Bruce Francis has replied.

[Aussie in exile]

they knew something was crook . Maybe not at the very start but they soon would have had a sense of Oh s**t.
They kept the doc in the dark and from there it went down hill.
Once the deceit commenced it became an all in scenario. There was no backing down.

They circumvented the correct process, a process that was there to protect them. They should have put their trust in Dr Reid . Instead they went with the Dank, Robinson and Hird side who said all is good, no worries here mate. Nothing to see.

Not saying Reid could not have done more but they disempowered him , he was the one who could have said wait a second . I reckon if Dank was forced to go through Reid in the first place we would not be here now.

Yes, its hard for a young player to say why are we going over the road to have these injections from a guy who is obviously not qualified or organised , in a shitty environment and also not to talk to Dr Reid about it. But to get a whole squad to do it shows the group mentality was “whatever it takes”.

Once the records were destroyed of what was injected into the players that tells you all you need to know that it wasn't legal

 

[Ancient Tiger]

Wouldn't Dank misleading them be open slather for legal action against him?

I know the players were financially compensated (outside the cap) by the club but wouldn't the Essendon Football Club go after Dank? They kept pushing the narrative that he went rouge. Why not try to prove it under oath?

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How can they go after Dank? On what evidence? They failed atrociously in governance and, as his employer, were responsible for his actions to a point. This was really a mess. Dank had declared himself bankrupt from memory too, protecting himself from litigation. The guy is a snake. The club wants everything from the time buried, never to see the surface again.

 

[Ancient Tiger]

Don't forget that they never declared these substances to the AFL or the club medical officer, as required.

Very true. However, the players had also signed confidentiality agreements and so were conflicted. Good legal advice would have been not to sign those as it immediately contravened existing rules regarding the AFL's agreement with ASADA. What a mess!

 

[Chief]

However, the players had also signed confidentiality agreements and so were conflicted.

They would have been fine. Legal people will correct me if I am wrong, but the club can't hold the players to their agreement when it conflicts with prior existing agreements. Edit - Or more accurately if the new agreement is an agreement to break the law or whatever.

This is absolutely the smoking gun.

The "we have no records but we know it wasn't illegal" is a strategy.

It distracts from the solid proof that everyone broke the PED rules: absence of reporting to the AFL and to the club doctor.

If Hird didn't know the rules he had no business being in charge of anything.

Good legal advice would have been not to sign those as it immediately contravened existing rules regarding the AFL's agreement with ASADA.

The players had an agreement with the AFL. The players failed to disclose. The players knew what they were doing was against the rules.

They broke the rules and were suspended for it. End of story.

All else is just a cynical strategy to muddy the waters.

 

[Aussie in exile]

They would have been fine. Legal people will correct me if I am wrong, but the club can't hold the players to their agreement when it conflicts with prior existing agreements.

This is absolutely the smoking gun.

The "we have no records but we know it wasn't illegal" is a strategy.

It distracts from the solid proof that everyone broke the PED rules: absence of reporting to the AFL and to the club doctor.

If Hird didn't know the rules he had no business being in charge of anything.


The players had an agreement with the AFL. The players failed to disclose. The players knew what they were doing was against the rules.

They broke the rules and were suspended for it. End of story.

All else is just a cynical strategy to muddy the waters.

Indeed and they wouldn't have destroyed the records of what was injected into the players if it was legal, only if it was illegal.

 

[hoddo22]

How can they go after Dank? On what evidence? They failed atrociously in governance and, as his employer, were responsible for his actions to a point. This was really a mess. Dank had declared himself bankrupt from memory too, protecting himself from litigation. The guy is a snake. The club wants everything from the time buried, never to see the surface again.

Time and time again I kept reading and hearing that he duped the players. Sounds like a good reason to go after him, if only to exonerate the 34 cheats.

But they never have. Clear as day that everyone was in on it up to the eyeballs. So freaking guilty.


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[Ancient Tiger]

Time and time again I kept reading and hearing that he duped the players. Sounds like a good reason to go after him, if only to exonerate the 34 cheats.

But they never have. Clear as day that everyone was in on it up to the eyeballs. So freaking guilty.


On SM-G781B using BigFooty.com mobile app

He did dupe the players. I have been privy to personal emails from Dank to someone else (will not say who for obvious reasons). He states on them quite clearly that he would just tell the players they were taking vitamins when he was giving them whatever he wanted. He even boasted about it!
Right from the beginning I have had the inside information on this because of the people I know. You can imagine that there would be someone in this state that knew what was going on outside of Dank and Robinson. That person was a personal friend who ended up being a key witness to ASADA. He is the one who has shared things with me.

The rest of you are only guessing, as would I if I didn't have this information. I have been privileged but also a little cursed knowing what I know.