GWS and Lachie Whitfield - Drugs Investigation

[G-Mo77]

Re: GWS and Lachie Whitfield - Drugs Investigation

Banned from the club for the next 4 months so coveniently gets back to training in round 1.

Isn't that a terrific outcome for him and the club.

[Twodogs]

Re: GWS and Lachie Whitfield - Drugs Investigation

So to get this straight.

Investigation took ~ 18 months.
Whitfield played an entire season while under investigation.
Whitfield played finals and had the opportunity to shape a prelim final.
6 weeks after finals series and ~18 months of investigation he gets a 6 month ban (max available was 4 years)
6 month ban only suspends him from the club for 4 months (happens to be round 1)
officials involved get 12 month bans.

Yeah that sounds like an AFEL investigation if ever I've seen one.

No. That's outrageous even by AFEL standards when you set it out like that.

[GVGjr]

Re: GWS and Lachie Whitfield - Drugs Investigation

Banned from the club for the next 4 months so coveniently gets back to training in round 1.

Seems very lenient to me. I wouldn't have allowed him back until a couple of weeks before the ban ends.

[GVGjr]

Re: GWS and Lachie Whitfield - Drugs Investigation

So to get this straight.

Investigation took ~ 18 months.
Whitfield played an entire season while under investigation.
Whitfield played finals and had the opportunity to shape a prelim final.
6 weeks after finals series and ~18 months of investigation he gets a 6 month ban (max available was 4 years)
6 month ban only suspends him from the club for 4 months (happens to be round 1)
officials involved get 12 month bans.

Yeah that sounds like an AFEL investigation if ever I've seen one.

He won't have learned too much from this experience.

[1eyedog]

Re: GWS and Lachie Whitfield - Drugs Investigation

Seems very lenient to me. I wouldn't have allowed him back until a couple of weeks before the ban ends.

Any chance of WADA stepping in? Perhaps it was sorted that they wouldn't prior to the announcement.

[Twodogs]

Re: GWS and Lachie Whitfield - Drugs Investigation

He won't have learned too much from this experience.

He will have learned plenty. He's learned that he can flout the drug code and get away with it virtually Scott free for a start.

[1eyedog]

Re: GWS and Lachie Whitfield - Drugs Investigation

He will have learned plenty. He's learned that he can flout the drug code and get away with it virtually Scott free for a start.

Well the positive for us is that a team of first round picks potentially all juiced up on gear couldn't get the job done

[Greystache]

Re: GWS and Lachie Whitfield - Drugs Investigation

So to get this straight.

Investigation took ~ 18 months.
Whitfield played an entire season while under investigation.
Whitfield played finals and had the opportunity to shape a prelim final.
6 weeks after finals series and ~18 months of investigation he gets a 6 month ban (max available was 4 years)
6 month ban only suspends him from the club for 4 months (happens to be round 1)
officials involved get 12 month bans.

Yeah that sounds like an AFEL investigation if ever I've seen one.

You left out;

It wouldn't have made it to the public if a 3rd party didn't escalate it to ASADA.

[Greystache]

Re: GWS and Lachie Whitfield - Drugs Investigation

Any chance of WADA stepping in? Perhaps it was sorted that they wouldn't prior to the announcement.

You can be pretty confident WADA would've been approached by ASADA to see if they'd step in, and that the answer was no. Hence the highly favourable deal the AFEL was able to strike with ASADA.

[Bulldog Revolution]

Re: GWS and Lachie Whitfield - Drugs Investigation

Incredibly soft penalty for Whitfield - anything less than a full season ban is too lenient

[1eyedog]

Re: GWS and Lachie Whitfield - Drugs Investigation

You can be pretty confident WADA would've been approached by ASADA to see if they'd step in, and that the answer was no. Hence the highly favourable deal the AFEL was able to strike with ASADA.

That was my initial thought too.

[Greystache]

Re: GWS and Lachie Whitfield - Drugs Investigation

That was my initial thought too.

The AFEL have ASADA over a barrel and both parties know it. It's a broken system when an organisation such as the AFEL, with its track record of highly questionable outcomes from investigations it conducts, chooses a panel to find guilt or innocence of it's own employees. A decision that stands as final unless the world anti-doping body chooses to escalate it to a neutral environment which is a long and incredibly expensive process.

More often than not a home grown kangaroo court decision would be final, so ASADA is forced to take what they can get. Organisations like the AFL should have no involvement in the decision making process, but due to costs isn't likely to change.

[bulldogtragic]

Re: GWS and Lachie Whitfield - Drugs Investigation

Saad looks really hard done by now. He should've requested a trade to a club the AFEL goes out of its way to protect.

[Greystache]

Re: GWS and Lachie Whitfield - Drugs Investigation

Saad looks really hard done by now. He should've requested a trade to a club the AFEL goes out of its way to protect.

Nah he tested positive to an ASADA test. Can't lose your mobile phone and have the investigation closed in that situation. Anything other than a positive test however...

[Topdog]

Re: GWS and Lachie Whitfield - Drugs Investigation

Nah he tested positive to an ASADA test. Can't lose your mobile phone and have the investigation closed in that situation. Anything other than a positive test however...

I keep mixing people up but I thought he just imported something in?