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A former Brisbane Lions star has been handed a three-year suspension after he reportedly tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug.
Rhys Mathieson, aged 28, played for the Queensland outfit between 2016 and 2023, making 72 appearances for the AFL club.
However, according to The Herald Sun, the footballer will be ineligible to play football until August 10, 2027, but can return to training in June of that year.
Mathieson was initially set to face a four-year ban, but after he admitted to taking the drugs for reasons that were not related to playing football, the ex-Brisbane Lions midfielder’s ban was reduced.
Sport Integrity Australia (SIA) is also understood to have reduced his suspension after admitting that they had delayed the case unnecessarily.
It is understood that an official announcement is set to be made by the AFL and SIA.
Former Brisbane Lions player Rhys Mathieson has reportedly been banned from playing football for the next three years after allegedly breaching anti-doping rules
Mathieson was delisted by the Lions in 2023, and while he has continued to play QAFL footy, he has undergone an incredible body transformation
The ex-midfielder was provisionally suspended in 2024. He was initially slapped with a four-year ban, but that has been reduced after he admitted to the breach
Mathieson was provisionally suspended from playing Australian rules football at all levels at the beginning of the 2025 season, with his last AFL game for the Lions coming back in 2022 when Brisbane were beaten by Geelong in the AFL preliminary final.
The Sydney Morning Herald adds that Mathieson has decided not to appeal the case.
Known affectionately as ‘Beast Mode’ by his team-mates, the 28-year-old was delisted in 2023, before going on to play for QAFL side, Wilston Grange. He made 16 appearances for the club in 2024.
Perhaps befitting of his nickname, the ex-Lions star has gone through a major physical transformation since leaving the Queensland club, having spent many hours in the gym bulking up.
It comes as the footy player revealed on his podcast last year that drug testers from the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) showed up at his parents' house in the early hours of the morning.
'So 5am in the morning, buzzer is going off at the front door. I don't live at this residence anymore, my mum and dad do,' Mathieson said on his Rip Through It podcast.
'My poor mum is going: “What the hell. Why is there two guys buzzing our door at 5am?” She's getting a bit worried, a bit scared.
'(She) sends the old boy there, he's in his jocks, has to throw on the dressing gown.
The 28-year-old made 72 appearances for the Lions between 2016 and 2023, scoring 29 goals
It comes as the footy player revealed on his podcast last year that drug testers from the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) showed up at his parents' house in the early hours of the morning
The former AFL player had been playing for Wilston Grange in the QAFL since leaving the Lions. He made 16 appearances for the club in 2024
'He opens the door and he goes: “What do you blokes want?”... at this hour it's dark, he can barely see.
'And they're like: “Anti-Doping”. He just goes like: “Nah, not interested”. And shuts the door. So he was thinking it was like an electricity company trying to sell him something.
'So then he goes and has his coffee and 30 minutes later they're still there. He said, “Seriously, what do you guys want?”
'And that's when they said this is anti-doping, we're here to test Rhys Mathieson.'
Mathieson’s story caught the attention of former Brisbane player Mitch Robinson, who criticised ASADA for showing up at his parents' house so early in the morning.
'After Matho blew up on social media this year for his gains, the Barometer just happened to be 'randomly' drug tested by ASADA (in local footy) … Embarrassing for them, he came back squeaky clean,' Robinson posted on social media.
Daily Mail has contacted Mathieson for comment.
