Leaderboard

The stance taken by Paul Marsh, head of the players association, on the Essendon verdict, dramatically illustrates why this organisation is about as dysfunctional as Essendon itself. The Association is supposed to look after the interests of ALL AFL players, yet it has consistently pursed through the the last three years the interests of the Essendon 34 instead of championing the health of the AFL's entire playing group. I can think of no more important industrial relations issue than ensuring all employees have a safe work environment, yet in spite of Essendon's being condemned by WorkSafe and indeed being heavily fined for it, and CAS condemning it as being unsafe over a two year period, the AFLPA chooses to condemn these judgements and takes no stance about workplace safety in general, or the disgrace of the EFC's behaviour. Further, shouldn't one of the primary roles of the organisation dedicated to the welfare of the players be to ensure that the AFL fields a fair competition. Instead Marsh has said nothing about a doped up Essendon in 2012/2013 creating an UNFAiIR playing field, thereby substantially affecting the welfare of the players from the other 17 clubs. Nothing could illustrate more dramatically how out of touch the AFLPA is when yesterday Marsh called for the AFL to abandon its support for the WADA code. The implications of this action would be the AFL players would have no internationally sanctioned protection and enforcement of safe work places, and would have to rely on the imperfect and dysfunctional rules of the AFL, in much the same way as the American NFL do who operate outside WADA rules. This is not altogether unrelated to the fact that there are scandal, after scandal after scandal in the NFL, usually related to unrestricted drug use. It should not be something the AFL should aspire to. It is about time the AFL players of integrity stood up to Marsh's regime. What was it about "what happens when good men do nothing........."? Scandals like Essendon occur that's what, with catastrophic results, not least for the players.

There was a crucial stage during this saga when decisions were made concerning the legal representation of the players without total separation from that of their football club. The position of the players was that neither we nor the club were cheats and therefore, in my view, a whole range of matters didn't appear to get the consideration they merited. I think it was in or around mid 2014 after Ben McDevitt was appointed, that the players made poor readings of the situation. ASADA's concession that they could not achieve a guilty ruling on AOD9604 (wrong in my view) buoyed the players and hardened their attitudes towards the possibility of making a deal on the charges based on TB4 which, according to some reports, could have seen them banned for the remainder of that season. The saga would have been over by the beginning of 2015, the penalty marginally more harsh than the one that the NRL players took. Had there been total separation between the interests of the club and the players, then I believe the possibility of a deal would have been given a lot more consideration. The AFLPA should have been at the forefront in seeing that its membership was being properly served. I'm not sure that it did that. Marsh's outburst yesterday was totally unbecoming and the frustration shown in his words reflects his organisation's ineptitude in its handling of the matter. He should be one of the first to resign.

Here are the 12 players that were not issued with infraction notices who were on Essendon's list going into the 2012 season. Currently listed Mark Baguley Courtenay Dempsey Jackson Merrett David Zaharakis Delisted Anthony Long, Lauchlan Dalgleish, Jason Winderlich, Elliott Kavanagh, Nick O'Brien, Michael Ross, Kyle Reimers Hal Hunter So there's 12 players who did not receive infraction notices - why not? What did they all not do to escape trouble? ... did they all say no? Were they all frightened of needles like Zaharakis 'supposedly' was? And why hasn't our media interviewed them? Surely there is a story there ... a big story in my opinion. It's as if they've all been collectively hidden away so as they don't say anything. We know that Hunter is taking court action but what of the other 10? (apart from Zaharakis) ... as is highlighted above, 4 of them are still active players at the EFC ... do the 34 who were busted wonder why those 4 (plus the other delisted 8 players) were somehow passed over by ASADA/WADA? There's probably a number of other questions surrounding the (non) dirty dozen. Essendon's 2012 list The 34 who were charged (and busted)

AFL players, like all professional sportsman, have both rights and responsibilities. Unfortunately, the AFLPA led by example and have cared far about their rights and neglected their responsibilities. You can't expect to be paid like a professional and treated like a professional if you then don't act like a professional. The AFLPA have completely failed to represent the entire playing group. I'm getting sick of hearing that there are no winners out of yesterdays verdict. Clean footballers are winners. Sports fan who want as fair as possible playing field are winners. People who want to ensure "the dog ate my homework" defence gets given the treatment it deserves are winners.

Its interesting that AFLPA and player lawyers broke the news to the players, not Essendon. It wasn't until EFC/Hird lost the first Fed Court case that players decided to run their own race, with AFLPA. It seems they badly misunderstood the ASADA/WADA appeal process. It seems only EFC/AFL/AFLPA were surprised when WADA appealed. They also seriously underestimated Richard Young and failed to research how he wins his cases. They seemed to not understand how to mount a defense at CAS: they allowed WADA to take a 'strands in a 'strands in a cable approach'. They clearly didn't understand what that meant and thought the 'link in the chain approach' used at the AFL Tribunal would win the day (see 110 and 111 of CAS judgement). Eventually they realised their blunder and tried to get the WADA approach thrown out but it was too late. Clearly the AFLPA were way out of their depth!! Why did AFLPA not get a crack international lawyer who understands WADA, CAS, Richard Young, 'strands in a cable vs links in a chain' etc, etc? It was the biggest mistake of the many mistakes by AFLPA. Yesterday, was a tad late for 'crocodile tears' from Marsh...really just 'crying over spilt milk'. He looked like a poor loser refusing to accept the umpires decision.

100% agree. He should have come out and said they will support the players through this suspension but it is important to keep integrity in the AFL. Instead they came out and threw a tantrum about it. Not the first time they have done that either. This verdict also shows how poor the AFL management are. I just read that there will be a commission on whether Jobe Watson should return his brownlow! Seriously, can they not make one decision without a commission being held? It is pretty straight forward, he was caught CHEATING the year he won therefore he should NOT be illegible!

One of the main features of this saga is the total collapse the public has in its confidence of the truth of what they are told by the football media. We've previously seen commentators with agendas but in this case we were often blatantly lied to by the media who took one side or the other. A reading of the CAS decision should leave people with no doubt as to the involvement of propaganda involved in the affair. Of course, it was Robbo who took the cake throughout and, he was at his very best last night on AFL360 when he suggested it was a split decision by four judges. For the record, it was a unanimous decision on guilt by all three judges with one judge believing no significant fault applied. Kudos however, should go to the Fairfax investigative team of Baker and McKenzie who exposed Dank and his ignorance of the legal status of TB4 very early on in this piece. Once it was published, the writing was on the wall as far as I was concerned.

And that's what we did for years - talk up the kids to give us hope. We have barely done that at all this year, and it's telling. I see it as a real positive.

Once he wrote "the letter", so mysteriously lost by the way like the drug administration records, and it was not responded to his satisfaction, he had a moral obligation to resign his position. He chose instead to stay. He therefore failed his duty of care to the his patients, the players. Yet AHPRA do not appear to have shown any interest at all Saying he was sidelined yet sticking around was both gutless and unethical, IMVHO Certainly on face value it would seem very clear that whoever drew up the consent forms - and has that person been named by the way? - totally mislead the players involved. Have these forms ever been sighted (or even cited) publicly? I suspect that had they answered truthfully at the times they were asked by ASADA that yes, they had been given supplements and that the club had given them written assurances of their legitimacy, then this whole sorry saga would have been resolved, one way or the other, long ago. ASADA, WADA and CAS had it got that far may well have treated them far more leniently had they not lied regarding their supplement usage. What a joke that Golden Boy is even allowed to darken the portals of an institution carrying such a lofty title. Must be self named. PS http://www.ethics.org.au/about/what-we-re-about What a beautiful irony the The Ethics Centre was formerly know as St.James Ethics Centre. They must have felt compelled to remove the eponym due to the oxymoronic contradiction. :-)

I also love this bit: After years of confidentiality Hird will finally reflect on his departure from Essendon..... I guess he doesn't think strategically leaking information to Slobbo and others as breaking confidentiality. And he is going to speak on ethics? Oh my lord this is just too absurd.

Nothing is ever black and white. I don't see the players as drug cheats - I see them as idiots who should be more sceptical and less trusting of sports administrators with needles and no explanations. Call Essendon what you like. But Watson will lose his Brownlow and that is a huge shame - you think I am going to see him as a 'drug cheat' and all the connotations of that label when his career is done? No effing way.

Jake Melksham is a very talented footballer who was misled by members of the EFC that should have known better. He is now an MFC player and I wish him a successful career with us.

[censored]

It is an absolute disgrace that Essendon are being gifted ten "top-up" players. The 32 eligible players remaining on their list plus the 5 rookies are enough to enable them to field a team each week, even allowing for injuries. The team suggested in this morning's Age for example had #5 draft pick Parish listed as an emergency for God's sake, hardly strong evidence of the Club being genuinely crippled. It seems that the AFL is doing cartwheels to ensure that EFC suffers a minimal penalty for the coming season whereas the VFL and other leagues from where the top up players are being sourced, potentially stand to lose their star players, let alone the four AFL Clubs who relinquished low draft picks to pick up ineligible players and the other leagues around the Nation who suddenly lose a player for the season (without compensation)!

they should get it of course, regardless of whether they may claim to be "embarrassed" or "don't want it" fact is they deserved it. watson was found guilty of using peds that year regardless of whether he intended to or not he still got the unfair advantage should be a lay-down misere. i can't understand the delay

Here is the judgement again for those who haven't seen it ... Go to page 12 of the document for WADA's submission - here's a few notable points ... Mr Dank has a history of use of TB-4 in athlete doping programs. In 2012, the players attended a meeting with Mr Dank at which they signed forms consenting to the administration of four substances, including a specific regimen of 'Thymosin' injections, which matched a prescribed regimen of TB-4 described in an email between Mr Charter and Mr Dank. An analysis of urine samples collected from the players in 2012 also confirmed that the players were injected with TB-4. The players have therefore committed anti-doping rule violations.

That 12 (12!!!!) Players did not take part is the biggest smoking gun for me. It clearly says there was the option to opt out. 12 players took responsibility for themselves. 34 didn't.

Yep, the parallels are amusing. I was listening to SEN this afternoon and the hosts were going on about top-up players. Eventually one of them said something like, "just get the kids in! Throw them into the furnace and see who thrives! They have some great young talent and this Parish kid seems like a future captain, so throw them in and see who stands up and leads their team, it'll be really exciting." I laughed. As a wise man once said, history is doomed to repeat itself.

I think rjay made the point in another thread, and it was also well argued by Barrett on Footy Classified last night, that it's a farce that the AFL are even giving Jobe a say in the matter. It's like asking a criminal to help decide his sentence. The AFL are running a competition, not a reality tv show where the viewer gets a vote - they should make decisions, not outsource them because they seem too hard and don't want a PR catastrophe. As noted above, it should have been done yesterday. I think Watson will do the honourable thing and hand it back.

Can't believe the afl didn't make it happen yesterday.

Can't wait for the AnZac Day match

What is a huge shame is that Mitchell and Cotchin were denied their Brownlow. And the glory and financial rewards that would have come with that.. You simply can't let the cheats prosper.

He knew. Why did he write the 'letter' that was never seen by the board? Totally self-serving, revisionist and IMO bunk. When you are medical director you are in charge full stop. None of this "But I wasn't there during the week". You set the standards, the protocols and the chain of command. Simple. At Melbourne I was told our our long standing doctor (Dr Andrew Gaff I believe) and his team resigned en masse when it became clear that the sports science people (Missen I believe it was) were given final say over whether a player was fit to play. The doctors acted as they should. Professional and in my view correctly. They didn't accept that and resigned. Our board should have looked at that and assesses whether this was appropriate protocol or otherwise. That is what a proper process is all about. The EFC didn't have it and Reid has been shown up for being a fan boi and unprofessional. As has the EFC board.

Paul Marsh: Hello, Mr McLachlan? Gil McLachlan: Yes. Who is this? PM: It's Paul. GM: Paul? PM: Paul. Paul Marsh. GM: Oh yes. Paul. Let's see. The pH in the upstairs pool is a bit low this week. And the hedge along the side needs a bit of a trim. PM: No, Mr McLachlan. Paul Marsh. I'm not calling about any gardening. GM: .... sorry? PM: I'm from the AFL Players Association. GM: From the AFL ... oh yes. Of course. Why are you call-- PM: It's the Essendon players, Mr McLachlan. They're going to launch legal action against the AFL! GM: Ha, ha. How cute. But you didn't call me just to tell me that, did you? PM: Mr McLachlan, they want me to pay for it! The AFLPA, that is. GM: Paul. I'd think very carefully about whether you're acting in the best interests of the body you represent. PM: But Mr McLachlan, that's what I mean! I have to at least look like I'm sticking up for the players! GM: It is a little tricky. Hmm ... let me think .... here's what we'll do. I'll slash your budget down to a pittance. So you can't even buy your lunch. Then you can't possibly pay for legal action. Or any other nonsense ideas these players get. PM: Yes, Mr McLachlan. Thank you, Mr McLachlan. GM: And Paul? PM: Yes, Mr McLachlan? GM: Don't forget that pool. PM: No, Mr McLachlan. Sorry, Mr McLachlan.

1. Essendon at that stage hoodwinked the whole football community 2. One shouldn't reward cheats, but this is exactly what the AFL are going to do. Top up players. Draft picks based on 2016 outcome. Salary cap changes and some even suggest assistance. Prime time scheduling, including ANZAC DAY. If that isn't rewarding cheating don't know what is.

The two highest polling and untainted players deserve to be the fairest and best. Not awarding the Brownlow means giving in to the culture introduced into the game by the machinations of the Danks of this world - something we shouldn't allow to happen. Cotchin and Mitchell deserve to share the medal.

it's not tainted, just the person who happened to win it with the aid of peds cotchin and mitchell should get it.........because they were the best and fairest......no question now the fact that time has passed is lamentable, but it didn't stop the afl awarding brownlows to those who lost on countbacks in the past

This may interest you. https://twitter.com/ChrisKaias/status/686664668438331392

Funny, I don't recall Gil "the Dealmaker" being so forgiving of the culture of footy clubs when the St Kilda schoolgirl was hanging around the comp. Or when players have been caught drink driving. Or when players get into fights. Maybe there wasn't so much money at stake in those instances.

It will be a short conversation.

seems all those posters who said that the afl must have given sureties, support, guarantees or other forms of insurance, compensation to clubs who might trade for essendon players, got it completely wrong. it was all caveat emptor and we jumped in

We will win comfortably, I'm not concerned with the EFC and wouldn't be even if they were at full strength.

'stuie', as you probably know this is a typical Roos snow job. I guess we wouldn't expect him to say anything different but according to a poster (couldn't find the post) after the draft & trade night the club ran when asked about the Melksham trade he was told that the club believe & AFL advice is if found guilty the players will only get a short suspension. No matter which way you paint it the club was caught with it's pants down on this one, it was a punt taken based on a false belief. Now we can only help that Melksham repays the faith in the final 3 years of his contract but will he be mentally shot. Who knows...

So you applaud the WADA decision, except for the penalty they handed out and you want to add more? When every player has served their penalty, they are entitled to resume their trade, as far as I'm concerned. Melksham has been through a lot (and is culpable for it), and now misses a season of football with a new club. But that's punishment enough, and WADA says so..

The AFLPA is akin to a trade union trying to keep the jobs of a small group of workers who have openly flouted workplace safety regulations, favouring them over the great majority of other workers whose ongoing safety and wellbeing ought to be paramount. They need to ask whose interests they really represent.

Negligence that beggars belief

Yeah Marsh is a fIog of the highest order in regards to this whole saga. He should be blasting the club that put his players at risk. Absolutely no idea.

Lots of bomber fans running with the 'wada code not set up for teams' line. Wada they talking about, honestly... Trying to equate it to knowing what's in a flu shot is shocking too; if a gp gave me an std rather than a flu shot I'd sue the living pants off them - which is what you'd expect will happen to the bombers shortly.

Wow rjay when were EFC supporters any judge they thought Hird was their saviour.

Because the AFL continue to bend over backwards to gloss over this sordid episode, and to reward to cheating administration and staff at EssUndone. ANZAC Day continues, as do their pre time fixed-tures. I even heard today somewhere that they were talking of "compensating" the banned players! FCS talk about mixed messages.

bs. they thought worst-case would be a handful of games which would be tolerable, because they drank the koolaid being passed around by the usual suspects

Yeah, no worries. No one in life deserves to be given a second chance, eh? The bloke was told by the club what he was taking was fine - maybe he should have taken a closer look, asked more questions, done a little research etc. but to lay the blame solely at their feet is wrong. I look forward to see Jake come back in November and become an integral part of our team when all of this is well and truly behind him.

A fairly thin group then LDC

We essentially traded a 2015 2nd round pick for Melksham to come onto our list on a 3 year deal for 2017 season onwards, with the possibility of him coming across for an early bonus year in 2016. Doesn't sound like a horrible deal, especially remembering that you need to pay overs to bring in established talent from opposing clubs, and we sorely needed to increase our quality depth. Focusing on the opportunity, rather than what has been potentially lost.

I felt it was inappropriate for him to be voicing such strong opinions in the presser, WADA is still the governing anti doping code for the AFL and he has just set an example that it is okay to disrespect them, they did their job and the AFLPA unfortunately have no idea where the lines of their job begin and end, should be supporting the players who didn't cheat, not those who did.

This may have been addressed before but can someone explain to me why the 2 year penalty was backdated to the date the AFL let them off? The banned players played during that period which makes no sense to me. In reality it's a 23 week ban.

After watching/listening to a few media opinions about the verdict really impressed with Rebecca Wilson (Sydney Telegraph), Caro Wilson (Last night on FC) and believe it or not The Purple Headed Warrior (Last night on FC). All really understand where the AFL sits in relation to WADA/CAS, and how arrogant EFC has been throughout the saga.

You serious. He is a parasite on the news community. He was giving "in depth truth" when there was a conflict of interest. He still thinks they are innocent and that there is good chance Jab Watson will keep his brownlow. He should step down from his media job. He has been nothing but a disgrace throughout this whole saga.

It's become urban myth, hasn't it? That it was crafted with the Olympics in mind, and two year/four year penalties fit in with the Olympic cycle, and the worst druggies are all Olympic athletes, and, and ... (hand waving here) ... therefore it must have no applicability to non-Olympic sports. Busted syllogism. It's leapt on by EFC apologists, and small-minded journos who otherwise should have no allegiance to drug cheats, because Hird can't have done anything wrong, nor the EFC, nor the players ... it's Dank! It's the AFL! It's the system, man! It's .... it's WADA themselves!! From that point, tailor the facts to suit the conclusion.

Playing thread catch up, but I had to comment on the bolded. It's a line I've heard numerous times today and it grates each time. Footy is a professional team sport and it has internal pressures just like all the rest of the team-based WADA signatories do. In fact I'd assert that pressures in the international team-based WADA compliant sports far exceeds that of the average AFL club. By willfully withholding information from ASADA (before we even get to the 'what were they injected with' question) the players have/had already cheated the most fundamental aspect of the governing anti-doping system. Melksham.. not ideal.