THE SAGA CONTINUES - WADA APPEALS

[Dees2014 2,377]

Hird's lawyer now blaming Vlad and Evans for trying to save them. This article in the Hun.

"FORMER Bombers president David Evans and ex-AFL boss Andrew Demetriou are to blame for the enduring agony being suffered by the Essendon 34, James Hirds lawyer declared.

Steven Amendola Hirds solicitor in the drugs stoush since April 2013 told the Herald Sun the saga had dragged into a third AFL season and probably a fourth because of the AFLs scheming in the embryonic days of the investigation.

This process has unfolded because of the AFLs botched attempt to manufacture an outcome that punished the club and its staff on the assurance that the players would be all right, Amendola said.

That assurance was hollow and David Evans swallowed it hook, line and sinker when it is clear he should not have been involved in any such decisions given his relationship with Andrew Demetriou.

He was hopelessly conflicted.

He should not have been making these decisions ... and in doing so he put the clubs neck in a noose leaving it defenceless in the face of the constant deliberately damaging leaking that occurred.

Amendola was responding to claims that Evanss replacement, Paul Little, was wrong to declare war on the AFL and partly responsible for the fiasco.

Evans, who has never spoken publicly about his role in the scandal, quit the Essendon presidency in July 2013 just days after revelations he had been tipped off by Demetriou about the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority drugs investigation.

Amendola said Evans seemed to have been assured that if Essendon followed Demetrious plan the players would escape prosecution.

The AFL were never able to deliver on such assurances and by virtue of the way the AFL orchestrated the unfolding of the saga, ASADA pursued a prosecution of the 34 players.

The players were not all right. They are still not all right and the saga will continue into 2016.

A World Anti-Doping Agency appeal in the case against 34 former and current Bombers will begin later this year.

Amendola believes the saga would have ended long ago if not for the AFLs interference.

Imagine an approach by the club which said we will let ASADA conduct an investigation on its own, Amendola said.

Imagine if there was no Interim Report prepared to suit the needs of the AFL which was leaked to all and sundry.

Imagine if the AFL conducted its own inquiry focused on governance issues.

Imagine if Essendon had commissioned an internal review which was not provided to the AFL and upon which the club acted internally.

Imagine if David Evans had acted in the interests of the club, and the AFL, like the NRL, had just let the ASADA investigation take its course.

Imagine if there hadnt been trial, conviction and hanging by sections of the hysterical media as a result of all the leaking. Just imagine.

This article is a total and deliberate distortion of the truth. The truth is that the AFL and ASADA had been working with the Evans led Essendon on this issue and had come to a settlement which would have satisfied everyone including ASADA, but it would have required Hird to resign and to admit his part in, and his responsibility for this scandal. Being the loyal EFC lietenant that he is, instead of taking responsibility, he had his supposed best mate Evans fired, exited the AFL's main crisis management advisor Liz Lukin (and supposedly the brains behind the settlement - now the AFL PR Chief), installed Little as his hatchet man, and then went on an orgy of litigation which ensured ASADA/WADA would go after him and Essendon with the full force of their powers. This could have all been over in 2013, and it wasn't for the simple reason Hird refused to take responsibility for his own actions.

That is the truth. What was in the HS today is a complete fabrication of the HIRD PR team. The gall of Hird in this is truly breathless.

Edited July 8, 2015 by Dees2014

[Dees2014 2,377]

Said something, small article, in the Hun this morning about the CAS findings against the 34 (if any!) being released today! Not that I pay much attention to this newspaper but just thinking what if they happened to get off , or case collapsing stuff, the week they play us....(would be typical).

I would think that this would be something like the setting of the time and place for the preliminary hearings. The case is going ahead, and there will be no findings for at least another six months, but more likely into next year.

Edited July 8, 2015 by Dees2014

[Bluey's Dad 3,419]

Imagine if the Essendon football club hadn't injected young men with banned substances.

Just imagine.

[SaberFang 7,151]

He reminds me of those types that try to burgle a house, end up injuring themselves, then sue the house's owners for damages.

[John Crow Batty 8,863]

I feel sick reading that.

Imagine if Essendon hadn't destroyed the records of their drug taking after they were tipped off

Imagine if they'd come clean and been smart enough to accept a 6 month ( probably only 3 missed matches) ban 2 years ago

Imagine if they hadn't made themselves look so foolsih by going to court and trying to block teh ASADA trial on technicalities....twice.

Imagine if Essendon had recognised and taken responsibility for the drug shambles and sacked Hird and others along with Evans at the outset

Imagine if they hadn't protested their innocence whilst at the same time having conveniently NO supporting records to back them up nor have them supplied by Dank

Imagine if the Essendon heavies hadn't moved in to stop people that KNEW what had happened actually testifying

Imagine if the media hadn't been so full of utter crap in defending the indefensible

.....just imagine

And finally ( I cant help myself) imagine if Melb had had even half the media support when they got publically shamed for doing what half the clubs in the comp had done

and imagine if the AFL had taken responsibility for creating a rule that encouraged teams to lose at seasons end instead of just blaming us

....just imagine

There.....I feel better.

I believe it is reasonable to assume this is what Hird would say if he could. Once he had Tania doing the talking, now his lawyer. Trying to insulate himself from the fallout of ever declining performance on the field. Hoping that the misguided supporters will swallow it.

[Chris 2,892]

Hird's lawyer now blaming Vlad and Evans for trying to save them. This article in the Hun.

"FORMER Bombers president David Evans and ex-AFL boss Andrew Demetriou are to blame for the enduring agony being suffered by the Essendon 34, James Hirds lawyer declared.

Steven Amendola Hirds solicitor in the drugs stoush since April 2013 told the Herald Sun the saga had dragged into a third AFL season and probably a fourth because of the AFLs scheming in the embryonic days of the investigation.

This process has unfolded because of the AFLs botched attempt to manufacture an outcome that punished the club and its staff on the assurance that the players would be all right, Amendola said.

That assurance was hollow and David Evans swallowed it hook, line and sinker when it is clear he should not have been involved in any such decisions given his relationship with Andrew Demetriou.

He was hopelessly conflicted.

He should not have been making these decisions ... and in doing so he put the clubs neck in a noose leaving it defenceless in the face of the constant deliberately damaging leaking that occurred.

Amendola was responding to claims that Evanss replacement, Paul Little, was wrong to declare war on the AFL and partly responsible for the fiasco.

Evans, who has never spoken publicly about his role in the scandal, quit the Essendon presidency in July 2013 just days after revelations he had been tipped off by Demetriou about the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority drugs investigation.

Amendola said Evans seemed to have been assured that if Essendon followed Demetrious plan the players would escape prosecution.

The AFL were never able to deliver on such assurances and by virtue of the way the AFL orchestrated the unfolding of the saga, ASADA pursued a prosecution of the 34 players.

The players were not all right. They are still not all right and the saga will continue into 2016.

A World Anti-Doping Agency appeal in the case against 34 former and current Bombers will begin later this year.

Amendola believes the saga would have ended long ago if not for the AFLs interference.

Imagine an approach by the club which said we will let ASADA conduct an investigation on its own, Amendola said.

Imagine if there was no Interim Report prepared to suit the needs of the AFL which was leaked to all and sundry.

Imagine if the AFL conducted its own inquiry focused on governance issues.

Imagine if Essendon had commissioned an internal review which was not provided to the AFL and upon which the club acted internally.

Imagine if David Evans had acted in the interests of the club, and the AFL, like the NRL, had just let the ASADA investigation take its course.

Imagine if there hadnt been trial, conviction and hanging by sections of the hysterical media as a result of all the leaking. Just imagine.

I think there is a fair bit of truth to what he is saying, what he isn't saying though is that if all the imagined scenarios worked out then the players would most likely already be on the pine for two years and who knows where the club would be.

The actions of Andy d and Evans meant the club could prepare before ASADA walked through the door and all the missing info may have still existed. Andy D has a lot to answer for in all aspects of our game.

[Chris 2,892]

Said something, small article, in the Hun this morning about the CAS findings against the 34 (if any!) being released today! Not that I pay much attention to this newspaper but just thinking what if they happened to get off , or case collapsing stuff, the week they play us....(would be typical).

It is WADA giving the players lawyers their brief of evidence. All it will show is if WADA are planning to use more evidence than was used at the AFL.

[Bluey's Dad 3,419]

It is WADA giving the players lawyers their brief of evidence. All it will show is if WADA are planning to use more evidence than was used at the AFL.

Ha, and Goddard said they hit rock bottom last week.

I'd say a few of them will sink even lower this morning after reading that WADA brief.

[biggestred 5,085]

I didnt know Amendola was a comedian

[daisycutter 29,613]

I didnt know Amendola was a comedian

and not a good one

[Mazer Rackham 14,971]

Ha, and Goddard said they hit rock bottom last week.

I'd say a few of them will sink even lower this morning after reading that WADA brief.

Is that where they learn once and for all what was stuck in them?

It amazes me that they haven't spat it and demanded the club tell them. (I know one rookie has.)

... unless of course they already had a fair idea ....

[Bluey's Dad 3,419]

Is that where they learn once and for all what was stuck in them?

It amazes me that they haven't spat it and demanded the club tell them. (I know one rookie has.)

... unless of course they already had a fair idea ....

Interesting isn't it.

If the players know what it is, you'd expect them to tow the party line and try to get off, which aligns with their current behaviour.

If the players don't know, you'd think they'd be up in arms crying "wtf did you inject me with?!?".

Suggests to me that they know exactly what it is but don't want to stir the pot as they know it's banned.

[daisycutter 29,613]

Interesting isn't it.

If the players know what it is, you'd expect them to tow the party line and try to get off, which aligns with their current behaviour.

If the players don't know, you'd think they'd be up in arms crying "wtf did you inject me with?!?".

Suggests to me that they know exactly what it is but don't want to stir the pot as they know it's banned.

there's a very long river that stretches from mloonee ponds to the mediterranean

[John Crow Batty 8,863]

Listened to Hird speaking on SEN a little whille ago. Still laying all the blame on the players for last Sunday. Went on saying this is a performace based industry and if players don't perform they will be dropped and delisted. No mention of his own performance though.

Edited July 9, 2015 by america de cali

[dpositive 1,665]

You sure he said dropped and delisted and not doped and deserted?

[monoccular 17,428]

Isn't it just fantastic that Hird and his lawyers always find someone else to blame other than.......James Hird.

The same James Hird who announced as the story broke all those years ago --- "I will accept full responsibility"

He has accepted none, zero, nought. Not for the drug experiment, not for the team performance. If I could be bothered I would trawl through his period as a commentator and see what he said of coaches of unsuccessful teams. Doubt if he has put it all on the players' heads.

Just shown his true character - fantastic footballer, deeply flawed person.

Edited July 9, 2015 by monoccular

[Dees2014 2,377]

Is that where they learn once and for all what was stuck in them?

It amazes me that they haven't spat it and demanded the club tell them. (I know one rookie has.)

... unless of course they already had a fair idea ....

No this is where they will find out that WADA plans to produce a whole lot of new evidence, particularly from those who supplied and processed the drugs and were nobbled by the HIRD hatchet men before the AFL tribunal and were too afraid to testify. This time they will find that WADA plans to suspena them and they will be forced to testify under oath - a frightening prospect for all those players concerned. It is probably only then will the players find the truth about what was injected into them.

Then watch the writs fly!!!

[Lucifers Hero 39,776]

This might be a reality check to those who have been predicting armageddon for the EFC: http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/court-of-arbitration-for-sport-case-against-essendon-to-be-held-in-sydney-20150709-gi90c1

My take is that if the AFL Tribunal verdict is overturned ASADA/WADA will be satisfied.

Summary:

- likely to be held in Sydney in mid Oct

- ASADA accepts a token sanction to players if found guilty (quite appropriate in my book)

- Michael Beloff QC has been appointed as Chairman of the CAS panel...a cursory glance at his background makes him eminently suited to the role. Some extracts:

• Education "A wise and brilliant lawyer, who is an outstanding advocate."
• European law Absolutely excellent." "His advocacy is always a masterclass in how things should be done."

BB and Dees2014 you may need to prepare for a lot less than you hoped for. Hird may go down if players found guilty but that probably is as bad as it gets. Or Hird may just go down for incompetence if the bombers don't lift their game!

[Chris 2,892]

This might be a reality check to those who have been predicting armageddon for the EFC: http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/court-of-arbitration-for-sport-case-against-essendon-to-be-held-in-sydney-20150709-gi90c1

My take is that if the AFL Tribunal verdict is overturned ASADA/WADA will be satisfied.

Summary:

- likely to be held in Sydney in mid Oct

- ASADA accepts a token sanction to players if found guilty (quite appropriate in my book)

- Michael Beloff QC has been appointed as Chairman of the CAS panel...a cursory glance at his background makes him eminently suited to the role. Some extracts:

• Education – "A wise and brilliant lawyer, who is an outstanding advocate."
• European law – “Absolutely excellent." "His advocacy is always a masterclass in how things should be done."

BB and Dees2014 you may need to prepare for a lot less than you hoped for. Hird may go down if players found guilty but that probably is as bad as it gets. Or Hird may just go down for incompetence if the bombers don't lift their game!

Token ban would be a crock. They either cheated or they didn't.

[Lance Uppercut 10]

Hmm that's unfortunate for Dees2014. Hirds tentacles must reach as far as Lausanne. Disturbing.

Wrong again if this is the case but I don't expect that to be acknowledged

[Chris 2,892]

Hmm that's unfortunate for Dees2014. Hirds tentacles must reach as far as Lausanne. Disturbing.

Wrong again if this is the case but I don't expect that to be acknowledged

I thought you only commented when you were responding to someone?

[Lance Uppercut 10]

I thought you only commented when you were responding to someone?

Well I ignored the last 5 times so I'm in credit

[Wilbur 447]

Lance whats your take on the efc classic (PR) line of we don't know what was taken but it wasn't illegal ?

[Willmoy1947 4,086]

Firstly I think Watson and recent events could be tied up.

Could it be possible a new witness who would know precisely what was taken is now willing to go to Sydney.

Integrity calls..."commeth the deed, commeth the man.

Evans not out of the picture...

[Cards13 9,117]

Maybe a better chance of compelling witnesses to appear than overseas?