Here's why the AFL can't strip Essendon's Jobe Watson of his Brownlow Medal

[Topdog]

It is clear to me that something illegal transpired.

1. The no records must be a sham. It is the Talia "lost my phone" defence. I have no doubt the records were destroyed due to the tip off. It is not even plausible that nobody kept records. You simply cannot run any program without recording what is happening.

2. Senior players in Watson and others are the ones who should have been thorough in their vigilance. Yet they (apparently) kept the information from the club doctor and their own personal medical advisers. They also neglected to correctly declare the substances when they were tested. This is not an accident of omission. It is a deliberate attempt to avoid detection.

.

1. Not forgetting that Thompson advised that he had the records (hardcopy only) and handed them to ASADA. Seriously every story they come up with has a hundred holes in it.

2. Yeah the senior players really have a lot less of a free ride.

[LostDoggy]

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2016-11-1...brownlow-medal

[bornadog]

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2016-11-1...brownlow-medal

The right decision, but should have made it earlier.

[Ozza]

Very sad situation.

And very poor/soft effort from the AFL Commission that they didn't make a decision on this, and Jobe has had to do it for them.

[Greystache]

This is actually the first media relations event Essendon has got right in 4 years. Watson was going to lose the medal, not even the AFEL and its enduring focus of clearing everyone associated with the game of any form of wrong doing, and by voluntarily handing it in he appears as someone of at least some integrity. Having it stripped makes him look like a drug cheat.

The net result is the same, but the media and public perception are vastly different.

[Sedat]

Very sad situation.

And very poor/soft effort from the AFL Commission that they didn't make a decision on this, and Jobe has had to do it for them.

Think you'll find that the AFEL stage-managed this situation by giving Jab the option to save face publicly or have it stripped from him. Best of both worlds - AFEL don't have to be seen to make a "hard call" and Jab gets a PR boost from being so magnanimous and handing back what doesn't deserve to belong to him. Was Lance treated like a God for handing back his 6 Le Tour victories?

[Scraggers]

Whether it was his decision alone, or whether he was pushed; he just went up a notch in the 'likeable' factor. Saying he was returning the medal for the respect and dignity of the medal ... he did not want Charlie forever tainted by this scandal.

[Bulldog Joe]

Whether it was his decision alone, or whether he was pushed; he just went up a notch in the 'likeable' factor. Saying he was returning the medal for the respect and dignity of the medal ... he did not want Charlie forever tainted by this scandal.

Doesn't give him any brownie points with me.

This decision should have been made at the start.

Jobe could have handed it back when charges were first laid to preserve the dignity of the medal.

[Scraggers]

Doesn't give him any brownie points with me.

This decision should have been made at the start.

Jobe could have handed it back when charges were first laid to preserve the dignity of the medal.

I think he was right in waiting for the decision from the WADA Court of Appeals ...the AFL never found the 34 guilty therefore Watson had every right to see proceedings through. In saying that, the decision to hand it back should have been made once the appeal was quashed.

[AndrewP6]

Whether it was his decision alone, or whether he was pushed; he just went up a notch in the 'likeable' factor. Saying he was returning the medal for the respect and dignity of the medal ... he did not want Charlie forever tainted by this scandal.

Verbal equivalent of crocodile tears IMO. The medal's dignity would have been preserved if he hadn't cheated in the first place.

[G-Mo77]

AFL manage to get out of making a tough decision. Perfect situation for them.

[Remi Moses]

The afl should have had the gonads to do this when the 34 copped their whack .
Their protection of their brand is just paramount to everything

[Rocket Science]

Who here doesn't think the AFEL engineered this?

"Hey Jobe. The medal? Yeah nah, 'fraid we can't let you keep it without looking like arseholes ourselves. We could strip you of it of course, but not if you relinquish it first and save us all a little face in the process. Yeah, knew you'd understand. Good luck with it."

[Topdog]

http://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/jobe...022d9caec887fd

“This guy has handled himself with supreme class and, in my opinion, I will still see him as the Brownlow Medallist for 2012, regardless of whether they give the award to the runners-up in Cotchin and Mitchell or whether they put an asterisk on that season,” King told foxfooty.com.au.

“In my eyes for, he will still be the winner, much like we still think the Melbourne Storm all those years ago were premiers. I don’t think it will change the perception of what we think of Jobe and, in actual fact, I think it builds the legend that he is becoming.”

TLDR David King thinks cheating to win is AOK. Seriously who on Earth actually still credits the Storm as premiers during those salary cap years?