Essendon Football Club Drama

[liz]

I like this one from Jon Horn in the Age. Different focus to Hinds', but still about looking at a broader context, albeitspecific to AFL.

Pity those who are expected to do the impossible so we win

[BillyRayCypress]

I have no worries about the Swans being implicated.

Their new Russian fitness expert Dr Anabolicoff is doing a wonderful job as is his female assistant Ivana Dopeyouup.

[Nico]

I have no worries about the Swans being implicated.

Their new Russian fitness expert Dr Anabolicoff is doing a wonderful job as is his female assistant Ivana Dopeyouup.

Is she is related to that wonderful Russian author Nora Tittof that wrote the classic, Babys Revenge?

[RogueSwan]

Pretty incriminating stuff:I took a banned drug: Watson

Surely the AFL would have to take steps sooner rather than later, August is too far away.

[dimelb]

Is she is related to that wonderful Russian author Nora Tittof that wrote the classic, Babys Revenge?

No, you're thinking of Ima Dortrovobich.

[Industrial Fan]

Pretty incriminating stuff:I took a banned drug: Watson

Surely the AFL would have to take steps sooner rather than later, August is too far away.

Presumably the players have said the same in the ASADA interviews, so I cant believe it has taken so long to do anything about it. Seems fairly cut and dried, with the length of penalty the only outstanding point.

[stellation]

It's strange it's taking so long, although I appreciate it's a pretty tricky case- it looks like the majority of a professional sports team have taken a banned substance that they had been told was perfectly okay and above board to take. Lord only knows what a fair ruling on something like that is.

Apart from being the captain, Jobe's in a pretty unique situation because he's the only one that actually achieved something whilst taking them.

[dimelb]

My understanding of Jobe's position is that the banned weight loss item was not banned when he took it, although it has been banned since. If so, there's no case to answer, at least on that score. They can't ban it retrospectively.

[Industrial Fan]

My understanding (albeit from comments on various articles not any actual knowledge) is that unless a drug has been approved, it is banned and the one in question was not approved.

[Jewels]

That's my take on it also, and if correct then he must be sanctioned. Jobe would therefore be as guilty of taking a banned substance as Tippett was of draft tampering.
Interesting times ahead me thinks.

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That's my take on it also, and if correct then he must be sanctioned. Jobe would therefore be as guilty of taking a banned substance as Tippett was of draft tampering.
Interesting times ahead me thinks.

[Auntie.Gerald]

if found guilty does Jobe need to hand back his Brownlow ??

[chalbilto]

Apart from the Brownlow what about the implications for the current standing of the team. What penalties will they incur? Loss of points? Players banned? If we are to understand the guidelines then the players can not plead ignorance, even though I believe that they unwittingly and innocently took the substances under the direction of sports medicos, doctors, trainers, coaches etc. Interesting times ahead, which must be brought to a conclusion one way or another by the AFL head office before the finals. They can't sit on their hands and procrastinate.

[CureTheSane]

Interesting when you compare to Tippett.
He did the wrong thing for financial gain.
Compare that to the potential from the Essendon game.
I wonder if the AFL have set some kind of a comparison point with the length of that penalty.

Brownlow is a hard one.
To be honest, I doubt he really got any benefit at all from the drug. Same with the other players, so I have a hard time going for retrospective penalties.
Same with the Melbourne Storm. I think that harmed the game. Not that I'm complaining, just not sure about handing back flags.

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Interesting when you compare to Tippett.
He did the wrong thing for financial gain.
Compare that to the potential from the Essendon game.
I wonder if the AFL have set some kind of a comparison point with the length of that penalty.

Brownlow is a hard one.
To be honest, I doubt he really got any benefit at all from the drug. Same with the other players, so I have a hard time going for retrospective penalties.
Same with the Melbourne Storm. I think that harmed the game. Not that I'm complaining, just not sure about handing back flags.

[liz]

My understanding of Jobe's position is that the banned weight loss item was not banned when he took it, although it has been banned since. If so, there's no case to answer, at least on that score. They can't ban it retrospectively

The statements coming from WADA have been consistent - the substance in question was banned from early 2011 under the S0 provisions of the drug code. The only "get out" for the club might be if they did, indeed, approach ASADA and received different advice from them.

I am struggling a bit to buy the idea that the players are just innocent pawns in this whole saga. There were a few comments early in the piece, and Watson admitted the same thing on Monday night, that the players were told that the programme was "on the edge". Watson agreed that the number of injections he was receiving was unprecedented compared to his previous experience in the sport. What exactly did the players believe was the purpose of the programme? Why did Watson think the club was giving him all these injections? Did he ask what the impact / effects / benefits were of the substances he was being injected with? If he didn't ask questions along these lines, particularly having been told that the programme was "on the edge", he is at least guilty of being pretty na?ve. Possibly worse. I have a little sympathy with younger players who might have thought they just had to do what they were being told with no questions asked, but I struggle to accept that the club captain, with enough experience to know that the programme was unusual, did not, or did not feel able to, ask questions to ensure he understand exactly what the programme was trying to achieve.

Comments at various times from Essendon and Dank state that AOD is not performance enhancing. So why were they investing all this time and money injecting players with it? What was the whole point of the supplement programme if not to enhance players' performance?

[dimelb]

Jobe did say the process got the tick from the club doctor; it would be unusual, given the doctor's prestige, longstanding affiliation with the club, and established trust, to feel that a second opinion was necessary.
I think there are obvious possible benefits in taking an AOD: reduced skinfolds. Whether you'd prefer to go down that road rather than hard work and watching your food and liquid intake is another matter.

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Jobe did say the process got the tick from the club doctor; it would be unusual, given the doctor's prestige, longstanding affiliation with the club, and established trust, to feel that a second opinion was necessary.
I think there are obvious possible benefits in taking an AOD: reduced skinfolds. Whether you'd prefer to go down that road rather than hard work and watching your food and liquid intake is another matter.
On the other hand, if WADA had declared the drug banned, it is hard to believe that ASADA would advise otherwise, though stranger things have happened.