Tuck records third strike

Hawthorn midfielder Travis Tuck has become the first player to record a third strike
under the AFL's controversial illicit drugs policy.
The AFL tribunal will meet on Tuesday night to determine Tuck's penalty, which could
be up to 18 matches plus a $5000 fine.
The AFL issued Tuck with a third strike after he was found unconscious by police and
transported to hospital on Friday night.
He had twice previously tested positive to illicit drugs under the league's testing
regime.
Tuck did not contest the AFL's decision to apply a third strike.
It means Tuesday night's hearing will be only to determine a sanction, rather than
determine the player's guilt.
The tribunal will hear from Tuck's treating clinicians and drug counsellors.
The hearing will be closed because of the medical evidence.
Under the policy, which started in 2005, a player who records three strikes must
front the tribunal.
The hearing will be chaired by former Victorian County Court Judge John Hassett,
with drug experts Susan White and Andrew Garnham on the panel.
The illicit drugs policy is separate to the league's standard anti-doping policy.
The main controversy surrounding the illicit policy is that a player's identity only
becomes public after his third strike.
He receives counselling after the first strike and his club medical officer is
informed after the second strike.
Under the policy, a player receives a $5000 suspended fine for a first strike and a
six-game ban, also suspended, for a second strike.
Those punishments are added to a third-strike penalty of up to 12 matches, which the
tribunal determines.
Tuck, 22, is the son of AFL games record holder and Hawthorn legend Michael Tuck.
Travis' older brother, Shane, plays for Richmond.
Tuck has played 20 senior games for Hawthorn since his 2007 debut, but has not made
an AFL appearance this season.
Police have confirmed they will not lay charges over the weekend incident involving
Tuck.
"We don't want to discourage people when they find themselves in need of some
medical assistance or some medical treatment ... from actually calling police and
asking for help," Victoria Police deputy commissioner Kieran Walshe told reporters
on Tuesday.
Hawthorn president Jeff Kennett said the club was doing all it could to support Tuck.
"First, second, third concern at the moment is for Travis and his family," Kennett
said.
Also on Tuesday, Collingwood coach Mick Malthouse said he wanted the AFL to review
the privacy provisions of the first two strikes.
"It's in our interest, it's in the family's interest - I know some players come from
dysfunctional families, but let me tell you, the football family is not
dysfunctional," Malthouse said.
"If we are privy to the testing that may expose a player ... why do we have to wait?
"I might have it wrong, that's my opinion, all I say is `review that'."