That's the way. Not dead just on the cusp of it for many many years
Essendon have been mediocre for a long time (even before this scandal broke) and they should be sanctioned again by the AFL now as they continue to bring the game into disrepute with idiotic comments and actions, that make the game unpalatable for anyone who sees sport as 'fair'.
Essendon got a free AFL Premiership in 1993 by cheating the salary cap, and when uncovered got a slap on the wrist. <The Melbourne Storm lost their premierships!>. The message from the AFL at that time to all other clubs was cheating is OK if you get away with it, and the AFL will look after Essendon as they are a powerful club. We will never have a great AFL competition whilst Collingwood and Essendon make up the rules! They are powerful clubs but the game must be bigger than them or it is a farce.
Then Essendon lead AFL (Evans) hammered us when we self reported the brown paper bags and tried to destroy our club. Elliot got tempted, but we F***ing self reported and got ZERO mercy. The AFL have subsequently (for other teams before and after) been more lenient.
Now Essendon are wriggling and whinging and pleading for relief as they again push the frontiers on how to cheat and get away with it in the AFL. If the AFL do not have the balls to seriously hammer them right now then the competition will remain a joke and all the rants about the powerful Victorian clubs running the AFL will continue to be true.
The AFL must show it has a spine or Essendon will do whatever it takes to find a new competitive advantage to push the boundaries beyond safe and reasonable conduct in future. I was hoping the club would be suspended for two years (which I understand is the ASADA requirement for wholesale cheating) as a warning of just how serious this is, and how AFL is a safe and healthy sport for all Australians. Will Essendon get away with a joke off season suspension because they were all duped by some (so far) unidentified person? I hope not.
The players are not innocent. They know the rules more than the 14-18 year old amateur athletes who routinely take ASADA bans. Jobe Watson stated on National TV he took a banned substance???
Just because Essendon has $$$ does not mean they should get different rules to every other athlete on the planet. If the AFL take Government $$$ they must comply with ASADA/WADA. Hope it happens soon so we can plan for a substitute AFL team for 2 years or watch Essendon reserves get smashed!