Aker implicates Sydney player as drug cheat

[NMWBloods]

Spot the difference

Akermanis makes accusations of steroid use against players who can run faster than him. Names one individual and other clubs, thereby effectively casting into doubt the legitimicy and honesty of 36 people or more players without the a shred of evidence.

He named them to the appropriate authorities.

Same comment as above on WC.

[Legs Akimbo]

He named them to the appropriate authorities.

Fairfax Media?

[NMWBloods]

The Age?

ASDA

[swantastic]

We had proof that some Eagles players used recreational drugs. Not the same thing as saying the whole team is on performance-enhancing drugs. And the claims of WC being drug cheats was said long before any proof arrived.

A rotten apple will always spoil the rest .

If the rumors are floating around for a while theres normally a pretty good chance there true.


Just go into a gym and look around and you will get a pretty fair indecation of who's on the juice.Theres no proof but you can just tell most of the time and its the same thing as in the wet toast case.

[NMWBloods]

A rotten apple will always spoil the rest .

If the rumors are floating around for a while theres normally a pretty good chance there true.


Just go into a gym and look around and you will get a pretty fair indecation of who's on the juice.Theres no proof but you can just tell most of the time and its the same thing as in the wet toast case.

Does anyone else see the irony in this...?

[swantastic]

Does anyone else see the irony in this...?

There's plenty of iron in the gym.

[connolly]

We had proof that some Eagles players used recreational drugs. Not the same thing as saying the whole team is on performance-enhancing drugs. And the claims of WC being drug cheats was said long before any proof arrived.

Amphetamines aren't performance enhancing????

[ROK Lobster]

Amphetamines aren't performance enhancing????

Only if you play like Bevan.

[573v30]

Aker must still be hurting after his teammates told him they didn't like his handstands.

[BSA5]

Amphetamines aren't performance enhancing????

No. At least, not according to several doctors who I've spoken to. Maybe they're wrong. But I doubt it, since common sense would also suggest that they aren't performance enhancing. They might make you FEEL superhuman, but the reality is the opposite.

Spot the difference

Akermanis makes accusations of steroid use against players who can run faster than him. Names one individual and other clubs, thereby effectively casting into doubt the legitimicy and honesty of 36 people or more players without the a shred of evidence.

vs.

Cousins admits to being a repeat offending recreational drug user. Kerr caught phoning a dealer to score some horse tranquiliser and that other guys (allegedly) ends flat lining in a Las Vegas emergency room after taking illegal substances. An ex player in close contact with current players, dies from a drug overdose. Various players known associates of criminal bikie gangs with form in the area of amphetamine trading. The AFL's review, and the West Coast's own externall appointed review, both conclude systematic failures of culture and oversight.

Does that explain it or do I really need to spell it out?

Akermanis didn't name anybody to the media. The names were leaked from ASADA to the media; Aka had nothing to do with that. If he had a suspicion, then he had every right to report it to ASADA, and so he should. Maybe he is paranoid, maybe he has such a high opinion of himself that he thinks anybody that beats him is on drugs, but that is beside the point. He didn't publicly name anybody.

Now, onto Cousins (and WC in general). Firstly, Cousins was using a recreational drug. That doesn't make him a drug cheat. It makes him stupid, but he wasn't cheating. Mainwaring didn't die from an overdose; he died from a heart-condition. This was no doubt exacerbated, or even triggered, by drug use, but to say it was an overdose is simply wrong, and a large overstatement. I haven't heard anything about the bikie gangs, etc. If you can provide some sources, I'll accept it as true, but til then I'm ignoring that. But it is irrelevant anyway, because even if these claims are true, it has nothing to do with performance enhancing drugs. And I agree, there are cultural problems at WC. That doesn't mean they are drug cheats, i.e. doing performance enhancing drugs, and it CERTAINLY doesn't mean they ALL do them. Hell, I wouldn't have been surprised if Cousins was the only one, and this culture thing was beaten up to appease the media. Not saying that's the case, but it wouldn't surprise me.

In any case, the point is that people have been calling the entire WC team drug cheats with just as little evidence to support their claims as Aka, and yet they are criticising Aka, and this is completely hypocritical.

[Legs Akimbo]

No. At least, not according to several doctors who I've spoken to. Maybe they're wrong. But I doubt it, since common sense would also suggest that they aren't performance enhancing. They might make you FEEL superhuman, but the reality is the opposite.



Akermanis didn't name anybody to the media. The names were leaked from ASADA to the media; Aka had nothing to do with that. If he had a suspicion, then he had every right to report it to ASADA, and so he should. Maybe he is paranoid, maybe he has such a high opinion of himself that he thinks anybody that beats him is on drugs, but that is beside the point. He didn't publicly name anybody.

Now, onto Cousins (and WC in general). Firstly, Cousins was using a recreational drug. That doesn't make him a drug cheat. It makes him stupid, but he wasn't cheating. Mainwaring didn't die from an overdose; he died from a heart-condition. This was no doubt exacerbated, or even triggered, by drug use, but to say it was an overdose is simply wrong, and a large overstatement. I haven't heard anything about the bikie gangs, etc. If you can provide some sources, I'll accept it as true, but til then I'm ignoring that. But it is irrelevant anyway, because even if these claims are true, it has nothing to do with performance enhancing drugs. And I agree, there are cultural problems at WC. That doesn't mean they are drug cheats, i.e. doing performance enhancing drugs, and it CERTAINLY doesn't mean they ALL do them. Hell, I wouldn't have been surprised if Cousins was the only one, and this culture thing was beaten up to appease the media. Not saying that's the case, but it wouldn't surprise me.

In any case, the point is that people have been calling the entire WC team drug cheats with just as little evidence to support their claims as Aka, and yet they are criticising Aka, and this is completely hypocritical.

1. If memory serves me correctly, and it often does not, Akermanis all but inferred the player he was referring to was Braun. You could work it out by the teams and dates he mentioned. It all started when Akermanis wrote an article indicating that he was sure he had played on drug cheats, sans any credible evidence other than his own perception (is that a tautology?). If anyone can find a link, I'd like to read it again. I do remember sitting in our local cafe reading that article and being dumbfounded at his stupidity for writing it and thinking he was in deep @@@@. There was no nead to write that article aside from sheer self promotion. If he had EVIDENCE he should have just phoned ASADA.

2. Perhaps we are writing at cross purposes. I am not suggesting that West Coast players are cheats, only that they had a (self described) drug problem at the club. Back to NWMBloods original linking of the two issues. I confess to having misread his post about the same people bleating about Akermanis and west coast drug 'cheats'. Irrespective, my own personal view is that Akermanis is a shallow callous egotistical @@@@ and that West Coast recreational drug users are just silly little boys who displayed a rather pathetic inability to keep off the gear.

However, to set the record straight on a couple of things...

To say Chris Mainwaring died from a heart condition is a crude switching of ultimate and proximate causes. A bit like saying Bonn Scott died from a bad case of vomiting or Heath Ledger died from over sleeping. (source: Article | ninemsn news.

As to whether taking recreational drugs is performance enhancing, well the jury is out. I have heard different experts provide differing opinions on whether in the short term, use of amphetimines and methamphetamines promotes loss of sense of pain and increased endurance. Sadly, there are few doubters about long term effects and everyone agrees taking recreational drugs is specifically not permitted of AFL players.

Just one other thing, are you seriously unaware of this event a few years back?

Footballers quizzed over nightclub shooting - News - www.realfooty.com.au

Then there was Gardiner's 'handcuff' gesture.

[liz]

Hell, I wouldn't have been surprised if Cousins was the only one, and this culture thing was beaten up to appease the media. Not saying that's the case, but it wouldn't surprise me.

Worsfold himself admitted that they know of around 7 or 8 WC players who have admitted to using illicit drugs. The extent of use wasn't disclosed. At least a couple of those players left the Eagles a while back.

I'm not in the camp that has ever accused the Eagles of being drug cheats, but I don't think there is any question that the use went beyond just Cousins.

Whether this is typical or atypical of other AFL clubs, who knows? Certainly it is known that players from at least two other clubs have tested positive twice, even if the identies of those players are supposedly undisclosed.

[JF_Bay22_SCG]

Does anyone else see the irony in this...?

Yeah, Akka was doing the same thing in relation to Michael Braun. "He ran faster than me. He MUST be on something!"

JF

[connolly]

No. At least, not according to several doctors who I've spoken to. Maybe they're wrong. But I doubt it, since common sense would also suggest that they aren't performance enhancing. They might make you FEEL superhuman, but the reality is the opposite.

Change your doctor. Amphetamines are listed as prohibited performance enhancing substances by the World Anti-Doping Agency. There is a long history of amphetamines being used to enhance endurance, reflexes and speed. They were used in the German airforce in WWII. Roger Bannister was accused of using them in the four minute mile breaking run (no proof) and a Scandanavian (from memory) cyclist died from amphetamine use at the Rome Olympics. They turbo charge performance. Theoretically amphetamines could really assist an AFL midfielder to just keep running a bit like that bunny in the battery ad.

[ROK Lobster]

Change your doctor. Amphetamines are listed as prohibited performance enhancing substances by the World Anti-Doping Agency. There is a long history of amphetamines being used to enhance endurance, reflexes and speed. They were used in the German airforce in WWII. Roger Bannister was accused of using them in the four minute mile breaking run (no proof) and a Scandanavian (from memory) cyclist died from amphetamine use at the Rome Olympics. They turbo charge performance. Theoretically amphetamines could really assist an AFL midfielder to just keep running a bit like that bunny in the battery ad.

I am not doubting that what you say is true, but given that your most recent example is the Rome Olympics, maybe the sporting world (and the military) have realised since 1960 that amphetamines aren't all that useful in a performance enhancing context.