Drug policy - what are we being fed here?

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Deepthroat

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Mar 12, 2002
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Did Willie get stitched?

As I understand he could have had a big night on the Cheech and Chongs, contacted the club doctor, had a test, positive = doctor ticks him out with a hammy, negative = he is right to play. Doctor keeps it all confidential. Nobody at clubland knows anything the wiser....

He doesn't need to worry about watering down his test with Gatorade.

Or is this service only for a select few????
 
Deepthroat said:
Did Willie get stitched?

As I understand he could have had a big night on the Cheech and Chongs, contacted the club doctor, had a test, positive = doctor ticks him out with a hammy, negative = he is right to play. Doctor keeps it all confidential. Nobody at clubland knows anything the wiser....

He doesn't need to worry about watering down his test with Gatorade.

Or is this service only for a select few????
Click to expand...

Willie wouldn't have understood this loop hole just as he didn't understand the test he was submitting did not even check for THC.
 

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Ghossein said:
no one told willie to swap out his urine sample
Click to expand...

He only did it because he thought he may be caught with an illicit substance.

If he had of used the system available at Melbourne (and allegedly everywhere else), he would have either not played and not been tested or known he would have a clear test.
 
Last edited:
Why am I not surprised by these latest revelations.

The “nudge nudge wink wink”, has been going on for years and matches up, with the jungle drums on the street, that certain high profile players have been conveniently sidelined by long term injury, as a foil for a bad habits ( pun intended ).

Just another layer and chapter in the injunctions fiasco, that were put in place to protect a certain Victorian Club.
Funny how this cover up also found it’s modus operandi traveling further up the eastern seaboard at a latter date.

Sounds like the afl have been doing the accounting version of running - “two sets of books” - in regards to their policing of the Drug Policy and Procedures.

Certainly places a big * against some former and current players, who have had period when they inexplicably vanished from the game for sustained periods of time……. due to unspecified long term injuries or issues of mental health.

Am I accusing the AFL in general and the vAFL in particular, of being deceitful and sleazy? …….. No never .

However!

If it walks like a duck 🦆, quacks like a duck 🦆…. Good chance it’s a duck.

Of course that would all be subject to the relevant AFL Policy and Procedures, relating to the testing and scientific verification of genetics for Ducks 🦆.

Sounds like a pretty “ducked” up system to me.
 
The issue is also the selective nature of this. According to the allegations, the AFL wants certain players to play at all costs. I doubt the same private testing and AFL player "management" is happening equally with all clubs and all players. Do WC or Freo get to take advantage of these private tests and pull players, or is this only high profile Vic players the AFL deems the game needs for crowd numbers and revenue. The same stage managed approach to big name players getting off suspensions for Brownlow eligibility or around finals but lesser known players being pinged.

If it was clear policy that all clubs can privately test players to ensure no one plays with drugs in their system and to pull them for "unspecified or made up reasons", why isn't it publicised and why is this the first many clubs/the public are hearing about it (other than no doubt whispers and innuendo)? If there was nothing wrong with it, as the AFL statement suggests, why wasn't it a part of the published drugs policy or the CBA with players?

An argument (which I am not advocating) could be made that clubs can/should test all players (if the player wants) before game day to ensure they don't breach the WADA code etc, but if so, then it should be an out in the open policy (even if the results are private) and not hidden and only available to a select few.
 
Feeling Groovy said:
The issue is also the selective nature of this. According to the allegations, the AFL wants certain players to play at all costs. I doubt the same private testing and AFL player "management" is happening equally with all clubs and all players. Do WC or Freo get to take advantage of these private tests and pull players, or is this only high profile Vic players the AFL deems the game needs for crowd numbers and revenue. The same stage managed approach to big name players getting off suspensions for Brownlow eligibility or around finals but lesser known players being pinged.

If it was clear policy that all clubs can privately test players to ensure no one plays with drugs in their system and to pull them for "unspecified or made up reasons", why isn't it publicised and why is this the first many clubs/the public are hearing about it (other than no doubt whispers and innuendo)? If there was nothing wrong with it, as the AFL statement suggests, why wasn't it a part of the published drugs policy or the CBA with players?

An argument (which I am not advocating) could be made that clubs can/should test all players (if the player wants) before game day to ensure they don't breach the WADA code etc, but if so, then it should be an out in the open policy (even if the results are private) and not hidden and only available to a select few.
Click to expand...
This just highlights the completely sleezy, corrupt organisation the vAFL has become and its only getting worse. There needs to be an independent investigation into how the vAFL is run. Including sighning the MCG to 50 year contracts for the Grand final behind closed doors.
 

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Deepthroat said:
Did Willie get stitched?

As I understand he could have had a big night on the Cheech and Chongs, contacted the club doctor, had a test, positive = doctor ticks him out with a hammy, negative = he is right to play. Doctor keeps it all confidential. Nobody at clubland knows anything the wiser....

He doesn't need to worry about watering down his test with Gatorade.

Or is this service only for a select few????
Click to expand...

Exactly what I thought. It seems this 'illicit' service was only facilitated to a few select clubs, ie... Melbourne, obviously Hawthorn with the Franklin era, maybe Geelong too, they had drug issues there with a few players. In other words, clubs that the AFL wanted in finals because of their star players.
 
Who knows what the truth is with this story...but the below article would be over 10% of players in the AFL. Claiming at least 5 per club




About 100 current AFL players have secret immunity from three-strike drugs policy​

Footy insiders have revealed the extent of the clandestine scheme involving players from all 18 clubs who are given free rein to take drugs without penalty.
Michael Warner, Sam Landsberger and Jade Gailberger
March 27, 2024 - 9:14PM


About 100 current players have been granted secret immunity from the AFL’s three-strike drugs policy, clubs’ medical officials say, as the league is accused of “aiding and abetting” illegal drug abuse.
And the number of players given free rein to take drugs without penalty is climbing.
The football world was rocked on Tuesday night when federal MP Andrew Wilkie exposed evidence of “off the books” drug tests facilitated by the AFL, in revelations that stunned club chief executives, presidents and coaches.
Under the secret scheme, medico insiders have revealed to the Herald Sun that players who register a positive result in the days before a game are advised by their doctors to fake a minor injury or claim to have an illness so they are pulled from the team and cannot be caught by Sports Integrity Australia (SIA) tests on game day.


A defiant AFL declared on Wednesday that it was “unapologetic” over the emergence of the secret scheme, saying it was committed to “player wellbeing and welfare” and claiming because the players were not taking the field, they were not breaching anti-doping rules.
“We’re talking about a very small handful of players and it is private medical information,” league boss Andrew Dillon said.
But footy insiders said clubs were actively identifying cocaine users and placing them in what is called “the medical model”, where strikes are not counted.
“Even the cleanest clubs would have about five players on this so-called rehabilitation program,” one insider said.
“Some would have far more. Across 18 clubs we are talking maybe 100 players.”
Two other club medico sources confirmed the numbers.
One club insider described the whole program as “a mechanism to cover up drug use”.
Under the AFL’s three-strike drug policy, a second positive test outside match day would normally result in the player being named and shamed, fined $5000 and suspended for four games, with a third strike seeing them rubbed out for another 12 matches.


Positive match-day tests, which are overseen by SIA, could lead to a four-year ban.
SIA said on Wednesday it had started assessing allegations made by Mr Wilkie in parliament, but would make “no further comment at this stage”.
The drugs saga reignited in Canberra when the Albanese government stymied a second attempt by Mr Wilkie to table whistleblower documents relating to the revelations, after he was first blocked on Tuesday night.
A signed statement by former Melbourne Football Club doctor Zeeshan Arain, in which he details how the AFL’s former chief medical officer Dr Peter Harcourt facilitated clandestine testing for Demons players, is included in the documents.
“We now know that there’s a secret game happening behind AFL games, and the government needs to act urgently to stop this,” Mr Wilkie told the parliament on Wednesday.


Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the claims had been referred to SIA.
“My job is not to … control the Australian Football League,” Mr Albanese said.
Dees coach Simon Goodwin said he had no knowledge of the alleged secret tests or players faking injuries.
Coaching legend Mick Malthouse said: “I can’t describe how angry I am. This is almost on the same level as the Essendon (supplements) saga, in fact it might even go beyond that, because this is suggesting AFL officials are involved.”
Goldstein MP Zoe Daniel said the allegations were serious and went to the duty of care the AFL had to its players.
“The point of this debate is what drugs can do to clubs and players, a culture of normalisation of cocaine use and in some cases addiction,” she said.
“In his statement, Dr Zeeshan Arain says ‘at the end of the day, it’s a business and the players are treated as a commodity. There is no desire to address this issue because it’s a fickle world, particularly for people in power and people making money’,” she said.
“Ultimately, he says this is a management issue. The culture comes from management.”


The AFL did not comment on Mr Wilkie’s revelations after he revealed them on Tuesday night.
But about 11.30am Wednesday, the league issued a statement defending the regime, and the secrecy around it, saying “doctor-patient confidentiality” must be paramount.
The statement did not address how the previously undisclosed program tallied with its purportedly “tough” three-strike illicit drugs policy.
“Urine tests conducted by doctors to determine if a player has used illicit substances are part of the AFL’s Illicit Drug Policy medical model and have been for some time,” the league’s statement said.
 
Scooter#10 said:
Who knows what the truth is with this story...but the below article would be over 10% of players in the AFL. Claiming at least 5 per club




About 100 current AFL players have secret immunity from three-strike drugs policy​

Footy insiders have revealed the extent of the clandestine scheme involving players from all 18 clubs who are given free rein to take drugs without penalty.
Michael Warner, Sam Landsberger and Jade Gailberger
March 27, 2024 - 9:14PM


About 100 current players have been granted secret immunity from the AFL’s three-strike drugs policy, clubs’ medical officials say, as the league is accused of “aiding and abetting” illegal drug abuse.
And the number of players given free rein to take drugs without penalty is climbing.
The football world was rocked on Tuesday night when federal MP Andrew Wilkie exposed evidence of “off the books” drug tests facilitated by the AFL, in revelations that stunned club chief executives, presidents and coaches.
Under the secret scheme, medico insiders have revealed to the Herald Sun that players who register a positive result in the days before a game are advised by their doctors to fake a minor injury or claim to have an illness so they are pulled from the team and cannot be caught by Sports Integrity Australia (SIA) tests on game day.


A defiant AFL declared on Wednesday that it was “unapologetic” over the emergence of the secret scheme, saying it was committed to “player wellbeing and welfare” and claiming because the players were not taking the field, they were not breaching anti-doping rules.
“We’re talking about a very small handful of players and it is private medical information,” league boss Andrew Dillon said.
But footy insiders said clubs were actively identifying cocaine users and placing them in what is called “the medical model”, where strikes are not counted.
“Even the cleanest clubs would have about five players on this so-called rehabilitation program,” one insider said.
“Some would have far more. Across 18 clubs we are talking maybe 100 players.”
Two other club medico sources confirmed the numbers.
One club insider described the whole program as “a mechanism to cover up drug use”.
Under the AFL’s three-strike drug policy, a second positive test outside match day would normally result in the player being named and shamed, fined $5000 and suspended for four games, with a third strike seeing them rubbed out for another 12 matches.


Positive match-day tests, which are overseen by SIA, could lead to a four-year ban.
SIA said on Wednesday it had started assessing allegations made by Mr Wilkie in parliament, but would make “no further comment at this stage”.
The drugs saga reignited in Canberra when the Albanese government stymied a second attempt by Mr Wilkie to table whistleblower documents relating to the revelations, after he was first blocked on Tuesday night.
A signed statement by former Melbourne Football Club doctor Zeeshan Arain, in which he details how the AFL’s former chief medical officer Dr Peter Harcourt facilitated clandestine testing for Demons players, is included in the documents.
“We now know that there’s a secret game happening behind AFL games, and the government needs to act urgently to stop this,” Mr Wilkie told the parliament on Wednesday.


Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the claims had been referred to SIA.
“My job is not to … control the Australian Football League,” Mr Albanese said.
Dees coach Simon Goodwin said he had no knowledge of the alleged secret tests or players faking injuries.
Coaching legend Mick Malthouse said: “I can’t describe how angry I am. This is almost on the same level as the Essendon (supplements) saga, in fact it might even go beyond that, because this is suggesting AFL officials are involved.”
Goldstein MP Zoe Daniel said the allegations were serious and went to the duty of care the AFL had to its players.
“The point of this debate is what drugs can do to clubs and players, a culture of normalisation of cocaine use and in some cases addiction,” she said.
“In his statement, Dr Zeeshan Arain says ‘at the end of the day, it’s a business and the players are treated as a commodity. There is no desire to address this issue because it’s a fickle world, particularly for people in power and people making money’,” she said.
“Ultimately, he says this is a management issue. The culture comes from management.”


The AFL did not comment on Mr Wilkie’s revelations after he revealed them on Tuesday night.
But about 11.30am Wednesday, the league issued a statement defending the regime, and the secrecy around it, saying “doctor-patient confidentiality” must be paramount.
The statement did not address how the previously undisclosed program tallied with its purportedly “tough” three-strike illicit drugs policy.
“Urine tests conducted by doctors to determine if a player has used illicit substances are part of the AFL’s Illicit Drug Policy medical model and have been for some time,” the league’s statement said.
Click to expand...
I hope the AFL get torn a new one over this. Andrew Dillon is looking more and more like scum by the day.
 
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