Melbourne Watch 2023/24

[bornadog]

Mitch Cleary @cleary_mitch

Clayton Oliver has headed home from Melbourne’s training camp in Lorne to deal with personal medical challenges. Updates later on

[Testekill]

Oliver should not have even been back to training for another six months, he had a seizure like two months ago.

[GVGjr]

Oliver should not have even been back to training for another six months, he had a seizure like two months ago.

It just seems all the way through getting the balance of having him around his team mates and the support the club environment can offer and probably what's best for him in a purely medical perspective has been a struggle and isn't quite working.

[ledge]

I can see early retirement coming.

[josie]

I’m not a Dees fan but really hope Oliver receives wise advice/support & best of medical care. I’d like to see him well and hopefully playing like the match winner he can be, except against us.

[GVGjr]

I’m not a Dees fan but really hope Oliver receives wise advice/support & best of medical care. I’d like to see him well and hopefully playing like the match winner he can be, except against us.

I'd just about back it in that the club and his team mates have rallied around. He will be getting a level of support that many in society with similar challenges wouldn't. Lets hope he understands that some changes in his approach need to happen.

[bornadog]

It feels like we kinda need a thread about everything going on at the Demons at the moment; Smith is getting banned long term as cocaine is classified as a PED during competition, May having clear attitude problems, Oliver going off the rails and only god knows what is up with Simon Goodwin. Feels like there's plenty coming and a dedicated thread might be appropriate.

Melbourne footballer Joel Smith is facing a suspension of two years ? and possibly longer ? for taking cocaine.


EXCLUSIVE via @Robbo_heraldsun

I don't have access top the article. Is two years too long or not enough?

[Grantysghost]

Melbourne footballer Joel Smith is facing a suspension of two years ? and possibly longer ? for taking cocaine.


EXCLUSIVE via @Robbo_heraldsun

I don't have access top the article. Is two years too long or not enough?

Oliver will be fine to play I'm sure.

[bulldogtragic]

Melbourne footballer Joel Smith is facing a suspension of two years ? and possibly longer ? for taking cocaine.


EXCLUSIVE via @Robbo_heraldsun

I don't have access top the article. Is two years too long or not enough?

Sports Integrity Australia deemed as it was on match day it was performance enhancing.

So two years is the penalty.

[Axe Man]

Exclusive: Demons? Joel Smith faces minimum two-year ban for cocaine

Melbourne footballer Joel Smith is facing a suspension of two years ? and possibly longer ? for taking cocaine.

Smith on Tuesday received a report from Sports Integrity Australia (SIA), which is believed to have found him guilty of taking a performance enhancing drug.

It?s expected Smith will fight the bombshell finding.

The hearing took place before Christmas.

Smith, who turns 28 next month, tested positive for cocaine on game day last year.

The urine sample was collected after the Demons defeated Hawthorn by 27 points at the MCG in round 23.

Smith?s appeal would centre on his camp successfully arguing that only a minuscule amount of cocaine was found in his system, ruling out the performance-enhancing finding.

AFL spokesperson Jay Allen said: ?The AFL advises that the matter involving Joel Smith of the Melbourne Football Club being investigated by Sport Integrity Australia (SIA) under the Australian Football Anti-Doping Code is ongoing.

?Joel remains provisionally suspended and as such he is not permitted to participate in Melbourne?s pre-season training when it recommences in the coming days.

?Due to the ongoing nature of the anti-doping process the AFL will not comment further at this time.?

The AFL Players Association is aware of the SIA letter to Smith.

It is understood SIA did not impose a penalty on the Demons forward, but sources told this masthead the findings pointed to at least a two-year suspension.

The Smith and Demons camps had been hopeful that the swingman would escape with a three-month ban under WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) rules introduced in 2021.

The clause to escape with a three-month suspension for cocaine or marijuana centres on an athlete agreeing to undergo treatment for substance abuse.

They also must prove ?the substance was used out-of-competition and that its use was unrelated to sporting performance?.

Smith?s issue is that cocaine was detected in his system during competition.

The Herald Sun exclusively revealed on October 19 that the AFL had a fresh drug scandal on its hands following a positive test.

A two-year suspension shapes as a hammer blow for a club firmly in premiership mode, but severely lacking firepower and connection forward of the ball.

Smith and Bayley Fritsch led Melbourne?s goalkicking in last year?s finals series, each kicking four goals as the club was eliminated in straight sets at the MCG for the second consecutive season.

Smith signed a two-year contract extension midway through 2022, with that deal expiring at the end of the coming season.

If Smith fails in his bid to overturn any ban, it could place his career in jeopardy.

The SIA finding comes only weeks after Smith announced on social media his engagement to girlfriend Elise Carroll, with whom he shares a daughter, Tilly.

Several footy greats had earlier hit out at the possibility of Smith serving three months out of competition.

?They (the AFL) seem to reach in and find things that can minimise the impact of the penalty,? coaching legend Mick Malthouse said.

?Unfortunately, the AFL is always about image. If you have a soft penalty, you get a soft result. It?s got to be very, very harsh first up.?

Smith, the son of Dees great Shaun Smith, has played 42 games since he was signed as a Category B rookie in 2016.

[GVGjr]

Melbourne footballer Joel Smith is facing a suspension of two years ? and possibly longer ? for taking cocaine.


EXCLUSIVE via @Robbo_heraldsun

I don't have access top the article. Is two years too long or not enough?

Are you admitting that you follow Robbo on Twitter? How embarrassment

[GVGjr]

Demons’ Joel Smith faces minimum two-year ban for cocaine

Click the above link for the full article.

Melbourne footballer Joel Smith is expected to fight a bombshell finding that could leave his career in jeopardy as he faces a big suspension for taking cocaine.

Melbourne footballer Joel Smith is facing a suspension of two years — and possibly longer — for taking cocaine.

Smith on Tuesday received a report from Sports Integrity Australia (SIA), which is believed to have found him guilty of taking a performance enhancing drug.

It’s expected Smith will fight the bombshell finding.

The hearing took place before Christmas.

Smith, who turns 28 next month, tested positive for cocaine on game day last year.

The urine sample was collected after the Demons defeated Hawthorn by 27 points at the MCG in round 23.

Smith’s appeal would centre on his camp successfully arguing that only a minuscule amount of cocaine was found in his system, ruling out the performance-enhancing finding.

AFL spokesperson Jay Allen said: “The AFL advises that the matter involving Joel Smith of the Melbourne Football Club being investigated by Sport Integrity Australia (SIA) under the Australian Football Anti-Doping Code is ongoing.

“Joel remains provisionally suspended and as such he is not permitted to participate in Melbourne’s pre-season training when it recommences in the coming days.

“Due to the ongoing nature of the anti-doping process the AFL will not comment further at this time.”

The AFL Players Association is aware of the SIA letter to Smith.

It is understood SIA did not impose a penalty on the Demons forward, but sources told this masthead the findings pointed to at least a two-year suspension.

The Smith and Demons camps had been hopeful that the swingman would escape with a three-month ban under WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) rules introduced in 2021.

The clause to escape with a three-month suspension for cocaine or marijuana centres on an athlete agreeing to undergo treatment for substance abuse.

They also must prove “the substance was used out-of-competition and that its use was unrelated to sporting performance”.

Smith’s issue is that cocaine was detected in his system during competition.

The Herald Sun exclusively revealed on October 19 that the AFL had a fresh drug scandal on its hands following a positive test.

[bornadog]

Are you admitting that you follow Robbo on Twitter? How embarrassment

No I don't, he blocked me when we traded for Tom Boyd. You may recall he said some nasty things about Boyd, the club etc and I had a go at him. I saw the tweet from Superfooty account

[FrediKanoute]

Rules are rules. Silly thing to do.

[jeemak]

Now I may have recently had cause to look into the efficacy of urine testing for specific drugs........no real reason or paranoia driving it as you could imagine.*

Anyway, with rack, one off usage is usually detectable within urine loosely between 0.5 and a couple of days maximum, regular usage (classified as a few times a week) up to about five days and chronic usage (daily over time) up to between ten and twenty days.

Body composition has a big influence on how long metabolites stay in the system, fat people longer, lean people less. This is an unqualified opinion, however, if he's pissed a hot rack sample after a footy game he's been on it hard in an equivalent time of say a Thursday night before a Saturday afternoon game, maybe even a Friday night versus a Saturday night game, or on game day itself. Otherwise he's had his snout in the trough a lot within the days and weeks leading up to the test.



*I recently had to submit to a urine test by surprise, the job I was going for wasn't advertised thus the requirement wasn't disclosed to me during negotiations. You can imagine my delight when I found out the very next morning after being given some weed by a friend that I was well in the hunt for said job (verbal offer), with only a medical to pass on my way to securing it...........