TOPIC:

I have a lot of respect for Jobe. Such a professional when in the media spotlight.

At least now I can figure out what I am doing with my fantasy teams!

UNKA2 wrote: Summed up beautifully in 4 words on one website.

AFL the new FIFA

FIFA have probably got more cred.

premiership hangover wrote: I have four questions that I think the community has the right to ask the AFL and ASADA. Id love to ask these to Ben and Gillian......

1) Who ran a 2 year investigation that wasn't able to find evidence of drugs being administered, and if that's the case who advised ASADA and the AFL top go ahead and try to prosecute with such shithouse evidence?

2) What was presented in the courts when Hird tried to get the evidence outlawed, what was he trying to get banned?

3) If the court deemed the evidence was collected fairly then why didn't they rule then that the evidence was inconclusive and may not be able to be acted upon?

4) who is accountable for the actions the AFL took in the first place to run a number of people out of the game because of the darkest day in Australian sport?

While the verdict is puzzling, it has been handed down. If the investigation was sh1thouse then who is accountable for that???? We were quick to hang players and administrators (myself included) based on what we were told.

Essendon may have gotten away with this one, or they may not have. I guess we will never know unless players start growing tails in 15 years.

Now lets get on with round 1 and bring on the footy, i'm sick about reading about dickheads and drugs in our sport, I wanna read and talk about football

Easy to forget ASADA were advised by their own investigators not to proceed with SCNs due to lack of evidence. McDevitt then made a captain's decision to proceed against this advice and ultimately must assume responsibility for his decision to push ahead with flimsy, uncorroborated and adulterated evidences.

Dirty Weekender wrote: where are you now Caro???? Demetriou???? ALP???? Can't wait to here the conspiracy theories that will come from the other side of the fence now the evidence had been shown to be insufficient. Many lessons to be learnt from this saga from the entire football community including Essendon but what's most important is the real victims in this entire saga, the players, have been afforded their constitutional right of being found innocent of charges that could not be proven to a comfortable satisfaction by circumstantial and flimsy evidence based on assumptions and not facts.


Over to you Peter....I'm goin to the pub

DW One wonders whether there will be any long term health ramifications due to what the players were injected. With respect to James Hird I cannot see how he can recover his reputation.

BC wrote: yeah...where's Jason Clare now? oh that's right..they copped a drubbing at the last election and he's nowhere to be seen.

BC your slip is showing. If you think that the Essendon saga is not a disgrace then I am almost speechless. At this point in time the players really have no idea what they have been exposed to and have absolutely no idea what the health implications long term will be.

Also, it might be a little premature ASADA have three weeks to appeal and then WADA have three weeks to choose whether they will appeal. It may still have a long way to go as yet. There may yet be a trip to the CAS.

Good article on Wikipedia re this issue with a great time line... Taken from Reference 9 is below. That is what was reported at the time that the Drug was NOT on the banned list.

This Wiki article puts it all in a nutshell with resignation and the whole box and dice. I found it interesting in the fact it was a Tangled web and certainly a mess or made into a mess by the AFL and DEMETRIOU.

Just an extract to set the record straight on my previous statement that the media did report it was NOT a banned substance at the time of use...

From reference 9 of the article

Last month, Essendon captain and last year's Brownlow Medal winner Jobe Watson stated in a television interview that he had been given what he believed was AOD-9604, an anti-obesity peptide which is prohibited under section S.0 of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) code, although not on the so-called "banned list".

This month, ABC's AFL expert Gerard Whateley made revelations that Essendon players will not be sanctioned for use of AOD-9604 because ASADA had told the club in 2012 that it was not banned.

The full sequence of events etc is at this link.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essendon_Football_...plements_controversy

Cardy wrote: Good article on Wikipedia re this issue with a great time line... Taken from Reference 9 is below. That is what was reported at the time that the Drug was NOT on the banned list.

This Wiki article puts it all in a nutshell with resignation and the whole box and dice. I found it interesting in the fact it was a Tangled web and certainly a mess or made into a mess by the AFL and DEMETRIOU.

Just an extract to set the record straight on my previous statement that the media did report it was NOT a banned substance at the time of use...

From reference 9 of the article

Last month, Essendon captain and last year's Brownlow Medal winner Jobe Watson stated in a television interview that he had been given what he believed was AOD-9604, an anti-obesity peptide which is prohibited under section S.0 of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) code, although not on the so-called "banned list".

This month, ABC's AFL expert Gerard Whateley made revelations that Essendon players will not be sanctioned for use of AOD-9604 because ASADA had told the club in 2012 that it was not banned.

The full sequence of events etc is at this link.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essendon_Football_...plements_controversy

Card.y it is my understanding that the AFL tribunal found that it was a banned substance. It was they were not satisfied that the Essendon players had received the banned substance

that's right Swan, what I just read had the tribunal chairman saying they were not satisfied they knew what was injected.

this is like an onion, shit loads of layers and every time you peel another layer off all you want to do is cry at the outcome

swan42 wrote:

Dirty Weekender wrote: where are you now Caro???? Demetriou???? ALP???? Can't wait to here the conspiracy theories that will come from the other side of the fence now the evidence had been shown to be insufficient. Many lessons to be learnt from this saga from the entire football community including Essendon but what's most important is the real victims in this entire saga, the players, have been afforded their constitutional right of being found innocent of charges that could not be proven to a comfortable satisfaction by circumstantial and flimsy evidence based on assumptions and not facts.


Over to you Peter....I'm goin to the pub

DW One wonders whether there will be any long term health ramifications due to what the players were injected. With respect to James Hird I cannot see how he can recover his reputation.

That's the million dollar question 42....looking forward to the court case the ex player is bringing against the club and Dank to see if the courts can force the release of information the club says they don't have and Dank says he does. Might get some real answers then about these 'mystery' drugs that ASADA alleged were banned and injected in to players yet could not prove with even comfortable satisfaction existed at the club after a 2yr investigation. We must recognise that this included numerous negative or as ASADA cleverly worded it inconclusive blood samples taken from players during the middle of the supplement regime. But yeah to respond to your concerns re players future health I do wonder and hope the players are given the factual info they are rightfully entitled to know from Dank who ultimately is the only person that can inform the players exactly what was administered if he ever decides to act with any professional integrity within his current lifetime.

As for Hird I don't believe his intentions were to cheat , unlike many others he has not waivered from his original stance, statements and beliefs in what was set up and occurred at the club, was in my eyes clearly compromised by those around him both before and during the investigation and whilst for sure he may have made some mistakes along the way I do believe his heart was in the right place even if some of his methods and trusting others failed him so I for one am prepared to give him a second chance, to learn from the mistakes made and give him the opportunity to redeem his coaching career and lead the club forward on to bigger and better things. I know the haters won't agree but my gut feeling at this point is that aside from the 34 footballers James may be the only bloke amongst the major players in this whole saga who has been honest with the football public yet the witch hunt will undoubtedly continue. Will be interesting to see how the AFL and ASADA stand up to future media and possibly parliamentary scrutiny of their behaviour throughout this let alone the media themselves. Be interesting to see if any of their people break ranks when put under the microscope of any external reviews. What's even more important though is that everyone involved across the entire footy community learn from all the mistakes made here and learn not to condemn people of allegations before the allegations can be proven. Guilty until proven innocent is an unacceptable standard for any Australian to have to suffer.

Dirty Weekender wrote:

swan42 wrote:

Dirty Weekender wrote: where are you now Caro???? Demetriou???? ALP???? Can't wait to here the conspiracy theories that will come from the other side of the fence now the evidence had been shown to be insufficient. Many lessons to be learnt from this saga from the entire football community including Essendon but what's most important is the real victims in this entire saga, the players, have been afforded their constitutional right of being found innocent of charges that could not be proven to a comfortable satisfaction by circumstantial and flimsy evidence based on assumptions and not facts.


Over to you Peter....I'm goin to the pub

DW One wonders whether there will be any long term health ramifications due to what the players were injected. With respect to James Hird I cannot see how he can recover his reputation.

That's the million dollar question 42....looking forward to the court case the ex player is bringing against the club and Dank to see if the courts can force the release of information the club says they don't have and Dank says he does. Might get some real answers then about these 'mystery' drugs that ASADA alleged were banned and injected in to players yet could not prove with even comfortable satisfaction existed at the club after a 2yr investigation. We must recognise that this included numerous negative or as ASADA cleverly worded it inconclusive blood samples taken from players during the middle of the supplement regime. But yeah to respond to your concerns re players future health I do wonder and hope the players are given the factual info they are rightfully entitled to know from Dank who ultimately is the only person that can inform the players exactly what was administered if he ever decides to act with any professional integrity within his current lifetime.

As for Hird I don't believe his intentions were to cheat , unlike many others he has not waivered from his original stance, statements and beliefs in what was set up and occurred at the club, was in my eyes clearly compromised by those around him both before and during the investigation and whilst for sure he may have made some mistakes along the way I do believe his heart was in the right place even if some of his methods and trusting others failed him so I for one am prepared to give him a second chance, to learn from the mistakes made and give him the opportunity to redeem his coaching career and lead the club forward on to bigger and better things. I know the haters won't agree but my gut feeling at this point is that aside from the 34 footballers James may be the only bloke amongst the major players in this whole saga who has been honest with the football public yet the witch hunt will undoubtedly continue. Will be interesting to see how the AFL and ASADA stand up to future media and possibly parliamentary scrutiny of their behaviour throughout this let alone the media themselves. Be interesting to see if any of their people break ranks when put under the microscope of any external reviews. What's even more important though is that everyone involved across the entire footy community learn from all the mistakes made here and learn not to condemn people of allegations before the allegations can be proven. Guilty until proven innocent is an unacceptable standard for any Australian to have to suffer.

All very well DW, but dont forget us AUSSIES hate anything to do with drugs, ( its our mantra ya know), so holding up that principle so very very high as we get told ad nausuem by all sporting bodies ( dont we jus hate the chinese and germans when they cheat), so, as a testimate to that we will ensure ALL RECORDS OF SUPPLEMNTS WILL BE KEPT ON FILE AND STRICT RECORD KEEPING ADHERED TOO. Its been going on for years, and we rattle out a lame excuse "learn from our mistakes?"... such a lovely throw away line isnt it. Cos we here in Aus DISPISE any drugs in sport. Then comes a REAL TEST of our credibility ( lets now forget how we bleat to the world how "clean" we are), and guess what......WE DONT KNOW WHAT WE JABBED EM WITH 100's of times. Dont care what club it was....its a blody disgrace, and we as a proud sporting country should hand our heads in shame. We can never ever point to other countries for slimey cover ups or corruption in sport.