Opinion Rob Chapman

[fabs33]

What are you questioning, that we did cooperate or that we didn't? Because that's part of what's being put into question here, as for whether we self-reported, we did that too.

 

[TheLeftFist8]

I still laugh that Triggy was enjoying croissants and camembert knowing that in all likelihood the s**t was about to hit the fan back home.

 

[fabs33]

Read the words. He thanked us for our cooperation after the investigation commenced. We didn't put ourselves in - far from it. We tried to get the trade done on the last day in the hope the whole thing would disappear with him.

We were caught.

We weren't caught, at the time there may have been suspicion from the AFL over whether the deal was equitable, but the one who pulled the plug was Trigg.

 

[Tex200]

Happy to be corrected but my understanding is that we were going to try and get the trade through but the AFL smelled a rat and either stopped or indicated they would stop it - at which point we came clean. Unless I'm mistaken we tried to get away with it

 

[fabs33]

Happy to be corrected but my understanding is that we were going to try and get the trade through but the AFL smelled a rat and either stopped or indicated they would stop it - at which point we came clean. Unless I'm mistaken we tried to get away with it

It's difficult to tell exactly, with all the backroom dealings in this sport, but at the time it was declared that we were the ones who brought the issue to the AFL's attention. My belief is that we didn't like what Sydney was offering and thought there'd be a serious risk of being caught if we accepted their terms, I mean White plus pick 23 wasn't exactly anyone's idea of idea of a fair trade* and was sure to raise alarm bells at AFL House. Either way Demetriou said we hadn't cooperated, either he was lying or Fitzpatrick was.

*Excluding Sydney supporters.

 

[Mismatched]

We weren't caught, at the time there may have been suspicion from the AFL over whether the deal was equitable, but the one who pulled the plug was Trigg.

Chapman pulled the plug, Trigg was in France...

 

[fabs33]

Chapman pulled the plug, Trigg was in France...

Are you sure? I thought I heard it was Trigg via phone call. Then again, the phone call could have been to spill the beans to Chapman.

 

[Agent_86]

AFL chairman Mike Fitzpatrick said we did, so it's his word against Demetriou's.

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2013-05-...sion-fitzpatrick-and-demetriou-notes-attached



http://www.afl.com.au/news/2013-05-...sion-fitzpatrick-and-demetriou-notes-attached

But AFL CEO claimed our draft sanctions were tougher because we didn't cooperate? AFL CEO needs to explain these comments. I am so peed off by the AFL's reasoning here. Just shows their contempt for our great football club.

 

[The Karma Bus]

It's difficult to tell exactly, with all the backroom dealings in this sport, but at the time it was declared that we were the ones who brought the issue to the AFL's attention. My belief is that we didn't like what Sydney was offering and thought there'd be a serious risk of being caught if we accepted their terms, I mean White plus pick 23 wasn't exactly anyone's idea of idea of a fair trade* and was sure to raise alarm bells at AFL House. Either way Demetriou said we hadn't cooperated, either he was lying or Fitzpatrick was.

*Excluding Sydney supporters.

Chapman rang Vlad after the interview tonight and went through the events..
Vlad said to him - You know what Rob, you're absolutely correct..

Vlad said it to get Rowe and Bone off his back and somehow explain why Essendon received less draft sanctions than Adelaide.. He thinks people would have forgotten, or half don't even know the story etc..

As usual, he's full of shit and says what he wants to weasel his way out..

And Chapman was the one who called Trigg into his office when Trigg got back to Adelaide, then Chapman rang Vlad.. To which Vlad replied with a heartfelt thank you for self reporting and honesty when you realised something could be wrong here..

 

[Dandy_GO]

Getting caught in their own lies.

 

[King Elvis]

It was weak as piss.

He rang up to refute it - **** that, should've rang up and stated we would be challenging our sanctions as we disagree that we were uncooperative, and if our penalties were based on that, then they needed to be reviewed.

It's just irrelevant posturing from Chapman. Christ, Rowey even said, "When you rang him, did you ask why our draft sanctions were almost double the severity of Essendon's, when their crime is infinitely worse?"

"No, that's not the issue, the issue is about us being cooperative, so I didn't bring it up."

If I was cynical, like BACCS, I'd almost think it was staged.

Read the words. He thanked us for our cooperation after the investigation commenced. We didn't put ourselves in - far from it. We tried to get the trade done on the last day in the hope the whole thing would disappear with him.

We were caught.

And Trigg wasn't sacked.

 

[Mismatched]

It's difficult to tell exactly, with all the backroom dealings in this sport, but at the time it was declared that we were the ones who brought the issue to the AFL's attention. My belief is that we didn't like what Sydney was offering and thought there'd be a serious risk of being caught if we accepted their terms, I mean White plus pick 23 wasn't exactly anyone's idea of idea of a fair trade* and was sure to raise alarm bells at AFL House. Either way Demetriou said we hadn't cooperated, either he was lying or Fitzpatrick was.

*Excluding Sydney supporters.

My understanding is Harper/Noble had settled on the White/23 deal with Sydney and were on their way to lodge the paper work when Chapman worked out what was going on and vetoed the deal before papers were lodged and rang Dimwitriou to confess.

I believe Chapmans version of events, my issue is that we as a club have clearly been given the "rotten end of the stick" (to put a G-Rated spin on it) once again and as always our approach is "well there's no point complaining..." and yet we still keep getting given "the rotten end of the stick".

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

Proving all that is the difficulty.

The legality of AOD is at worst a grey area. The players tested positive to nothing and are yet to be charged. They "might" have been given some bad stuff but it can't be proven that they did, but the Bombers can't prove they didn't.

The reason the AFL gave them lesser penalties than the crime seemingly warrants is they didn't want to roll the dice on a trial or have the issue linger further. The Bombers didn't want to roll the dice on worse penalties if proof of breaches came to light, and didn't want 2014 premiership points as part of the conversation. So they took what they could get now.

We lost control of the timing with ours. Mid-2011 was the time to come clean when we were ball-suckingly bad and could have given up points easily. Coming off a prelim they could go harder on us.

Forget AOD, they took Thysomisen (sp?) 4, which is banned.

 

[fabs33]

But AFL CEO claimed our draft sanctions were tougher because we didn't cooperate? AFL CEO needs to explain these comments. I am so peed off by the AFL's reasoning here. Just shows their contempt for our great football club.

Demetriou should definitely be made to explain why he made those comments.

 

[bigman]

Time to move forward not look back

 

[TheLeftFist8]

Chapman stated he called Demetriou the same day as he discovered the side-payment promise type deal and discussed with Trigg.

That's not the same as fessing up re the Draft tampering allegation of promising to send Tippett to club of his choice for R2 pick.

My guess is we were open about Part 1, tried to cover up Part 2 but got caught out.

If only John Reid's paper trail was as good as Essendon's recording of 1000+ injections of unknown substances

 

[TheLeftFist8]

Time to move forward not look back

I want to feel that way but it's hard to look past such injustice from the AFL and such incompetence from the AFC...especially when they are still running the show!

It's a shame cos our on-field is very promising despite a bad year...i cant help but feel we will just fall short in the next few years...and the question will always linger...what if?

 

[fabs33]

My understanding is Harper/Noble had settled on the White/23 deal with Sydney and were on their way to lodge the paper work when Chapman worked out what was going on and vetoed the deal before papers were lodged and rang Dimwitriou to confess.

I believe Chapmans version of events, my issue is that we as a club have clearly been given the "rotten end of the stick" (to put a G-Rated spin on it) once again and as always our approach is "well there's no point complaining..." and yet we still keep getting given "the rotten end of the stick".

We'll never know until we try, at least in our case since we never do. Thing is, if we stood up for ourselves every once in a while, maybe just maybe, people like Demetriou would think twice about taking us on.

 

[King Elvis]

Forget AOD, they took Thysomisen (sp?) 4, which is banned.

The pissweak punishment from the AFL almost has me hoping that ASADA get involved now.

I've got friends who have competed at elite level in swimming and athletics, and they are gobsmacked about how weak the AFL has been on this, and find it incomprehensible that the players will avoid punishment.


Chapman calling AA was a pr exercise, nothing more.

Probably staged.

 

[jenny61_99]

Right so if Demetriou put down our comparatively harsh penalty to a lack of co-operation on our part, which, for the record, is the complete opposite of what the AFL said when we were given our punishment, and Chapman acknowledges this as "absolute crap", the question has to be, why not appeal?

If that's the reason we're given, and we don't accept that reason to be true, how can we continue to accept our penalties?

Three possibilities:

1. we had a lot more to cover up than actually came out
2. Trigg and Chapman are more interested in keeping their jobs than maintaining the integrity and strength of our club
3. we're ******* gutless.

We also know essendon did not cooperate in the negotiation phase yet Fitzpatrick said they did. AFL tell stories.

 

[fabs33]

Chapman rang Vlad after the interview tonight and went through the events..
Vlad said to him - You know what Rob, you're absolutely correct..

Vlad said it to get Rowe and Bone off his back and somehow explain why Essendon received less draft sanctions than Adelaide.. He thinks people would have forgotten, or half don't even know the story etc..

As usual, he's full of shit and says what he wants to weasel his way out..

And Chapman was the one who called Trigg into his office when Trigg got back to Adelaide, then Chapman rang Vlad.. To which Vlad replied with a heartfelt thank you for self reporting and honesty when you realised something could be wrong here..

To quote Abraham Lincoln; "You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time."

 

[jenny61_99]

The pissweak punishment from the AFL almost has me hoping that ASADA get involved now.

I've got friends who have competed at elite level in swimming and athletics, and they are gobsmacked about how weak the AFL has been on this, and find it incomprehensible that the players will avoid punishment.


Chapman calling AA was a pr exercise, nothing more.

Probably staged.

ASADA is involved, their investigation is still going on. I believe once the cronulla interviews are completed, and they haul dank in with their new powers, infractions will be issued late in the year. If infraction notices are issued to players, they will also be issue to personnel for supplying/administering of prohibited substances. This isn't over yet.

 

[Drugs Are Bad Mackay?]

Forget AOD, they took Thysomisen (sp?) 4, which is banned.

This is one of the things that cannot be proven.

There is circumstantial evidence only that they took thymosin beta 4. But again, the club can't prove that the players didn't.

This is why they got a good deal. There was a lot of smoke, not much fire, and the Bombers probably did some dodgy stuff. Proving it conclusively in a court would take a lot and without positive tests there would always be doubt.

That's why the Bombers were in a position of strength, relative to us. We had a piece of paper labelled "Cheating" set out on AFC letterhead and signed by a club official, Board minutes of the illegal clause being spoken about and Fabulous Phil's email trail spilling every bean.

 

[TheLeftFist8]

This is one of the things that cannot be proven.

There is circumstantial evidence only that they took thymosin beta 4. But again, the club can't prove that the players didn't.

This is why they got a good deal. There was a lot of smoke, not much fire, and the Bombers probably did some dodgy stuff. Proving it conclusively in a court would take a lot and without positive tests there would always be doubt.

That's why the Bombers were in a position of strength, relative to us. We had a piece of paper labelled "Cheating" set out on AFC letterhead and signed by a club official, Board minutes of the illegal clause being spoken about and Fabulous Phil's email trail spilling every bean.

1) God, we're useless!

2) I thought all substances given had to be recorded and accounted for under the WADA code. Lack of documentation is no excuse?

 

[Drugs Are Bad Mackay?]

1) God, we're useless!

2) I thought all substances given had to be recorded and accounted for under the WADA code. Lack of documentation is no excuse?

On 2 yeah, and they've been punished for this.

But I can't imagine that the penalty for that would be the same as the penalty for systemic steroid use for instance.