Leigh Matthews lifts lid on 20-year-old Brisbane secret and breaks ‘cardinal rule’

AFL legend Leigh Matthews has lifted the lid on a stunning revelation from more than two decades ago, claiming a club doctor once told him that a player had been smoking marijuana.

Matthews was speaking on live radio when he decided to share the intriguing story, with Channel 7 expert Kane Cornes saying, “Lethal waited 20 years to break a cardinal rule.”

Matthews, of course, coached Brisbane to a famous threepeat between 2001-03. He also coached Collingwood to a famous drought-breaking flag in 1990.

Prior to that, he was considered one of the greatest players to have ever graced an Australian Football field.

“Look, 20 years ago now, well over that, a club doctor at the Lions said to me, so-and-so, don’t play him ... I’ll let you know when you can play him,” Matthews revealed on 3AW.

“I think he might have been smoking a bit of weed. I think that was the issue.

“And basically (the doctor said), I’ll let you know when it’s out of his system.”

Matthews, 74, obviously declined to reveal the identity of the player involved.

The Lions, under Matthews, became an AFL powerhouse, winning three consecutive flags and playing in four straight grand finals.

The curtain came down on his coaching career at the end of 2008 when the Lions finished 10th.

Several players Matthews coached have since gone on to become respected AFL coaches in their own right, including Geelong mastermind Chris Scott and Collingwood premiership coach Craig McRae.

Former Carlton coach Michael Voss was also a champion for the Lions when Matthews was coach, and former Essendon and North Melbourne coach Brad Scott also played for the Lions.

This masthead is not suggesting any of those names are linked to the “weed” smoker in Matthews’ story.

In 2012 the AFL was part of a push to have cannabis removed from WADA’s list of banned match-day performance-enhancing substances.