The worst thing about any potential "mass walkout" by Essendon players is that Caroline Wilson will be able to say "I told you so".

The worst thing about any potential "mass walkout" by Essendon players is that Caroline Wilson will be able to say "I told you so".

More than happy to pay that price

Can we please go and get Heppell and Zara!

Zaharakis didn't take any injections, so he has no ability to argue Essendon breached his duty of care. He can't leave under the same rules Ryder can.

Let's make it Heppell & Carlisle then but Zaha may have an argument about an unsafe work environment.

The worst thing about any potential "mass walkout" by Essendon players is that Caroline Wilson will be able to say "I told you so".

She won't be alone there on this one.

I hope this weekends final Essendrug are playing in has a lot of empty seats. It shouldn't be happening

These cheats need to be taken down a few rungs until this case has been dealt with and closed.

Which bit of tainted do so many fail to grasp ?

There is currently NO deal on any table for Essendon. Highly unlikely to go down similar to Cronulla.

HAHAHAHA, this is the best comment I've seen on The Age Ryder article:

Someone forgot to spike all of the cool aid it seems.

Commenter mark Location Date and time September 04, 2014, 8:07AM

The potential for players to be signed up as delisted free agents albeit with the possibilities of a ban with a year maximum out if the game plays into the hands of clubs not in their premiership window who can afford to wait out a ban and with lots of cap space. We should he going as hard as we can at players like Heppell.

Going by The ASADA CEO interview you would think the no fault discount might not apply but the backdating still would. You could see players out of the game for a maximum of one year if banned. You would wait that long to have a talented youngster on your list.

Going by The ASADA CEO interview you would think the no fault discount might not apply but the backdating still would. You could see players out of the game for a maximum of one year if banned. You would wait that long to have a talented youngster on your list.

Yep.

And no compo for Essendon.

If they ask for it, we just tell them it's their own mess and they should sort it out. Just like Melbourne and no pp.

The potential for players to be signed up as delisted free agents albeit with the possibilities of a ban with a year maximum out if the game plays into the hands of clubs not in their premiership window who can afford to wait out a ban and with lots of cap space. We should he going as hard as we can at players like Heppell.

Yep, if the AFL don't think we deserve a PP and everyone is saying we need to stand on our own 2 feet etc etc then all bets are off...we need to get down in the trenches and fight.

I'd go after Zaha. Offer them all the spuds were going to delist- they are going to struggle to field a team anyway. No high picks to them though- they can take Strauss, blease, Evans and Tapscott.

Loving this, by the time this is over they will be in a worse position than us.

As long as there's a whiff of a chance that Middleton J might rule in Essendon's favour, he really would be advised not to do that.If the investigation is ruled to be in accordance with ASADA's powers then if he's received a show cause notice then he should try to seek a deal if one is on the table.The deal couldn't possibly be the same as the one for the Cronulla players mainly because the Cronulla co-operated with the NRL investigation. You couldn't say that about Essendon.

Depends on how desperately he wants to get away from there and what he knows (which might make Middleton's judgement at best nothing more than delaying the inevitable).

And while I'd agree that there's unlikely to be an 'Essendon' deal, negotiations with individual players might be very tempting. The havoc that an announcement of a deal with one player would cause is wonderful to contemplate.

The deal couldn't possibly be the same as the one for the Cronulla players mainly because the Cronulla co-operated with the NRL investigation. You couldn't say that about Essendon.

Disagree WJ. Well about the bolded bit. Whilst EFC have decided to be uncooperative and litigious the players haven't been uncooperative thus far. They participated fully in interviews and were not a prty to the recent court case (i suspect Grace advised them not to to for this very reason ie to do so might threaten a deal with ASADA).

ASADA will be keen to wrap this up and six month deals will be the best lever they have. If the players receive show cause notices it will be very hard to convince the players to knock it back and instead subject themselves to years more uncertainty. In that sceario the crack inthe wall that might have just appeared with Ryder might become a full breach.

Disagree WJ. Well about the bolded bit. Whilst EFC have decided to be uncooperative and litigious the players haven't been uncooperative thus far. They participated fully in interviews and were not a prty to the recent court case (i suspect Grace advised them not to to for this very reason ie to do so might threaten a deal with ASADA).

ASADA will be keen to wrap this up and six month deals will be the best lever they have. If the players receive show cause notices it will be very hard to convince the players to knock it back and instead subject themselves to years more uncertainty. In that sceario the crack inthe wall that might have just appeared with Ryder might become a full breach.

they wont get 6 months if it turns out they knew that the bombers were keeping unapproved supplements on site.

At best they might get 12 months...partially backdated to the original show cause timeline.

That would take them out of nearly all next season.

At best they might get 12 months...partially backdated to the original show cause timeline.

That would take them out of nearly all next season.

When you consider the already massive legal costs associated with this whole saga, the damage to the organisations reputation and the fact the club is finally pushing for finals, a year out of the game for those players would be massive, even if Essendon could still field a team it surely wouldn't make it out of the bottom 4 and the members would all be choking on their own words given how hard they have defended the club from anyone who called them cheats.

I care less about sanctions for the players because I think if their health is compromised by this mess, that is the worse possible thing for them ( or it should be ). I want everyone in positions of responsibility at Essendon brought to account, dealt with in the strongest possible way, barred from any involvement with any sporting team evermore, sued for everthing that they have and shamed for their disgraceful duplicity and compliance in this disgusting affair. Top of the list Hird, Dank, Robinson, Reid and Thompson.

Now that Ryder is public youd have to think a few others wont be far behind. Good mindset going into a final !!

Cant wait for the official spin out of the Hill . Ought to prove entertaining.

Think they just hit an iceberg !

When you consider the already massive legal costs associated with this whole saga, the damage to the organisations reputation and the fact the club is finally pushing for finals, a year out of the game for those players would be massive, even if Essendon could still field a team it surely wouldn't make it out of the bottom 4 and the members would all be choking on their own words given how hard they have defended the club from anyone who called them cheats.

If that happens you watch the AFL hand out PP's and all sorts of 'Special Assistance" to Essendon to make them competitive again. This will be at the expense of the teams like us struggling for all the reasons thrashed on this forum including our own incompetence. Cheating will be treated differently I'll bet.

If that happens you watch the AFL hand out PP's and all sorts of 'Special Assistance" to Essendon to make them competitive again. This will be at the expense of the teams like us struggling for all the reasons thrashed on this forum including our own incompetence. Cheating will be treated differently I'll bet.

I fear something like this. I might think the backlash from the general populous as well as the non aligned media might prove sobering though.

What special assistance- you can't hand out PPs or extra picks to a club that's been found guilty of mass drug cheating, every other club would riot, and rightly so.

Their VFL team better start preparing for a season of AFL footy though

IF any of them are offered six month out of season bans, which would be an absolute joke and make AFL a pariah of world sport, I wonder if they could leverage some sort of WorkCover compliant and get out of their contracts??

IF any of them are offered six month out of season bans, which would be an absolute joke and make AFL a pariah of world sport, I wonder if they could leverage some sort of WorkCover compliant and get out of their contracts??

I will stop following the AFL is this happens.

I find it hard to stomach their constant hypocrisy, but that would be too much.

Now Caro saying Ryder may go for pick 20, so the Bombers get SOMETHING instead of him walking out for nothing.

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/brisbane-lions-may-offer-secondround-pick-for-essendons-paddy-ryder-20140904-10cc1x.html

Basically I think this means Ryder is saying to Essendon "I'm going, you can make it hard and get nothing, or you can make it easy and trade me for pick 20 to the Lions".

Also this little nugget...

"Only Ryder has at this stage seriously considered quitting, but at least one other player has contacted the AFLPA to clarify his options."

Maybe 'dominos' wasn't too far off the mark eh?

Now that Ryder is public youd have to think a few others wont be far behind. Good mindset going into a final !!

Cant wait for the official spin out of the Hill . Ought to prove entertaining.

Think they just hit an iceberg !

I think Little is like Edward J Smith who may have said, "damn the icebergs, full steam ahead"