McCarthy death an accident - club  JOHN McCARTHY died in a Las
Vegas hotel driveway as a result of a tragic accident, the Port
Adelaide football operations manager, Peter Rohde, has said.
The Herald has learnt McCarthy's family and girlfriend, Dani
Smarrelli, were contacted yesterday to be assured his death was
neither deliberate nor suspicious - a finding confirmed by the
Las Vegas coroner.  The 22-year-old appears to have climbed down
a ladder from the third-storey roof balcony of the Flamingo
Hotel onto a lower level where he attempted a failed leap across
to a palm tree but instead landed on his back on the bitumen
below.  While the results of a toxicology report will not be
known for several weeks, it is understood McCarthy had been
drinking heavily at a Las Vegas nightclub with his teammates.
The Port Adelaide players, who arrived home early yesterday,
have told club officials illicit drugs were being regularly
offered to them during the four hours McCarthy spent at the
nightclub but they had no knowle