The West Coast Eagles say they are "extremely disappointed" by the "publication of some unsubstantiated claims" as the AFL confirms it will investigate explosive fresh claims levelled at the club by former player Daniel Chick about their mid-2000s drugs culture.
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Chick outlined in a News Corp article the extent of West Coast's drug-taking at the height of their most recent golden era.
The Eagles said they were "not contacted to provide any balance to the article and strongly refutes the allegations in that story".
"The club and its medical staff are deeply offended by these allegations and will discuss internally an appropriate course of action," a club statement read.
The Eagles said issues arising from "challenges" at the club had been addressed and that the club would not be distracted ahead of Saturday's grand final.
Chick, a 2006 premiership player with the Eagles, revealed that the use of cocaine, ecstasy, methamphetamine, Xanax, Valium and Prednisone, which is used to treat asthma, was commonplace at the club.
Prednisone is banned under anti-doping rules unless a player receives permission to use it by ASADA – which Chick, Ben Cousins and Daniel Kerr all had at the time.
Chick detailed how he would consume large doses of Prednisone on game day with other stimulants - a combination that had the ability to make a person feel "bulletproof", according to leading sports medico Dr Peter Larkins.
AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan said inquiries would be made by the AFL even though West Coast were hauled before the AFL commission in 2007 with regards to their endemic drug problem.
"I think they (the integrity department) will certainly make some inquiries," McLachlan told SEN on Thursday morning.
"I don't know how far it goes, it is (something that happened) 10 years ago and there was action at the time coming out of that.
"What I do know is there's enough in it that I'm not dismissing it in the sense that the Eagles board did front the commission.
"I need to go through a process to understand what's real and what's not."
Chick slammed the fact that West Coast's hierarchy were not made accountable for the club's serious drug-taking problem and that some key figures from that time still held positions of authority.
But McLachlan said it was too early to make judgment calls on the people in question.
"He (Chick) has made allegations that are pretty strong and that obviously is something that will be concerning to everyone involved," McLachlan said.
"I need to work through that because there's two sides to the story, so I'm not trying to be dismissive of it but I'm obviously cautious because I don't have the information."
McLachlan commended the way West Coast have turned their club culture around in the past decade.
"All I can do is say right now the Eagles have changed their culture ... they're a model in this area and I have enough data and statistics to say that," McLachlan said.
