JUDGEMENT DAY - THE "BOMBER" 34

[Bluey's Dad 3,419]

 

The more players that seek independent (and dare I say it competent) legal advice the more likely we are to see it play out in court.  That would be a very good outcome...at least there would be some truth told for a change. 

 

Yep. If I was a client of that lawyer I'd be giving them the flick after their massive blunder of misreading everything so far and find someone better.

[Sir Why You Little 34,422]

 

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/essendon-cas-verdict-banned-bombers-meet-and-continue-their-fight-20160115-gm6qrn.html

'It is now almost certain they will seek financial compensation against the Bombers...'

Maybe the AFLPA is only representing the 34 suspended players ie the guilty and not all players injected ie the innocent!

At least some players are coming to their senses and giving the AFLPA the flick: "There have been suggestions the players have split into three groups, with one agent seeking outside legal opinion for a group of players". 

It is in the AFLPA's interests, not necessarily the players, to do a 'deal' with the AFL and EFC. 

The more players that seek independent (and dare I say it competent) legal advice the more likely we are to see it play out in court.  That would be a very good outcome...at least there would be some truth told for a change. 

 

 

Great....A Changing of the Guard is beginning i hope.

This illustrates to me just how bad Vlad was as the AFL Supremo. Gill who i thought spoke very well on 360, but as was pointed out and i had to agree he was too easy on the 34 players.

This "Club" Mentality has to go...You cannot just accept blindly what the club says.

Gill had a perfect opportunity last Monday to start a new page...but didn't and if the AFL want to extract $$$ from Hal Hunter for merely wanting to know exactly what was injected into his body..."That made his ass feel like lead" for a period of time...Then i personally find it hard to financially support this sport.

 

We the Supporters need to demand a better Competition than what we have....It officially Stinks.

[John Crow Batty 8,226]

 

The other 17 clubs have the power to do it.

Problem is too many are tied to the AFL purse strings.

And many have skeletons still in the closet.  They don't want unnecessary scrutiny.

[daisycutter 28,459]

 

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/essendon-cas-verdict-banned-bombers-meet-and-continue-their-fight-20160115-gm6qrn.html

'It is now almost certain they will seek financial compensation against the Bombers...'

Maybe the AFLPA is only representing the 34 suspended players ie the guilty and not all players injected ie the innocent!

At least some players are coming to their senses and giving the AFLPA the flick: "There have been suggestions the players have split into three groups, with one agent seeking outside legal opinion for a group of players". 

It is in the AFLPA's interests, not necessarily the players, to do a 'deal' with the AFL and EFC. 

The more players that seek independent (and dare I say it competent) legal advice the more likely we are to see it play out in court.  That would be a very good outcome...at least there would be some truth told for a change. 

 

 

my guess is both parties will be working toward an out of court settlement (complete with non-disclosure conditions), for obvious reason

hence all the current posturing. like a union preparing for a wage rise case with ambit claims. take much of it with a grain of salt. e.g. the $40M claim is all BS 

[Willmoy1947 3,762]

 

 

 

[Captain Todd 167]

 

Maybe we could crowd fund a case against EFC & the AFL

 

I'm in for $100

I'll match it. I'd like to see what they were injected with as well.

Imagine if the AFLPA actually looked after ALL the players and not just the ones who did something illegal. Did they do the same with the two Collingwood players?

[Willmoy1947 3,762]

I can only think of one thing realistically to solve this problem.

That is for the Bombers to hold an extraordinary meeting as soon as possible and Disband for the good of what's left of the Competition.

They would be advised to head off temporarily to Tassie, get themselves organised, and be ready to re-enter the Competition in 2116

when "anything goes" and no one cares...

[Outside fifty 967]

Sadly for me the one overwhelming truth in this whole dirty sordid saga is the realisation that corruption and self interest is rampant in our sport, and at a level I could never have imagined. Sure I always knew about the biased draw, salary cap rorting  and the dodgy tribunal results. Sure I knew about the favouritism toward the big clubs over the little clubs and the look the other way mentality of the commission when it deemed it necessary.  But that seemed such small fry compared to what we face today. Integrity and morality have taken a back seat as the AFL has embraced a  Cowboy Corporate  culture where the ends justify the means. It doesn't need to be that way of course. Sadly I can't see this changing any time soon. The truly sad part is the very body charged with the games governance is in itself utterly corrupt. Maybe I'm being a bit melodramatic but when I saw that both the AFL and EFC were chasing court costs against Hal Hunter I couldn't help but feel that the last traces of any integrity and morality that either of these organisations once had, has was well and truly disappeared, much like the mythical EFC spread sheets that exonerate everybody.

[Chris 2,892]

 

Great....A Changing of the Guard is beginning i hope.

This illustrates to me just how bad Vlad was as the AFL Supremo. Gill who i thought spoke very well on 360, but as was pointed out and i had to agree he was too easy on the 34 players.

This "Club" Mentality has to go...You cannot just accept blindly what the club says.

Gill had a perfect opportunity last Monday to start a new page...but didn't and if the AFL want to extract $$$ from Hal Hunter for merely wanting to know exactly what was injected into his body..."That made his ass feel like lead" for a period of time...Then i personally find it hard to financially support this sport.

 

We the Supporters need to demand a better Competition than what we have....It officially Stinks.

The question is how to do that with out harming the Dee's first. If we were collingwood it would be a different story but if we cancelled memberships the AFL would laugh and the club would be harmed. 

[Sir Why You Little 34,422]

 

The question is how to do that with out harming the Dee's first. If we were collingwood it would be a different story but if we cancelled memberships the AFL would laugh and the club would be harmed. 

This calls for all supporters who are sick and tired of being lied to and played with by The Boys Club

This all started when home grounds in Melbourne were Bulldozed and all were sent to visit Etihad Stadium...A privately owned Cash Cow that drains certain clubs dry...I am not giving up on the Demons....I just hate the modern AFL as a parent...

[Chris 2,892]

 

This calls for all supporters who are sick and tired of being lied to and played with by The Boys Club

This all started when home grounds in Melbourne were Bulldozed and all were sent to visit Etihad Stadium...A privately owned Cash Cow that drains certain clubs dry...I am not giving up on the Demons....I just hate the modern AFL as a parent...

All supporters to do what? Is there a public AFL AGM we can storm and demand change?

[sue 8,412]

 

Amazing. A bloke is basically requesting his own medical records and is being hounded by the holders of those records. If he was a big name player I am sure there would be mass hysteria about this. Makes be bloody angry. I can not stand that club now, and the ignorant buffoons at the AFL. Close to walking form the game if this crap keeps up without anyone being called to account. 

DITTO. Absolutely disgusted.  This is the sort of story those Current Affair type TV programs would usually do hounding people to their front door.  Will it happen - no.

Edited January 15, 2016 by sue

[Sir Why You Little 34,422]

 

All supporters to do what? Is there a public AFL AGM we can storm and demand change?

From little things big things grow mate...i have not attended a game in almost 3 years live

I am planning a few this year...but could easily watch them at a Demon Pub so i know my $$$'s stay out of AFL wallets.

I now Despise The AFL not the game..

[Chris 2,892]

 

From little things big things grow mate...i have not attended a game in almost 3 years live

I am planning a few this year...but could easily watch them at a Demon Pub so i know my $$$'s stay out of AFL wallets.

I now Despise The AFL not the game..

I barely have time to get to games so go to a couple a year max. By not going you are hurting the club again. No way in hell will I ever go to a dons game again if they benefit in any way. 

[Sir Why You Little 34,422]

 

I barely have time to get to games so go to a couple a year max. By not going you are hurting the club again. No way in hell will I ever go to a dons game again if they benefit in any way. 

The club get $$$ out of me...The AFL get as little as possible

It's like Bernie Ecclestien with F1...I love the F1 cars but he has ruined the sport...

[bing181 8,149]

 

So Hunter got jabbed, but didn't sign the consent form. So that gives him, what, plausible deniability regarding TB4? So ASADA didn't bother pursuing him in the first place?

And the rest get nabbed because they DID sign the form, showing they knew they were getting "Thymosin" or whatever was written on there.

In order for the charges to stick, WADA/ASADA had to show that the players actually received TB4.

While they managed to place TB4 at Essendon, they still needed to establish that the players were actually injected. Which is what the consent forms confirm, given that they'd been able to show that the Thymosin referred to was TB4.

Without a signature on the consent forms, short of a positive test or confession, there's no way of confirming that a player was injected with Thymosin/TB4.

So Hal Hunter walked free. Kind of.

[Macca 16,173]

It's worth repeating that if any of the 34 hadn't signed the consent form we could assume that they would also have walked free. 

They signed off thus implicating themselves ... not smart or perhaps they felt that by signing the consent forms, that might save them at a later date ... obviously it didn't save them because in the end, they lost out (although they are still being paid?)

But of course the players maintain that they don't know what they were injected with ... McVeigh contradicted that notion when he stated that "Every player knew what they were taking" and ... "It was clearly stated to us what we were taking" Conveniently, there are no records (at least, that's what we're told)

Now we get today's appalling news on the Hunter case (the AFL & EFC arguing for costs) The lies and deceit surrounding this saga has been astonishing ... what is worse is how our media has been so apathetic and many have acted like cheerleaders. 

It seems a lot of these large sporting organisations end up following the same murky path ... integrity and doing the right thing suffers at the hands of the quest for the almighty dollar.

Edited January 15, 2016 by Macca

[Delusional demon 82 1,196]

I can safely say this sorry saga is now more fu@#ed up than "derwayne" winning best commentator last year...bring on Rd 2 

[biggestred 4,269]

The afl are disgusting.

The last 10 years has seen my love of footy drop and drop

If it wasn't for the dees id probably just get around the old Churchill cougars every Saturday and drink cheap cold cans of VB in the back of the ute...

[Captain Todd 167]

 

Sadly for me the one overwhelming truth in this whole dirty sordid saga is the realisation that corruption and self interest is rampant in our sport, and at a level I could never have imagined. Sure I always knew about the biased draw, salary cap rorting  and the dodgy tribunal results. Sure I knew about the favouritism toward the big clubs over the little clubs and the look the other way mentality of the commission when it deemed it necessary.  But that seemed such small fry compared to what we face today. Integrity and morality have taken a back seat as the AFL has embraced a  Cowboy Corporate  culture where the ends justify the means. It doesn't need to be that way of course. Sadly I can't see this changing any time soon. The truly sad part is the very body charged with the games governance is in itself utterly corrupt. Maybe I'm being a bit melodramatic but when I saw that both the AFL and EFC were chasing court costs against Hal Hunter I couldn't help but feel that the last traces of any integrity and morality that either of these organisations once had, has was well and truly disappeared, much like the mythical EFC spread sheets that exonerate everybody.

Well said.

 

The treatment of Hal Hunter is unethical. The AFL needs to redress this, if it wants the supporters to love the game again.

This sort of corporate behaviour is what leads to break away leagues.

[Sir Why You Little 34,422]

 

Well said.

 

The treatment of Hal Hunter is unethical. The AFL needs to redress this, if it wants the supporters to love the game again.

This sort of corporate behaviour is what leads to break away leagues.

Spot on mate....

[sue 8,412]

 

Well said.

 

The treatment of Hal Hunter is unethical. The AFL needs to redress this, if it wants the supporters to love the game again.

This sort of corporate behaviour is what leads to break away leagues.

It will be interesting to see if any of our AFL opinion 'leaders' have anything to say about this latest scummy behaviour of the AFL & EFC.

[FireInTheBennelly 4,022]

 

They were getting injections before Reid got wind of it so they signed consent forms and hid it all again.

 

BTW that is a [censored] disgrace from the afl and essendon, asking for costs after Hunter asked for docs relating to what he'd been injected with. What a bunch of [censored].

So does this mean the players that weren't charged were quite possibly receiving the same things, until they were asked to sign a consent form and refused?

[monoccular 16,017]

 

The parents of former Essendon player Hal Hunter are "appalled" that the AFL and Essendon are pursuing court costs against their son after he took legal action arising from the disastrous 2012 injection program.

"The approach by the club and AFL is totally at odds with the statements on Tuesday by Lindsay Tanner and Mike Fitzpatrick regarding the importance of player welfare and the admissions of serious failings at the club.

"Instead what we have seen from the club and AFL has been a combative stance resisting Hal at every turn. Documents have been released in dribs and drabs and at the very last moment, there have been ongoing delays, argument and of course mounting costs.

"Hal was 18 and the youngest player at the club when he was drafted in late 2011. Hal was part of the injection program from early 2012 and he received injections both at the club and offsite.

"While we as a family and those close to him have tried to support Hal in this process, it has taken a huge toll on him. We have real concerns for his ongoing physical and mental well-being as a result of not only what happened at the club but the approach the club and AFL have taken to Hal's case since.

"We would urge the AFL and the club to meet with us and bring this matter to a conclusion as soon as possible. Hal should be given as much detail as possible in order for him to address the implications of the injection program at the club and, to allow him to get on with his life." 

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/afl/essendon-saga-parents-appalled-as-afl-dons-pursue-costs-against-hal-hunter-20160115-gm6l85.html#ixzz3xHf5YhTm 
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Surely I have misread this - I thought it implied that EFC and AFL were seeking costs against one of their (former) employees who is seeking medically sensitive information related to "treatment" administered to him by his employer, "treatment" that he is concerned may be detrimental to his health (amongst other things).   Surely I am misreading this??!!

Is it headed to a courtroom?  Before a person who carries the honorific "Justice"?  

Justice would dictate that the (correct me if needed, I am not a lawyer) plaintiff gets the records, should they not suddenly disappear on the eve of the hearing, with costs in his favour, and hopefully a hefty load of putative damages against the scum who even considered this malicious action against this concerned young man.   

My contempt for the EFC and AFL has reached new heights / depths.  This is a disgusting bully boy tactic.  Totally inhuman.  Beyond contempt.  Evil.  

 

Sadly for me the one overwhelming truth in this whole dirty sordid saga is the realisation that corruption and self interest is rampant in our sport, and at a level I could never have imagined. Sure I always knew about the biased draw, salary cap rorting  and the dodgy tribunal results. Sure I knew about the favouritism toward the big clubs over the little clubs and the look the other way mentality of the commission when it deemed it necessary.  But that seemed such small fry compared to what we face today. Integrity and morality have taken a back seat as the AFL has embraced a  Cowboy Corporate  culture where the ends justify the means. It doesn't need to be that way of course. Sadly I can't see this changing any time soon. The truly sad part is the very body charged with the games governance is in itself utterly corrupt. Maybe I'm being a bit melodramatic but when I saw that both the AFL and EFC were chasing court costs against Hal Hunter I couldn't help but feel that the last traces of any integrity and morality that either of these organisations once had, has was well and truly disappeared, much like the mythical EFC spread sheets that exonerate everybody.

Beautifully stated.  Totally immoral, or amoral, and corrupt.  I must say I am rapidly losing interest in all things AFL, which would be particularly sad should our beloved Demons actually progress as hoped this year.    I WILL NOT attend round 2, given that it is an EFC home game, as all our games against them seem to be these days.  Is that "luck of the draw"?  More likely yet another sweetheart deal between the corrupt AFL and the more corrupt EFC. 

OMG I am feeling so depressed re footy despite all the prospects of a good year for our team. 

If Gil and the entire Commission were to resign or be sacked, there may be a glimmer of hope, but the game is rapidly going down the gurgler.  

[Jaded No More 57,690]

 

I am still livid about the AFL immediately coming out and awarding them ten "top-up" players!

When they did this previously (for the three weeks of the NAB Challenge only) they tried to represent the furphy that EFC players were embarked on a 'voluntary 4.5 month suspension' (notwithstanding the fact that on that occasion they continued to train with the rest of the lis)! 

At that stage, they had 34 effected players meaning that they were incapable of fielding a side so there was some (tenuous) justification. This time around, they have less than a quarter of their total list effected (viz. 12 out of 39, including their 5 rookies) so can quite easily field a (weakened) team which is consistent with the position that they dug for themselves. It is I fathomable why the AFL should try and dilute the penalty imposed by the CAS, trying to effectively override arguably the highest authority in World sport.

Esendon (as a Club) should take their medicine alongside their players for their primarily role in this sordid saga. As it is now, the penalty on the EFC has been effectively watered down by 80% due to the reduction of the percentage of guilty players on their list over time, coupled with the latitude given by reducing the ban from two years to a single playing season. Other Clubs, such as Port, the Saints, the Dogs and the Dees, have all been impacted in this without being given 'top-up' players or other compensation for either their suspended players or their foregone first and second round draft picks! Further, the other seventeen Clubs have all lost games in the 2013, 2014 and 2015 seasons to a team comprised primarily of drug cheats! 

I sort of agree, what not giving Essendon top up players means they can't cover injuries and they put undue stress on their remaining players, who did nothing wrong and don't deserve to suffer as a result. 

Plus it's a health and safety issue that the AFLPA would never agree to.