Certified Legendary Thread 34 Essendon* Players suspended for doping violations - No opposition fans. Check OP for thread rules

[jj1978]

Don't worry my dear friends, Essendon are going to get reamed.... AFLPA ordering large batches of KY as we speak!

1. If the Essendon players were going to be let off... they would've been told 3 weeks ago when the tribunal stated they would give the decision in 3 weeks. As a sign of good faith if they were innocent the tribunal would've probably said you guys have nothing to answer and we'll provide a full report on the 31st to give the finer details and for now be merry and prepare for round 1.

2. Essendon have extended the top-up players contract till after round 1 of the season "just in case"... I thought they were confident nothing was going to happen..

3. The tribunal hearing is going to be closed to the media... guess we still want to keep the players and their reamings anonymous... if they were innocent who cares if the public "finally" discovers the players involved.. in fact they'd (players, Essendon) would love then for us to know who the players are so their paid media friends can start writing articles on their bravery through the saga and how we should feel sorry for them going through it all to be found innocent. Furthermore.. closed because I suspect the senior players involved will get harsher sentences than the younger ones, also publicly they wouldn't want to advertise that players such as Ryder, Monfries got lighter sentences due to them "assisting" the case..

4. How many Sunday games are Essendon playing at the dome?? funny how Sunday is being advertised as family day.. free popcorn to kiddies etc etc... I guess you've got to entice Essendon supporters etc to go watch the Essendon seconds.

They're going down HARD!

 

[BuxbaumBixby]

Yeah I didn't like the way Paul Marsh spoke either. Especially when he said he is confident on the right result on tuesday being Essendon being cleared.

If they are found guilty of cheating and players are banned then I would consider that the 'right result' for the 17 other clubs the AFLPA is also meant to represent.

100% agree .... Marsh's comments should have been more about "We hope that we can get some closure and that the integrity of the game and all players are upheld etc etc".

All along, I just think they should have been both publicly (and behind the scenes) distancing them from the EFC. While i recognise that they are in a difficult position - I thought that the whole basis of the organisation would have been in a situation like this to offer clear, independant advice to players and parents.

 

[blueboy25]

100% agree .... Marsh's comments should have been more about "We hope that we can get some closure and that the integrity of the game and all players are upheld etc etc".

All along, I just think they should have been both publicly (and behind the scenes) distancing them from the EFC. While i recognise that they are in a difficult position - I thought that the whole basis of the organisation would have been in a situation like this to offer clear, independant advice to players and parents.

I haven't heard them come out and support Hal Hunter yet? But maybe that's beacuse he is trying to the truth out of Essendon

 

[Thrawn]

I keep hearing that all players will be cleared for 'lack of evidence'. If this happens then it is an absolute disgrace. The fact that James Hird is allowed to coach is a blight on our game. He should have been suspended for 10 years from any coaching position.

From who? A "rumour file" from 3AW?

ASADA didn't spend six days at the tribunal exchanging pleasantries over a chai latte. The tribunal isn't going to leak their result to a "sports administrator" (whatever that means). For all we know it's from some nobody PE teacher who wants to feel important. I've heard legal sources too, but Hardie has been generously given air time by someone who should know better (Neil Mitchell I'm looking at you) so that doesn't really mean much. The anti-doping tribunal is head by an ex-county court judge with decades of experience... over hundreds of court cases he's never leaked the result but all of a sudden he's going to start now? For a sporting organisation that doesn't even have that much power outside its own competition? Pleeease, that is silly.

There are certain clues that the hammer will fall:

- Little saying they're confident the players will be cleared, then the next day the players suddenly are looking at their legal options to sue the AFL.

- The HAL situation.

- Kevin Sheedy's recent comments (newly appointed propaganda minister).

- The players all of a sudden being "worried", despite the fact they're 100% sure they've done nothing wrong and are confident that they'll be cleared.

- Reports that the AFL consider this as a 50/50.

I mean, gee, why all the fuss with the court case and appeal if it was going to be as easy as rocking up to the tribunal, arguing for half a day over what evidence should be admissible/inadmissible and whether TB4 should actually be on the banned list and getting the clear?

 

[MrsEddieBetts]

Poor Thrawn
You must be getting frustrated by having to repeat yourself constantly. It will all be over soon!

 

[Thrawn]

Sit tight.

Be confident.

 

[LanceRomance]

Sit tight.

Be confident.

Cerberus @tretestecane · Mar 25
Mark my words, come next Tuesday the AFL is going to have you believe that Dank did everything, including shooting JFK.

 

[Blue Pulse]

100% agree .... Marsh's comments should have been more about "We hope that we can get some closure and that the integrity of the game and all players are upheld etc etc".

All along, I just think they should have been both publicly (and behind the scenes) distancing them from the EFC. While i recognise that they are in a difficult position - I thought that the whole basis of the organisation would have been in a situation like this to offer clear, independant advice to players and parents.

Where were the AFLPA when these blokes were getting jabbed and why didn't the players go to AFLPA when they were in the dodgy lab rat experiment program???

 

[Funk]

If you haven't read the article in todays HUN but you feel like a good vomit?

Go ahead and read it.

A feel good story about Jobe visiting Gallipoli and the "unwavering support of family and friends" and "the strong and united and loyal playing group" blah, blah, blah.

This cheating, lying, obfuscating, evidence shredding, "trying to get off on a technicality" scum of a football club who have not been open/honest about a single aspect of this whole saga and who now have their own players suing them to find out what they were actually injected are scheduled to play in the prime ANZAC day match - to honour brave honourable young men who died defending their country?

i.e. the club who injected healthy young men with substances not approved for use in humans is selected to honour young men who died for their country?

FMD!!!!

EFC behaviour represents everything that could be dishonourable in people/organisations - they should never ever play in an ANZAC Day match again.

 

[Atom Ant]

Don't you love the PR spin from dope Dons, wheres the records? Did the dog eat it?

 

[thylacine60]

If you haven't read the article in todays HUN but you feel like a good vomit?

Go ahead and read it.

A feel good story about Jobe visiting Gallipoli and the "unwavering support of family and friends" and "the strong and united and loyal playing group" blah, blah, blah.

This cheating, lying, obfuscating, evidence shredding, "trying to get off on a technicality" scum of a football club who have not been open/honest about a single aspect of this whole saga and who now have their own players suing them to find out what they were actually injected are scheduled to play in the prime ANZAC day match - to honour brave honourable young men who died defending their country?

i.e. the club who injected healthy young men with substances not approved for use in humans is selected to honour young men who died for their country?

FMD!!!!

EFC behaviour represents everything that could be dishonourable in people/organisations - they should never ever play in an ANZAC Day match again.

obfuscating

 

[Thrawn]

Cerberus @tretestecane · Mar 25
Mark my words, come next Tuesday the AFL is going to have you believe that Dank did everything, including shooting JFK.

Bad move, Dank can spill the beans on the whole thing if there's a concentrated media assault on him (he's fired a few warning shots along the journey too). Wouldn't that be messy?

 

[Thrawn]

*Essendon supporters like to focus on Andruska's "I don't recall" comments and extremely vague notebook scribbles of ponies on the corners, but conveniently forget this:

Throughout a five-hour cross examination in the Federal Court in Melbourne, Andruska confirmed that Essendon had been under investigation since 2011 for suspected use of banned peptides and that blood samples taken from players had been frozen while testing methods improved.

She said those samples were later sent to a testing laboratory in Cologne, Germany, to be screened for banned peptides. Although the tests were inconclusive, they “gave us enough to believe we were on the right path,” she said.

I hope this alleviates some concerns.

 

[Blueballs38]

Thrawn you are keeping me strong.

My love for the game has taken a real hit over this .... a not guilty verdict will be close to the final straw.

The way EFC have handled themselves as well as the AFL for that matter ... treating us all like idiots ... a non guilty verdict will make me feel stupid for supporting the competition anymore ... especially after we stood tall and took our whack.

The spin that PR can create and how gullible people can be has been a real eye opener to me the last couple of years.

I used to think that the general public were sheep but sheep to the slaughter?

Just a sad world we live in if a not guilty verdict is reached.

 

[jj1978]

I wonder how much more a damage to the "brand" the AFL will get if they do get a non-guilty... with Cousin's (Weagles), now Crowley.... the public are just tired of drugs in this game... at least with Saad he took his whack and the public support for him was up there and we were happy once he did his time to return. If Essendon get off... support for the AFL will drop considerably and after Aus v Germany in the soccer the other day (Asian cup win) and Cricket looking sexier again... I'm sure the AFL is worried enough to know it's a problem and will entice fans by say giving kids free entry and free popcorn at games...

 

[Neese]

I would like to make an early nomination of Thrawn for POTY

 

[HBF]

I am not a lawyer, but I expect he will also sue for stress and future health uncertainties if there are no records of what was injected into him that often.

Mal might be able to answer that question.

 

[Dramoth]

I wonder how much more a damage to the "brand" the AFL will get if they do get a non-guilty... with Cousin's (Weagles), now Crowley.... the public are just tired of drugs in this game... at least with Saad he took his whack and the public support for him was up there and we were happy once he did his time to return. If Essendon get off... support for the AFL will drop considerably and after Aus v Germany in the soccer the other day (Asian cup win) and Cricket looking sexier again... I'm sure the AFL is worried enough to know it's a problem and will entice fans by say giving kids free entry and free popcorn at games...

Thrawn you are keeping me strong.

My love for the game has taken a real hit over this .... a not guilty verdict will be close to the final straw.

The way EFC have handled themselves as well as the AFL for that matter ... treating us all like idiots ... a non guilty verdict will make me feel stupid for supporting the competition anymore ... especially after we stood tall and took our whack.

The spin that PR can create and how gullible people can be has been a real eye opener to me the last couple of years.

I used to think that the general public were sheep but sheep to the slaughter?

Just a sad world we live in if a not guilty verdict is reached.

The damage to the brand of AFL is getting to the point of no return. IF the tribunal returns a not guilty verdict for the Essendon* players, then you will see the AFL start hemorrhaging money and sponsors. The game will basically become a joke of a sport and because of the lax doping controls that the AFL has, you might even see them dropping any anti-doping codes and just go it alone. If that happens it will become rife with 'supplements' and 'enhancements' to training and conditioning and we will see guys coming out looking like Ben Johnson when he was seriously doping.

At that point in time, I will give up completely on the sport and use my time and money to start supporting Rugby or soccer more seriously than I do now... I will still have a soft spot in my heart for Carlton, being the first team I started supporting, but I would refuse to watch a game and even spend money on a sport when clubs can get away with systematic drug programs.

 

[Blueballs38]

The damage to the brand of AFL is getting to the point of no return. IF the tribunal returns a not guilty verdict for the Essendon* players, then you will see the AFL start hemorrhaging money and sponsors. The game will basically become a joke of a sport and because of the lax doping controls that the AFL has, you might even see them dropping any anti-doping codes and just go it alone. If that happens it will become rife with 'supplements' and 'enhancements' to training and conditioning and we will see guys coming out looking like Ben Johnson when he was seriously doping.

At that point in time, I will give up completely on the sport and use my time and money to start supporting Rugby or soccer more seriously than I do now... I will still have a soft spot in my heart for Carlton, being the first team I started supporting, but I would refuse to watch a game and even spend money on a sport when clubs can get away with systematic drug programs.

This is what kills me ... can't the AFL see this?

The AFL have a chance to really stamp their foot down and show for once what integrity truly means.

Anything less will just make the sport lose even more credibility than it has the last two years.

Before this sorry saga AFL had the momentum of a leviathan but now soccer has that momentum .... I just cannot believe that the AFL has not taken note of this fact.

All to protect a club that has thumbed its nose the competition the last two years.

I just will not accept that.

 

[Dramoth]

This is what kills me ... can't the AFL see this?

The AFL have a chance to really stamp their foot down and show for once what integrity truly means.

Anything less will just make the sport lose even more credibility than it has the last two years.

Before this sorry saga AFL had the momentum of a leviathan but now soccer has that momentum .... I just cannot believe that the AFL has not taken note of this fact.

All to protect a club that has thumbed its nose the competition the last two years.

I just will not accept that.

If what Thrawn quoted in is correct and ASADA started looking in to Essendon* back in 2011 (probably after we smashed them in the EF and they started investigating peptides), then they have been thumbing their noses at the competition for the past 4 years.

 

[Big Sim]

If you haven't read the article in todays HUN but you feel like a good vomit?

Go ahead and read it.

A feel good story about Jobe visiting Gallipoli and the "unwavering support of family and friends" and "the strong and united and loyal playing group" blah, blah, blah.

This cheating, lying, obfuscating, evidence shredding, "trying to get off on a technicality" scum of a football club who have not been open/honest about a single aspect of this whole saga and who now have their own players suing them to find out what they were actually injected are scheduled to play in the prime ANZAC day match - to honour brave honourable young men who died defending their country?

i.e. the club who injected healthy young men with substances not approved for use in humans is selected to honour young men who died for their country?

FMD!!!!

EFC behaviour represents everything that could be dishonourable in people/organisations - they should never ever play in an ANZAC Day match again.

Yes indeed Funk. Yes indeed.

 

[Blueballs38]

If what Thrawn quoted in is correct and ASADA started looking in to Essendon* back in 2011 (probably after we smashed them in the EF and they started investigating peptides), then they have been thumbing their noses at the competition for the past 4 years.

In the end that is what is sad ... the AFL is run by mostly ex players, protecting themselves rather than the game.

What they do not seem bright enough to grasp is that any game is not the sum of its players but the sum of its fans.

It may take a generation but if the fans are not replenished generation after generation then the sport dies.

AFL take note please ....

 

[Aphrodite]

EssenDOPE* reveal their Anzac Day guernsey.

Oh the irony!

#injectapose

 

[Blue Pulse]

There just missing the black arm band, the one which you wrap around to expose the veins

 

[hoddo22]

A not guilty verdict leads directly to an appeal by either ASADA or WADA. This appeal will eventually find its way to CAS, 100% out of the AFL's control.