Mega Thread Hot Topic - Drugs and AFL

[Steve Dore]

Bizzare Gatto press conference
http://www.news.com.au/sport/sports...a/news-story/4c891a2e0afe93b7eec2808d05d0b9df

Same story but by the ABC;

Mick Gatto says Essendon Bombers approached him in official capacity during supplements saga

"They just wanted to find out what was going on with it all and what I could find out and just have a feel around"

 

[TeeKray]

I find it hard to imagine that Charter is holding the smoking gun that blows this whole thing open. More than likely just a desperate cash grab.

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

The 2 minute interview from the Footy Show Sam Newman had with Gatto is embedded in this ch9 link. Gatto reckons Shane Charter approached him first and had "compelling evidence" he didn't do anything illegal. But most drugs banned by the WADA Code aren't illegal. That's a big difference between illegal and banned. Gatto confirms he spoke to Essendon officials but wouldn't divulge names.


http://wwos.nine.com.au/2017/03/10/...-says-he-was-approached-bty-afl-club-essendon

 

[Steve Dore]

I find it hard to imagine that Charter is holding the smoking gun that blows this whole thing open. More than likely just a desperate cash grab.

I agree. Dank has been saying he has evidence that will clear himself and the players for years.

 

[raptalia]

The 2 minute interview from the Footy Show Sam Newman had with Gatto is embedded in this ch9 link. Gatto reckons Shane Charter approached him first and had "compelling evidence" he didn't do anything illegal. But most drugs banned by the WADA Code aren't illegal. That's a big difference between illegal and banned. Gatto confirms he spoke to Essendon officials but wouldn't divulge names.


http://wwos.nine.com.au/2017/03/10/...-says-he-was-approached-bty-afl-club-essendon

The point is well made as I can buy PEDs at my local shopping centre.

This has now degenerated into a name calling exercise between former Essendon employees with the AFL looking on and possibly hoping it will all go away. I note that The Senate has backed away from an enquiry into the Essendon drugs saga so I do not even bother to read the articles anymore. As I see it Paddy and Gus have served their time and we are best out of it. I would not object if this thread were closed until something substantial is revealed.

 

[TeeKray]

I would not object if this thread were closed until something substantial is revealed.

This is a general thread on drugs and footy, not just the Essendon saga. It's an important issue and will always be in the news in one way or another.

 

[LukeSA]

I agree. Dank has been saying he has evidence that will clear himself and the players for years.

And yet he let the players serve their punishments.

#reallymakesyouthink

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

And yet he let the players serve their punishments.

#reallymakesyouthink

If Dank hasn't done anything illegal then he will just keep deflecting. And if he has, it most likely will be a civil matter and the system works even slower than for criminal cases. This story from ABC Radio's AM program was instructive on how slow the court system is these days.

http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2016/s4633579.htm
The New South Wales District Court has been plagued by delays for several years. While extra judges have been appointed and new courtrooms are being built, it's still taking on average 600 days for a matter to go from charges being laid to the completion of a criminal trial.

 

[Steve Dore]

Damning report into West Coast’s off-field culture exposed nine years after it was published

 

[Killer Power]

AFL report finds Worsfold implicit in covering up drug abuse in his team yet are happy for him to take charge of a team that is recovering from the largest ever systematic abuse of PED's less than a decade later.

 

[Nemisis]

It's time Worsfold took some responsibility for the Eagles drug debacle and fall on his dagger. The bloke was a chemist so he can hardly plead ignorance on what was happening. Cant respect the guy after this report - AFL must step in.

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

Do the AFL have a report into WCE's 1990-1991 preseason? That would make for interesting reading.

Anyway here are the links to the 2 AFL reports

Report to AFL Commission of Investigation of West Coast Eagles Football Club by Mr E William Gillard QC
http://www.media.heraldsun.com.au/PDF/x21032017/x897908jkfhdgjhfdughfdughlpkjmain_report.pdf

Confidential Attachment A
http://www.media.heraldsun.com.au/PDF/x21032017/x897908jkfhdgjhfdughfdughlpkjmain_attachment.pdf

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/sport...t/news-story/160abfb806dc09c885f472c3f183f520
The damning 87-page report by retired Victorian Supreme Court judge William Gillard reveals:

COCAINE, speed, ice, ecstasy and marijuana were abused by players;
THE earliest incident involved three players in Spain in 1998 “observed behaving in a highly stimulated fashion despite not drinking alcohol”;
CLUB bosses adopted a “covering-up approach … without confronting the real cause and seeking to eradicate it”;
COACHES were warned by police as early as 2001 of players using drugs;
MIDFIELDER Chad Fletcher was strapped to a hospital bed after collapsing and “flat-lining” in Las Vegas, days after allegedly showing off camera images of what looked to be ice;
A PREMIERSHIP player lied to police about a car crash; and
A PRESCRIPTION form stolen from a club doctor was used by Daniel Kerr to buy 50 Valium pills — with Gillard asserting they could help teammates “prolong a high”.
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/sport...t/news-story/160abfb806dc09c885f472c3f183f520

 

[Grave Danger]

In the interests of 'transparency' let's lift the injunction on the story of the players' medical records that were 'found in the gutter outside a clinic by a woman'...

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

In the interests of 'transparency' let's lift the injunction on the story of the players' medical records that were found found 'in the gutter outside a clinic by a woman'...

Dylan Howard likes this post.

 

[Killer Power]

Does the report delineate between the recreational use of these drugs and the use of them to enhance on field performance? There were certainly guys in that team that could run all day as once called out by Akermanis. If there is strong evidence of this it puts a real taint on their 2006 flag.

 

[charcolechaddy]

Does the report delineate between the recreational use of these drugs and the use of them to enhance on field performance? There were certainly guys in that team that could run all day as once called out by Akermanis. If there is strong evidence of this it puts a real taint on their 2006 flag.

I think that taint has been there for sometime.

 

[Killer Power]

I think that taint has been there for sometime.

Don't disagree. But if it turns out that the AFL had strong evidence in 2008 and took no action ..... well, nobody will be surprised I guess.

 

[DaTBird187]

Footage has just been released, showing Ben Cousins at pre-season training in 2006.

 

[Rexie J]

Don't disagree. But if it turns out that the AFL had strong evidence in 2008 and took no action ..... well, nobody will be surprised I guess.

The AFL would have to been in "hear no evil - see no evil" mode as it was common knowledge in Perth at the time. Rellies were giving us regular updates on who was doing what. Not a good look for either the WCE or the AFL admin.

 

[TeeKray]

AFL report finds Worsfold implicit in covering up drug abuse in his team yet are happy for him to take charge of a team that is recovering from the largest ever systematic abuse of PED's less than a decade later.

It's time Worsfold took some responsibility for the Eagles drug debacle and fall on his dagger. The bloke was a chemist so he can hardly plead ignorance on what was happening. Cant respect the guy after this report - AFL must step in.

I haven't read the whole report and probably won't. Where is Worsfold implicated in a cover up? The previous version of events was that he had asked each player one-on-one whether they were using illicit drugs and that only a handful fessed up and many others lied to his face.

I've always held the most reservations for the way the senior management of the club handled the situation. Everyone knows that as far back as 2001, Ken Judge had told the CEO/board that there was a problem and they had basically dismissed his concerns. Then as the situation developed and the problems became well known to everyone, they did absolutely nothing until after they had won the 2006 flag and didn't truly address the situation until the AFL stepped in. How Trevor Nisbett held his job (and still holds his job to this day) is absolutely beyond me.

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

I haven't read past the first 5 pages of 87 but the HS story said

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/a...t/news-story/160abfb806dc09c885f472c3f183f520
The report is critical of coach John Worsfold — now at Essendon — and Eagles chief executive Trevor Nisbett.

Gillard says: “The culture could be described as the view held by players and the club, that if they were successful on the field, what they did outside the club was of little consequence ... and if trouble resulted, the club would take steps to minimise the gravity of the misconduct and impose a fairly lenient sanction especially if the player concerned was one of the better players.”
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/a...t/news-story/160abfb806dc09c885f472c3f183f520

 

[Smithy7]

FALLEN AFL star Ben Cousins has been sentenced to 12 months jail in a Perth court and fined $2400 over drug offences and repeatedly breaching a violence restraining order.
Earlier this month, Cousins, 38, pleaded guilty to 11 charges including aggravated stalking of his former partner and mother of his two children, Maylea Tinecheff, breaching an RVO and drug possession.
When the former West Coast captain was arrested, police found eight grams of meth in his possession, which his lawyer Michael Tudori told the court would only last him four days.
The court heard the VRO breaches related to Cousins visiting the children’s school and church, and making repeated phone calls to his former partner.
Cousins called Ms Tinecheff 371 times in February before his arrest, including 50 times in one day.
More..
http://www.news.com.au/national/cou...s/news-story/6a93da32dfe454602336341281618eb1
12 months without drugs might help him.

 

[Biggles62]

FALLEN AFL star Ben Cousins has been sentenced to 12 months jail in a Perth court and fined $2400 over drug offences and repeatedly breaching a violence restraining order.
Earlier this month, Cousins, 38, pleaded guilty to 11 charges including aggravated stalking of his former partner and mother of his two children, Maylea Tinecheff, breaching an RVO and drug possession.
When the former West Coast captain was arrested, police found eight grams of meth in his possession, which his lawyer Michael Tudori told the court would only last him four days.
The court heard the VRO breaches related to Cousins visiting the children’s school and church, and making repeated phone calls to his former partner.
Cousins called Ms Tinecheff 371 times in February before his arrest, including 50 times in one day.
More..
http://www.news.com.au/national/cou...s/news-story/6a93da32dfe454602336341281618eb1
12 months without drugs might help him.

You might find he will have access to anything he wants in there too.

 

[Flash of power]

This is just a tragic waste of talent and opportunity. I really hope that he can find himself in jail and not new drug connections.