St Kilda great Nick Dal Santo says it is “annoying and frustrating” that he and his former teammates have been forced to defend themselves following allegations this week that drug use was”rife” at the St Kilda Football Club during the coaching tenure of Grant Thomas.

The former Saints coach revealed he was stunned when he was told recreational drug use was “rife” among players during his time at the club in the early 2000s.

In his podcast, the ex-Saints mentor opened up about how he was “devastated” when one player told him about what was allegedly happening under his watch shortly after he finished his tenure in 2006.

“I would’ve had a suspicion of one or two, but no more than a week or so after I finish, one of the players, he told me what had actually been going on, which basically devastated me,” Thomas said on Sam, Mike & Thommo.

“He said that it (drug use) was rife — a lot of them.

“Some of the players that were mentioned could’ve dropped me.”

Dal Santo responded to Thomas’ comments on Wednesday afternoon, suggesting it was irresponsible for his former mentor to make such a broad statement that could inaccurately be linked to so many former players.

“I am just as shocked that he’s even going to suggest that it was rife within that playing group, but then not follow on,” Dal Santo said on SEN Radio.

“It’s just annoying and frustrating and there’s just no need for it.”

The former midfielder admitted it there was a drinking culture at the club, but said he never saw any evidence that the club had a drug culture problem.

He also said he now believes he has to defend himself because of what Thomas said.

“I will say I’m extremely disappointed that I’m going to get painted with the brush of possibly being one of those drug takers that you wouldn’t have thought did it,” he said.

“I would be shocked if it was “rife” with that playing group. I’m not calling Grant a liar, because if that’s the story he’s been told he has every right to tell it.

“But I look through some of the guys I grew up with since I was 17 and I’m still really close with a big group of them, to say it was rife with that particular group of players, would shock me.

“I didn’t see it. Yes, we drank... but I didn’t see drugs. It wasn’t part of our culture with that particular playing group.

“It would be naive of me to say no one at St Kilda was doing it, but rife makes me think it’s the majority, that’s 20 to 25 players, I can’t see that.”

🎥 Speaking on @SENAfternoons, Nick Dal Santo has responded to ex-coach Grant Thomas’ claim that illicit drug use was “rife” within the St Kilda playing group back in the early-to-mid 2000s.



WATCH 👇 pic.twitter.com/VmaKJ46P6h — SEN 1116 (@1116sen) February 20, 2019

Thomas spoke further about the bombshell when talking to AFL legends Tim Watson and Garry Lyon on SEN Breakfast. The 60-year-old said he couldn’t believe he was in the dark about the alleged drug use because he believed he was so close with his players.

Thomas also alleged cocaine was the main drug he was told was being used.

“I had no idea and I prided myself on how close I was and personal with every single one of the players on the list and you could’ve blown me over with a feather when I found out,” Thomas said.

“I thought I knew them but I didn’t know them that well obviously.

“It was sort of just like, what’s the big deal? It happens everywhere, and that was in 2006.

“I suppose what the guys do these days is they have some (cocaine) and it’s well accepted amongst the playing group, but it’s a bit startling to people like myself.”

Thomas also suggested the issue of drug use in the AFL is likely worse now than it was when he was coaching, and he doesn’t believe enough is being done to combat the problem.

“I’d be amazingly surprised if people have pulled their head in. You hear regularly different rumours about different players,” Thomas said.

“It’s just not reported. It’s not something the media talk about.

“I just find it really disturbing and a great concern and I don’t know that enough is being done about it.”

Former St Kilda president Rod Butterss has previously admitted to using drugs during his time with the club. Speaking on The Footy Show in 2017, he said he had never seen cocaine until he arrived at the Saints.

“(AFL is) a party environment after dark, there’s a lot of drugs,” Butterss said. “A lot of drugs. A lot of alcohol, a lot of gambling.”

Butterss left St Kilda in 2007 and later admitted he made decisions while under the influence of alcohol but denied ever taking drugs with St Kilda players.

“I have to put my hand up and say, as an alcoholic during that period, albeit high-functioning, there were times when I had to make decisions about people’s welfare that in hindsight I’m ashamed I wasn’t in the best possible shape to make those decisions,” Butterss said on The Footy Show.

Two years ago, former St Kilda captain Nick Riewoldt outlined his shock at the dramatic revelations.

“That certainly didn’t apply to the playing group, I can speak factually about that,” Riewoldt said on The Footy Show.

“We were challenging for premierships throughout that period. A prelim in 2004 that we lost by a goal, a prelim in 2005 that we arguably could have and should have won, and to hear decisions were being made under the influence is disappointing.”