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Black in the black again

By Mr Dandalooa

Former Fremantle Docker Heath Black was allegedly embroiled in a brawl with two teammates from his South West Football League’s Harvey-Brunswick-Leschenault club, after a drunken night turned bad.

FootyGoss has been told the teammates were running amok at Black’s home last Sunday when he turned violent after they began trashing the house.

Gossip among footy ranks is that after coming to blows the troubled player was sacked by his club, but then reassigned.

In May, Black said moving to the country helped him supposedly turn his life around and to get off the booze.

“It’s the best thing I ever did, come down here,” Black said.

He said he used start drinking at 11am to “take away the boredom” and that playing for Harvey-Brunswick-Leschenault was “keeping me off the booze and keeping me out of trouble”.

Last October, Black confessed to a dependency on alcohol.

That alcoholism led to violent public outbursts and eventually led to him losing out on a lucrative on-air job at Channel 7.

His marriage break-up with wife Samantha also added to his woes.

In October Black recorded a blood-alcohol reading of 0.141 and was charged with careless driving and driving in excess of 0.08 alcohol.

In March 2008, he was fined $900 for abusing a field umpire at Subiaco Oval in a practice game against the Kangaroos.

In February 2006, it was rumoured that Black would take part in a publicity stunt similar to the Garry Hocking “Whiskas” incident in 1998, in that Black would change his name to Heath Purple.

Whilst Hocking’s name change only lasted for a week, Black’s would have lasted for the entire 2006 AFL season as part of a promotion with Ribena.

However Black’s involvement in a fight at the Perth Cup on New Year Day 2006 and subsequent police charges of assault occasioning bodily harm, obstructing police and assaulting a female police officer may be a reason the promotion was cancelled.