicit drugs policy is probably one of the better things the AFL does. If this becomes a strict name and shame policy and I have contributed to that, I will feel really remorseful for the players.”
Balic played four games for the Dockers at the start of 2017 after they drafted him at pick 38 in the 2015 AFL national draft. He also played in Peel Thunder’s 2016 premiership team. He spoke openly about his battles with mental health and anxiety during his career.
Sport Integrity Australia declined to comment.
A talented junior basketballer, Balic began his football career with Mordialloc Braeside in Melbourne’s south-east before becoming All-Australian at under-18 level having played for Vic Metro.
