Bombers - gonski !

[Legs Akimbo]

I felt sorry for the players until I read this

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/cas-essendon-verdict-damns-players-for-lack-of-curiosity-20160112-gm4o7u.html

Glad they had the book thrown at them

AND I am a bit surprised that David Zahararkis has not been lauded for doing the right thing and refusing to participate. He must be both more courageous and smarter than his team mates. Bit of a legend really. Every other player had the same choice and declined to do what he did.

[Meg]

I agree LA. What the CAS report has to say about the players is certainly far from flattering and is more damaging to the players' reputations than what was known before. Also, given the contemptuous way Dr Bruce Reid was treated - not only by Dank and the Essendon coaching staff but also by the players - I am surprised Reid has wished to stay on as the club doctor. (Not a single player thought their weekly injections were worthy of mention to the club doctor, not even one player for whom Reid was his personal GP).

[barry]

I am so sick of the media pertrail of the players as victims here.

We should be celebrating that the game has removed 34 dig cheats.

[AnnieH]

"I know they didn't set out to break any WADA and ASADA rules, but the fact is they were putting themselves in a precarious position about how this would be viewed and perceived if someone broke ranks and spoke about it publicly," he said.

Read more: Essendon CAS verdict: Jobe Watson may give AFL away, says his father Tim
Follow us: @smh on Twitter | sydneymorningherald on Facebook

Broke ranks and spoke about it publicly?
This says an awful lot, doesn't it.

I'm seriously glad we didn't take any of their players.
The players involved all had a choice... yes or no. Unfortunately, the "no" choice was detrimental to the player, i.e. they got little or no game time.
James Hird is the biggest turd alive.
If I were a player, I'd be suing him personally, and not the AFL.

The way the AFL said they were not guilty SCREAMS of a cover up. Pity WADA can't fine the AFL for bringing disrepute on sport in general.

If I had my way, Essendon would be banned from the game for two years.

[RogueSwan]

I am so sick of the media pertrail of the players as victims here.

We should be celebrating that the game has removed 34 dig cheats.

Auto-correct?


"The inventor of predictive text has died.
His funfair will be hello on Sundial" boom-tish!

[wolftone57]

Alex Epis has the right ot it. About time someone from Essendon said what everybody outside the club is saying. he is the sort of person Essendon need at this time to get the club back on track.

Boulder-born Essendon Hall of Famer says supplement scandal has robbed club of its culture - ABC Grandstand Sport (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

[robamiee]

What about Hird saying he was duped by others blah blah...the guy has no morals....and honestly the bombers supporters on their big footy forum still believe Hird is the messiah, did no wrong, talk about blind faith..no wonder the club is where it is...
i do feel sorry for players but they non declarations are telling....
Bad advice from the start, through thee middle and at the end...should ahve done a cronulla deal and this would have been done and dusted 2 years ago....

[Prt]

The players are responsible. Having read the CAS decision I have no doubt that the players could have avoided the outcome and had they followed what they are told in their regular briefings about being personally responsible about everything the ingest, they would not find themselves in this sorry situation. The swimmers, runners, cyclists etc are all responsible for their own bodies and what medicines etc they take, why not AFL footballers?

The way Essendon has handled the issue is a case study as to how not to handle it and the club and many of their senior people have very damaged reputations as a result. Chip Legrand in the Oz yesterday says it all. They thought they were all powerful and tried to pressure ASADA to accept a deal which would make the whole thing go away.

Hird is surely the most arrogant person imaginable. His article in the weekend Murdoch papers reeks of someone who is in denial. Everyone else was responsible. Because he said that he wanted the program to go to the edge but not over and because he said that he didn't want the players to be harmed, he seems to think that he is absolved from all responsibility. would he have said otherwise?

He seems never to have followed up on the detail of the aggressive program he sanctioned/introduced nor enquired or taken an interest in the detail even after the amazing recovery effort to allow his team to get within a point of Collingwood at the Anzac Day match- something at the time which led to a lot of questions. He just put his head in the sand taking the approach of not asking questions the answers to which he probably knew he would not like. His interview with Tracey Holmes tonight will be interesting.

Watson has to lose his Brownlow and I suspect he will voluntarily relinquish it. The only problem with that is that it will lead to Sam Mitchell becoming a Brownlow medallist.

[Wardy]

Just a top up to my earlier thread, and something which I wasn't aware of: none of the players - current Bombers, those shifted to new teams, those making a small living in lower leagues or coaching like Mark McVeigh at GWS - can be paid in any way for the duration of the ban.

So James got a $1m for sitting out a year. The players get zip. How crap for them (and yes, I know, the code states player responsibility for good reason).

Methinks the lawsuits to follow will have an even bigger bill attached for the Bombers and AFL.

James Hird just doesn't seem to get it - or believes if he keeps maintaining his innocence people will start believing it!!
As for the being fully paid - yeah well that seems to be the norm for the coaches why Shane Flanagan was fully paid for the duration of his suspension as well, yet those who were wrongly sacked got nothing (but they later were quietly cleared, apologised too and received the most pathetic compensation that it cost more to draw the cheque, but the damage to their lives had already been done) so whilst James swanned about fully paid in France - Flanagan bought a 2 million dollar house!!!

What I still don't get - the common denominator in all of this was at Manly for 5 years prior to the 11 weeks at Cronulla so I highly doubt that he suddenly decided to weave his magic just in the shire - think if the premiership manly one by 40 odd points??? I'm pretty sure he was waving his magic wand at Brookvale (yes that's right he was only at the Sharks for 11 weeks) me thinks the NRL- couldn't suffer the embarrassment of stripping yet another club of a premiership like they stripped the Storm & the Bulldogs - so did the NRL turn a blind eye???

[Velour&Ruffles]

This decision shows the rampant corruption within the AFL. The AFL tried to manage it, cover it up, then put up a sham tribunal to let them off.

If the AFL has any integrity, members of the board and executive team must stand down.

This.
The AFL has been exposed for what it really is - an organisation addicted to expediency, deal-cutting and appeasement of powerful interests and insiders (like Fat Eddie - just kidding mate, you're a ripping bloke who loves a laugh and I'm just having a bit of fun with you, your bloated crimson face, your poisonous mouth and your 97 chins. I know you'll take this friendly ribbing in the right spirit).
It must have come as a rude shock to this bunch of preening egomaniacs to find that their back room deals meant nothing on the world stage and that they could no longer pull strings and manipulate outcomes. By penalising clubs for following the rules, for example. Up yours Dill you lamentable invertebrate excuse for a CEO.

[Velour&Ruffles]

Yeah, I don't. Somebody sticks a needle in my arm, and I'm a professional athlete, then I blame myself, and they should blame themselves. Idiots.

AFL will get what they deserve for the way they handled it.

This too. Not a single player thinks to mention it, despite all 34 of them being convinced they were doing nothing wrong? Yeah, right.

[Auntie.Gerald]

interview james hird today ABC

James Hird says Essendon had no intention to cheat the system after players copped doping bans - ABC Grandstand Sport (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

[Auntie.Gerald]

guys just a quick one

did the bombers get proven by blood samples of taking illegal drugs ?

[YvonneH]

guys just a quick one

did the bombers get proven by blood samples of taking illegal drugs ?

No, all by circumstantial evidence, but boy was there a lot of that. The fact the players choose not to disclose to ASADA they were being injected (with anything) was very telling. If they thought they were OK why not report it.

[AnnieH]

guys just a quick one

did the bombers get proven by blood samples of taking illegal drugs ?

They found Thyomisin-4 (apologies if the spelling is wrong) in their frozen second samples.