Melbourne Watch 2023/24

[Hotdog60]

Re: Melbourne Watch 2023/24

With the likes of retiring early because of concussion the club could pay out to the players super so it will benefit them when they may need down the track.

[Axe Man]

Re: Melbourne Watch 2023/24

article -

Western Bulldogs reveal premiership hero gave up $2 MILLION when he retired

On a night where the Western Bulldogs honoured Tom Boyd with life membership, the club revealed the 2016 premiership hero handed back $2 million when he walked away from the game earlier this year.

See that article doesn't actually clarify things to me. When they say handed back do they mean he literally paid them back or he figuratively handed back money by walking away from the remaining money due? I reckon it's the second, I don't even think Tom would be generous enough to both pay back money and walk away from the rest of his contract.

[jazzadogs]

Re: Melbourne Watch 2023/24

I think any payout should come out of the salary cap.

Clubs and players are getting ridiculous with long contracts.

Why did Brayshaw, who was wearing a helmet because of known concussion issues, given such a long contract? If he had been given a 6 year deal and got his first ever concussion in the first season, that's unlucky. This is just poor risk management (and yes, I feel the same about English).

[Sedat]

Re: Melbourne Watch 2023/24

Half should come out of Collingwood's cap in lieu of the human cannonball Maynard - might make players think twice in the future before lining up a free hit against a completely helpless opponent.

Maybe the bunch of flowers Maynard bought for Brayshaw can come out of Melbourne's cap as a contra tax deduction.

[Bornadog]

Re: Melbourne Watch 2023/24

See that article doesn't actually clarify things to me. When they say handed back do they mean he literally paid them back or he figuratively handed back money by walking away from the remaining money due? I reckon it's the second, I don't even think Tom would be generous enough to both pay back money and walk away from the rest of his contract.

?I actually gave back money?: Former AFL star Tom Boyd on losing his love of playing

[G-Mo77]

Re: Melbourne Watch 2023/24

From what I remember there was pushback from outside clubs to make it count under the Salary Cap. Don't put much merit into that as my memory is slightly better than a goldfish.

[MrMahatma]

Re: Melbourne Watch 2023/24

It was advice from a medical panel, or it was a firm instruction from a medical panel, that he should retire. Wasn't it?

So if someone retired cause of 4 knees recos, would that be a "choice" more than something they were forced to do by a panel of AFL doctors?

This article is confusing:https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/tea...3a4b60bd2158ea

but I respect the verdict of the medical professionals, and the importance of putting my health before my career,” Brayshaw said in a statement on Thursday.

Then...
“The AFL supports the decision by Angus Brayshaw to retire from the game today,” Kane said on Thursday.

[josie]

Re: Melbourne Watch 2023/24

I think concussion (not unfairly) deserves some special consideration given just how damaging it is on the quality of life of the athlete. Minimizing any incentive to make a player play with concussion related trauma generally seems a good idea to me.

👍🏼 good thinking

[Bornadog]

Re: Melbourne Watch 2023/24

I think concussion (not unfairly) deserves some special consideration given just how damaging it is on the quality of life of the athlete. Minimizing any incentive to make a player play with concussion related trauma generally seems a good idea to me.

Isn't the risk with the Club signing the player on these long term deals. Why should the club get an advantage over other clubs.

[hujsh]

Re: Melbourne Watch 2023/24

Isn't the risk with the Club signing the player on these long term deals. Why should the club get an advantage over other clubs.

Well this is a precendent all clubs will follow. So no single club will have an advantage

[Grantysghost]

Re: Melbourne Watch 2023/24

My guess is it will be partially exempt from the cap. Don't agree with it.
Brayshaw should sue them for their lack of sanction for Maynard.
They basically rubber stamped his forced retirement.

[Bulldog Joe]

Re: Melbourne Watch 2023/24

With the likes of retiring early because of concussion the club could pay out to the players super so it will benefit them when they may need down the track.

Unable to do that as it would probably exceed the super limits.

[Testekill]

Re: Melbourne Watch 2023/24

A Melbourne Football Club doctor has sensationally *admitted to conducting ?off the books? illicit drug tests ? *allegedly authorised by the AFL ? to help players evade *detection on match days.


The doctor-turned-whistleblower says players who confessed to having taken drugs in the days before AFL games were given secret tests to ensure their systems were clear or were advised to ?fake an injury? so they would not risk being tested and suspended for breaches of the World Anti-Doping Agency code.


Federal MP Andrew Wilkie told parliament on Tuesday night he had received a signed statement from former Demons head doctor Zeeshan Arain in which he accuses the AFL of facilitating the clandestine drug tests at Dorevitch Pathology in Heidelberg.


Mr Wilkie called on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to intervene in the scandal.


In a stunning address, Mr Wilkie said: ?I rise to bring the house?s attention deeply troubling allegations of egregious misconduct within the AFL provided by former Melbourne football club president Glen Bartlett, former Melbourne football club doctor ZeeshanArain and Shaun Smith, father of Melbourne player and now alleged drug trafficker Joel Smith.


?The allegations include the prevalence of drug abuse and other prohibited behaviour across the AFL, off the books drug-testingof players at Dorevitch Pathology in Heidelberg, facilitated by the former chief medical officer of the AFL Peter Harcourt, the resting of players testing positive in these secret tests, ostensibly on account of injury, wilful inaction by AFL chairman Richard Goyder, and former CEO Gill McLachlan ?.


?Here is what happened as has been described to me: The AFL wants the player to play at all costs and so the cover up begins.


?If there are no illegal drugs in the player?s system they are free to play and if there are drugs in their system the player is often asked to fake an injury.


?They are advised to lie about a condition, while the results of the off-the-book tests are kept secret and are never shared with Sports Integrity Australia or WADA.


?In other words, hundreds of thousands of Australians will watch the game not knowing that the game has been secretly manipulated by the AFL and thousands of Australians will bet on that game not knowing the game has been secretly manipulated by the AFL.


?So next time you hear a player has a hamstring injury, you could be forgiven for wondering what is really going on.


?But as Dr Arain explains this isn?t just a Melbourne problem, it is an AFL problem with multiple players coming to Melbourne from other teams with pre-existing cocaine dependencies more than suggesting that drug testing workarounds are commonplace elsewhere in the AFL.


?The documents in my possession also indicate a shocking unwillingness of senior AFL executives to address drug abuse by players and executives, particularly in relation to cocaine use.


?For instance here are very detailed notes of a telephone meeting between Gill McLachlan, Richard Goyder and Glen Bartlett.?


The AFL has a longstanding contract with Dorevitch Pathology to conduct testing for its controversial out-of-competition illicit drugs code.
Match day drug tests are conducted by SIA officers under the world anti-doping code.
The stunning claims are likely to draw the interest of WADA chiefs, SIA and the Albanese Government, which has responsibilities under the global anti-doping code.
Mr Wilkie said the allegations were deeply troubling and called on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to review the signed statements and ?personally intervene in this matter?.
?It is not an exaggeration to say the off-the-books testing scheme I?ve described sees the AFL effectively involved in a multi-hundred million dollar fraud on governments and taxpayers.
?Aussie Rules football is far too important to our nation. I call for intervention at the highest level and ask the PrimeMinister to personally intervene in this matter ? because right now Deputy Speaker the term white line fever has taken on a different and sinister meaning at the AFL.?
Joel Smith failed an anti-doping drugs test last August after traces of cocaine were detected in his system from a urine sample taken by SIA testers on match-day.
He has since been accused by SIA of cocaine trafficking and faces a lifetime ban from sport.
In Shaun Smith?s statement, detailed by Mr Wilkie, he said: ?If I had known of a massive drug problem in the AFL when my son was 14 I would have said you?re playing baseball, you?re playing something else.
?Something is not right when you get so many broken players.?
Cocaine is considered to be a performance-enhancing substance if detected on game day.
Dr Arain was sacked by the Demons in October 2020 after eight years as head doctor ? just days after raising serious concerns about the club?s culture with chief executive Gary Pert.
Lawyers for Dr Arain hit the club with an unlawful dismissal claim, which led to a significant settlement. Dr Harcourt, an AFL life member who became embroiled in the Essendon drugs scandal, stepped down as the league?s chief medical officer in October 2021.
The AFL and Melbourne are being contacted for comment.
The government Tuesday night blocked attempts by Mr Wilkie to formally table the signed statements to parliament.
- Michael Warner

[bulldogtragic]

Re: Melbourne Watch 2023/24

**** me sideways.

Essendon like sanctions should be coming.

[jazzadogs]

Re: Melbourne Watch 2023/24

Am I surprised? No.

Do I think anything will come of it? No.

Do I think the AFL cares about cocaine use? No.

Do I think the AFL cares about the optics of this article? Oh hell yeh.