ASADA issues show-cause notices to Essendon players

[FrediKanoute]

Re: ASADA issues show-cause notices to Essendon players

We go on about elite athletes knowing what's going in their body and that's fair enough If its a single person sport like cycling or boxing or athletics but in a team sport and the team is told by coaches or whoever is at the club it's fine and you are young and getting a wage you never dreamed of in a so called professional club, who are you to question it?
And don't forget the awkward part of questioning something when for all you know it's a normal part of being in the AFL.
For example at work I'm asked to do things I haven't done before and just accept it. I work for a huge company why would I think that anything they do is illegal ?
Single person sports are easier to find blame than team sports.
Fact is it was the club doing illegal things, the players were the guinea pigs, in hindsight yes they should have asked questions etc but yeah in hindsight I should have picked the winner in the Melbourne cup but I didn't.

I can't agree Ledge. If more players questioned the practice, especially the senior guys then this wouldn't have happened or most likely would have come to light much quicker. That's what leadership is, being prepared to question. This scenario at Essendon reeks of Group Think. That's not good enough and its also no excuse as to why any player should be treated lightly. Healthy organisations encourage questioning. They encourage staff/employees to make themselves informed. If the players were willing to blindly accept what it was the medico's were injecting that's stupidity; if they felt coerced into being injected without question then that is unhealthy.

[Greystache]

Re: ASADA issues show-cause notices to Essendon players

There is no way any of these players should have allowed any of these substances to be injected into them without getting a complete record of what they contained to hang to for their own records. These sorts of acts should be the bare minimum any player should be responsible for if they sign up to the ASADA and WADA codes (which they all did).

This is where the issue for the players begins and ends for me, everything else is for the club to answer for. If I'm a player and the club announces they are starting a radical injecting program that is to operate in the grey area of the law then I'm going to be diligent to the nth degree to ensure I'm not putting my career at risk. I would keep a folder outing every injection I'm given, the date, the location, a copy of the label that is on the bottle, and a signature from the doctor that he agrees this is what I'm being given. None of this is unreasonable, and if the club/doctor won't give it to me, then they don't inject. No ifs or butts.

Granted I'm perhaps more academic or anal than many, but I find it highly unlikely there's no player out of the 42 that's diligent enough to request this.

[jeemak]

Re: ASADA issues show-cause notices to Essendon players

This is where the issue for the players begins and ends for me, everything else is for the club to answer for. If I'm a player and the club announces they are starting a radical injecting program that is to operate in the grey area of the law then I'm going to be diligent to the nth degree to ensure I'm not putting my career at risk. I would keep a folder outing every injection I'm given, the date, the location, a copy of the label that is on the bottle, and a signature from the doctor that he agrees this is what I'm being given. None of this is unreasonable, and if the club/doctor won't give it to me, then they don't inject. No ifs or butts.

Granted I'm perhaps more academic or anal than many, but I find it highly unlikely there's no player out of the 42 that's diligent enough to request this.

And this is where the broader football industry has to wear some culpability.

How can player agents not be close enough to multi-million dollar clients to the point where they are being bumped with unidentified substances on a weekly basis?

At which point did one of the 34 players at EFC actually say to someone - "hey guy's, they're treating us like pin cushions!"?

It just goes to show that this competition is bumpkinville compared to other industries in this country. It continually presents itself as the best and most cutting edge when it comes to compliance and governance, but time and time again it gets found out to be extremely lacking from the top down. The AFL would not last two seconds with any reasonable competition against it.

[Bornadog]

Re: ASADA issues show-cause notices to Essendon players

[Twodogs]

Re: ASADA issues show-cause notices to Essendon players

I think this sums up EFC's likely next steps
http://titusoreily.com/paul-little-o...light-problem/

Love this sentence.


I want to also personally assure you that the board is committed to this path of destruction we are currently on.


So scarily true.

[westdog54]

Re: ASADA issues show-cause notices to Essendon players

They won't throw the book at them

The way Essendon have fought this from pillar to post, ASADA have been backed into a corner.

They have no option left in the kit bag but to throw the book at them.

[Scraggers]

Re: ASADA issues show-cause notices to Essendon players

What about the Jobe Watson admittance, isn't that guilty ? Why does he still have his brownlow and why did he get it in the first place ?

The show cause notices relate exclusively to the use of Thymosin Beta 4, not AOD-9604, which is what he discussed in the interview.

I agree Westdog, but if Watson takes ASADA's next offer of a shorter sentence (which is what Ben McDevitt is apparently going to offer after the Show Cause Notices are re-issued), then this is an admittance of guilt. This means he is pleading guilty to use of both drugs.

If he does take the offer, the Brownlow must be stripped from him. This means Trent Cotchin and Sam Mitchell should be awarded the medal as they tied for second place.

[Dancin' Douggy]

Re: ASADA issues show-cause notices to Essendon players

If anyone has the stomach. Go and check what Essendon supporters are saying to each other on their bigfooty threads.

THEY STILL DON'T GET IT FFS!!!!!!

They are all lemmings who will follow Hird straight over the cliff.
And as they lie shattered on the rocks below, with every bone in their bodies broken, every organ ruptured and every orifice bleeding. With the bodies of their comrades falling all around them like red and black rain.
They will still praise James with the last living breath they take.

When will this madness end? Another appeal?
And what about the nonsense? "we only want to do what's right for the players"

AND Mark Robinson is there urging them on. That guy is just becoming more and more pitiful as this saga drags on.

'Hird mentality' is a new phrase in the english language from now on.

[westdog54]

Re: ASADA issues show-cause notices to Essendon players

I agree Westdog, but if Watson takes ASADA's next offer of a shorter sentence (which is what Ben McDevitt is apparently going to offer after the Show Cause Notices are re-issued), then this is an admittance of guilt. This means he is pleading guilty to use of both drugs.

If he does take the offer, the Brownlow must be stripped from him. This means Trent Cotchin and Sam Mitchell should be awarded the medal as they tied for second place.

I agree but you can't take the interview as admission of guilt because ASADA aren't proceeding on the AOD-9604 matters.

Can anyone honestly see anyone at Essenfob taking any sort of deal now? As far as I'm concerned the fact that Essendon followed through with the Federal Court action should see any offers taken off the table. The players were represented at that hearing.

[FrediKanoute]

Re: ASADA issues show-cause notices to Essendon players

What are the grounds for appeal? Appeals review errors of law. It will be extremely hard for Essendon and co to argue that Middletons decision is an error of law, because the legislation is framed so broadly. In my mind they really trying to string this out. When the issue was brought to light they had 40 potential players on their list who were affected. Now it's 30 and in another 18 months it could be around 15. ASADA Should just plow ahead, work a divide and conquer angle and get it done.

[The bulldog tragician]

Re: ASADA issues show-cause notices to Essendon players

I would be feeling very somber if I were an Essendon fan convinced that the. Bombres will get leniency. This is a good explanation of why the. Cronulla and Essendon situations are poles apart.

http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/cronulla-sharks/essendon-bombers-players-could-face-12month-bans-following-federal-court-ruling-20140919-10jhnf.html

[jeemak]

Re: ASADA issues show-cause notices to Essendon players

I agree but you can't take the interview as admission of guilt because ASADA aren't proceeding on the AOD-9604 matters.

Can anyone honestly see anyone at Essenfob taking any sort of deal now? As far as I'm concerned the fact that Essendon followed through with the Federal Court action should see any offers taken off the table. The players were represented at that hearing.

There's nothing wrong with testing something in court though, as vexatious as this might have seemed (ASADA were awarded costs).

I'm not sure a transparent and thorough process should be biased by the court hearing.

[westdog54]

Re: ASADA issues show-cause notices to Essendon players

There's nothing wrong with testing something in court though, as vexatious as this might have seemed (ASADA were awarded costs).

I'm not sure a transparent and thorough process should be biased by the court hearing.

Any discount should be based on cooperation with the investigation. This has been virtually non existent.

[jeemak]

Re: ASADA issues show-cause notices to Essendon players

Any discount should be based on cooperation with the investigation. This has been virtually non existent.

I disagree.

They all were willingly interviewed, no evidence has been covered up (as far as I know).

When you cut through it, the noise is actually all generated by James Hird because he knows he's cooked, and Little doing for the club what its members want him to do.

The players have been issued show cause notices, they tested the validity of them in court, that's now done and dusted so they now can either fight them or roll over (cooperate).

[Hotdog60]

Re: ASADA issues show-cause notices to Essendon players

I wonder if Paddy will be the first to comply.