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

[Dramoth]

For people saying the punishment was too soft: just wait until ASADA get through them. Players will not only get infraction notices, but Essendon will be up for more charges under the anti-drug code. Which will mean loss of premiership points (retrospectively too), and loss of more draft picks. This isn't over by any stretch.

Doesn't anyone remember Dillon's statement when the report was announced? The AFL is within its power to bring further charges as new evidence comes into light.

And there is the other big stick that everyone has been forgetting about... there is still the ACC report to come out which could lead to actual criminal charges being leveled at people currently employed or previously employed or currently suspended from being employed at Essendon*.

Once ACC charges are laid, there is going to be a whole world of hurt heading out to certain people. And we could even see Evans and Robson getting pulled up into court as well and they would be coping their full wack as well.

And there is the OHSA who will be jumping in as well... and the AFLPA will be stepping in now as well.

 

[The_Wookie]

 

[Big Sim]

For people saying the punishment was too soft: just wait until ASADA get through them. Players will not only get infraction notices, but Essendon will be up for more charges under the anti-drug code. Which will mean loss of premiership points (retrospectively too), and loss of more draft picks. This isn't over by any stretch.

Doesn't anyone remember Dillon's statement when the report was announced? The AFL is within its power to bring further charges as new evidence comes into light.

Hope you are right. Surely you must be?

Good god. How can one club get so stupid? How can one club worship a man so bad?

Hird getting a contract extension is probably one of the worst signings i've heard of. Let me get this straight.. He screws his players out the finals with all these ASADA crap, he stuffs around and accuses the AFL of bullying, he makes everything about himself.. and he gets a contract extension!?

Not only that, but he can have nothing to do with the club until the final round next year, yet if his stand in gets the team to the finals Golden Boy comes back to coach them from the on...

Little has promised this. My G od what a bunch of idiots.

 

[Stamos]

Absolute joke that Hird only copped 12 months. The other sanctions are probably there abouts.

Hopefully ASADA come in and clean out the playing list.

 

[happydude]

Wow those essendon fans... Admit your club was wrong.

Its delusional morons like this that start wars and it's surprising there are so many in the 1 place

 

[King of Ruin]

Its delusional morons like this that start wars and it's surprising there are so many in the 1 place

 

[Wickzki]

Absolute joke that Hird only copped 12 months. The other sanctions are probably there abouts.

I am genuinely peeved that Bomber only received a $30,000 fine when he introduced Robinson to the Essendon* Football Club. That, in my opinion, makes him a part of the root of the problem. $30,000 simply does not cut it. Both he and Hird should have been fined (more heavily than $30,000 -- I would have fined them 50 per cent of their annual salary) and been suspended until the end of the 2014 AFL season at the absolute earliest. That someone so reprehensible will be allowed to coach them this week and into next season while the other waits in the wings is disappointing to say the least. The AFL have essentially gifted him free reign over a group of young men. That, in my honest opinion, is terrifyingly wrong.

Like others I am also angry that they will be awarded an end of first round draft pick next year. IF, and it is indeed a big one, ASADA (or WADA) do not step in and issue infraction notices against the players (and thus their playing list is not impeded in any way, shape or form), a top four position is not out of the picture. The reality is that end of first round pick, which will be pick #18 (17 other AFL clubs keep their first round pick with Essendon's pick coming before any compensation or priority picks), could genuinely only be a move down in the draft of between zero (if they finished top they'd have pick #18 anyway) and three (if they finished fourth they would have pick #15). That's an absolute farce.

I hope people keep in mind that this is only the beginning. I find a little solace in the fact that the AFL have been able to work through this mess and hand Essendon penalties based upon the base charges of bringing the game into disrepute. We must keep in mind that ASADA/WADA (and even the AFL) can hand down further penalties based upon the final reports. This really could be the tip of the iceberg. The Titanic did not sink the moment that it hit the iceberg, it took its time. This will too. Having said that, I find it absolutely humorous that Essendon* people are of the belief that this is the end and have said as much in press conferences, etc. It's little wonder that Jab Watson made the claims that he did - he's the captain of a sporting disorganization that is absolutely delusional.

As for Paul Little, his pea hearted apologies are completely meaningless. The discerning football public is of the understanding that he still does not believe that the Essendon* Football Club did anything wrong at all. His apologies come off as though he were the child who has been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. He is not sorry that his football club and it's key stakeholders did something wrong, they are sorry that they have been caught doing it. There is a massive difference.

 

[Moody Blue]

Bomber smuggly stands in front of the press and states that no one has proven that illegal performance enhancing drugs were given to the players. Well Bomber I hope you, Hird, Corcoran and the good old Doc are proud of youselves.The only problem is that no one has definitively proven that the players were not given performance enhancing experimental drugs. What does it tell you about a club that goes to the lengths to protect the instigators of a conspiracy then spend millions to protect the same people?

Instead of being so smug, maybe you should stand before your players and their partners and parents and explain to them what efforts you have taken to find out what was injected into the lab rats who were the players. But I suppose you don't care, because you got off the charge and your precious reputation is now in tact. They are the ones who will have to deal with the consequences. The spin merchants will no doubt argue in 10 or 20 years that there is no conclusive proof or link between the supplement regimen and any disease. The same line that the Cigarette companies successfully used for 30 years.

The letter from Doc Reid unravelled your carefully orchestrated plans and then we had the sight of James Hird trying to claim legal privilege as everyone shook their collective heads.

I would have been impressed if the Essendon hierarchy or even the AFL had sued Danks & Robinson and compelled them to tell a court under oath what they had administered to the players. The problem with this course of action is that other dirty little secrets may come out, like who really knew what was being injected. No leave it to the players to do it and let them incur the costs and ridicule.

This story is far from finished and when Danks comes clean I would not be surprised if 30 Essendon players are issued with infraction notices. If Danks reveals that he injected players with drugs which were banned at the behest of the coaching staff then we will see how smug Hird and Bomber and are when the truth comes out.
****************************************************************************
Dear James/Paul
I have some fundamental problems being club doctor at present.
This particularly applies to the administration of supplements.
Although we have been giving supplements for approximately three months, despite repeated requests as to exactly what we are giving our players and the literature related to this, have at no time been given that until last Sunday [15 January 2012]. Last week the players were given subcutaneous injections, not by myself, and I had no idea that this was happening and also what drug was involved.
It appears to me that in Sydney with Rugby League the clubs do not answer to the governing body (e.g. A.F.L.). It seems that their whole culture is based on trying to beat the system as are close to the edge as one can. It is my belief in A.F.L. that we should be winning flags by keeping a drug free culture.
It is all very well to say this is not banned and that is not banned but for example, the injection that we have given our players subcutaneously, was a drug called AOD/9604, is an Oligomeric Peptide. This drug is derived from the growth hormone. This molecule has been constructed so it has removed what we call IGF1, which is part of the growth hormone that causes muscle and organ growth and bone length and photosynthesis.
It is at the moment used for fat metabolism but also bone strength in children and may have some side effects that may be beneficial in bone growth. This to me just seem ludicrous at this stage where the only trials I have got are on how to lost weight and fat around the abdomen.
If we are resorting to deliver this altered growth hormone molecule, I think we are playing at the edge and this will read extremely badly in the press for our club and for the benefits and also for side effects that are not known in the long term, I have trouble with all these drugs.
I am still not sure whether AOD/9604 is approved by the drug authorities in Australia at this stage. Just because it is not classified as illegal, doesn’t mean that it can be used freely in the community, it cannot. The other interesting thing about AOD/9604, is that its market in America is in body builders. This also should raise a red flag if we are worried about perception.
When it comes to Actovegin, this has been used around the world for many years. There is some flimsy evidence that it may help in speeding up the healing of tendons when they are damaged, though after speaking to radiologists, the recent opinion is that platelets and one’s own blood, probably does a better job.
We are claiming that we should use it as a recovery agent. To me it seems ludicrous that a few mls of calf’s blood spun down, is going to give you a concentration of growth factors and other factors that would speed up recovery.
I am very frustrated by this and now feel I am letting the club down by not automatically approving of these things.
I need to collect my thoughts as these drugs have been given without my knowledge.
I am sure Steve Danks believes that what we are doing is totally ethical and legal, however, one wonders whether if you take a long stance and look at this from a distance, whether you would want your children being injected with a derivative hormone that is not free to the community and whether calf’s blood, that has been used for many years and is still doubted by most doctors, is worth pursuing.
Kind Regards
Dr. Bruce Reid
M.B.B.S.
Senior Medical Officer

 

[kingkingston]

Can someone clarify what 'trade to get back into the first round' means ? Is that Essendon could swap their third/fourth round draft pick to a club for a round 1 pick ??

yes

 

[AlecDuncan]

For people saying the punishment was too soft: just wait until ASADA get through them. Players will not only get infraction notices, but Essendon will be up for more charges under the anti-drug code. Which will mean loss of premiership points (retrospectively too), and loss of more draft picks. This isn't over by any stretch.

Doesn't anyone remember Dillon's statement when the report was announced? The AFL is within its power to bring further charges as new evidence comes into light.

I live in hope.

 

[athensblue]

James, you may want to keep the paper bag they came in though...

 

[Silvagnis]

Power behind Hird throne

Tania is one of three key confidantes to Hird, with Essendon great Tim Watson and News Corp chief executive Robert Thomson rounding out a a tight group that has been providing him with support and advice as the supplements scandal has played out.

Power behind Hird throne

Fairfax needed to be in the Essendon tent and pissing out.

 

[Kramer1]

Also, not sure if you know... A Carlton legend .

Please...

 

[HARKER]

Power behind Hird throne

Fairfax needed to be in the Essendon tent and pissing out.

Fair to say, it's time for new advisers.

 

[kingkingston]

if Hird wasn't at the club this drugs saga would never have happened, why can't Essendon fans see that

 

[Jeremias]

if Hird wasn't at the club this drugs saga would never have happened, why can't Essendon fans see that

Tough to see much from there.

 

[Sector 7G]

Power behind Hird throne

Power behind Hird throne

Fairfax needed to be in the Essendon tent and pissing out.

The work of the EFC PR machine has only just begun to rewrite history. The heroic Hirdy has put the club before his own good name to put this saga behind it despite the legal moves that forced the AFL to release the charge sheet that let the public know how deplorable the clubs actions wer in 2012.

Surely no one could suggest that EFC deliberately set out to cheat (despite repeated warnings that it was in fact cheating and there being no evidence they didnt set out to cheat apart from the totally ignored arse covering memo).

It must be of great comfort to the players that EFC can be sure that the unknow drugs they were injected with were safe and legal. It defies logic that someone could even try to mount this argument and be taken seriously.

It seems clear that EFC do not think that they did anything wrong and their only regret was getting caught.

Caro the battle is not yet over (Though I get the feeling that Vlad will be making a call to tell her it is time to stop digging)

 

[Faz 2000]

Please...

You like that?


Gee, how distasteful is it that Hird's being branded a "hero" today. Seriously? For copping a plea bargain?! What the AFL handed out yesterday was light touch compared to what it would have been if Hird/Bombers had kept fighting. Just because Hird was the last to see that, doesn't make him a hero. Still no remorse from Hird - just other Essendon people saying "yes, he's remorseful". Boo.

 

[HBF]

I can't get my head around how Essendon* have already given him a two year deal for the 2015 & 2016 seasons.
Is that club completely useless or what.
Everyone just bows down to this ego maniac - the same bloke that has near on ruined that club.

Mind boggling.

 

[Sector 7G]

I can't get my head around how Essendon* have already given him a two year deal for the 2015 & 2016 seasons.
Is that club completely useless or what.
Everyone just bows down to this ego maniac - the same bloke that has near on ruined that club.

Mind boggling.

One giant FU to the AFL and supporters everywhere. Was probably part of Hird's agreement with EFC to cop the AFL deal. Listening to Bomber last night EFC still haven't conceded that they have done anything wrong.

 

[The Old Dark Navy's]

I can't get my head around how Essendon* have already given him a two year deal for the 2015 & 2016 seasons.
Is that club completely useless or what.
Everyone just bows down to this ego maniac - the same bloke that has near on ruined that club.

Mind boggling.

If the players do get infractions, you'd imagine his return is nigh on impossible. I wonder if the Bombers put a clause in that new contract to this effect. Would be mildly amusing to see Hird suing Essendon over breach of contract if this occurred.

 

[Luv Blues]

The bumbers might have had a laugh on Saturday beating the Blues. Guess who's laughing now, you pack of hypocritic bastards.

Justice Part 1, and more to come.

 

[HARKER]

Lawyer praises 'heroic, courageous' Hird for accepting 12-month ban

JAMES Hird's lawyer says the Essendon coach probably would have won the court action he launched against the AFL over the Bombers supplement saga.

Speaking on SEN on Wednesday morning, Julian Burnside, QC, said it was "very likely" that Hird would have cleared his name over the allegations of conduct unbecoming and bringing the game into disrepute.

On Tuesday night, Burnside described Hird's acceptance of a 12-month suspension for his part in Essendon's supplements program as a "heroic" and "courageous" act.

Burnside claimed any alleged wrongdoing at the club was carried out by "a couple of cowboys" behind his client's back

I feel sick. This Hird guy is dangerous.
Seems that everyone falls for that infectious smile.

 

[carlton1987]

Anyone else watching the live media conference about to air on news.com.au

http://www.news.com.au/sport/afl/es...ed-for-12-months/story-fndv7pj3-1226704614233

It's live and Hirdy hasn't come out yet and reporters are just talking about random things outside his house haha.

 

[HARKER]

Anyone else watching the live media conference about to air on news.com.au

http://www.news.com.au/sport/afl/es...ed-for-12-months/story-fndv7pj3-1226704614233

It's live and Hirdy hasn't come out yet and reporters are just talking about random things outside his house haha.

Entertaining isn't it?

Wonder what or who Jimmy is doing in there?