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I have absolutely no sympathy for Whitfield. He has no excuses. They are educated on drugs and the WADA code right through their junior football and after they are drafted. These kids occupy a position of unbelievable privilege when they go to AFL clubs. They are paid well above the average wage to do nothing but exercise and play the game they love. They are told right from the start that part of the payoff for that privilege is that they can't take drugs. These are the actions of a spoiled narcissistic brat who doesn't have the faintest idea how lucky he is or any appreciation for the work other people have put in to get him there. I say throw the book at him.

So Gubby suggested the best way to avoid his girlfriend was to, a/ Tell her the truth it is over. b/ Tell a fib, I have to stay at the club. c/ Say that you have taken drugs and have to go into hiding to avoid drug testing -which carries a 4 year disqualification - put it in writing then delete the evidence, if it turns pear shaped blame the woman. So the answer is obvious. AYFI

Of all the pathetic lame duck excuses and to be so cowardly as to blame the girlfriend. Very, very ordinary behaviour. Hope the book is thrown.

I feel sorry for Sammi Nowland. She does not deserve the [censored] that will be unloaded on her if Whitfield is banned. I had exhausted my supply of vomit bags during the EFC saga (I have a couple left for when Jobe is allowed to keep his medal though), but will now need to order another truck load. The AFL is actively making it difficult for me to follow the sport I love.

Yeah . . . but Collingwood.

What Roos does beyond his tenure at Melbourne is of no interest or significance to me whatsoever. He got paid well, did a great job and both parties move on. Good luck in whatever he does.

If I know the AFL, and I think I do, there will be 2 books thrown. The first will be approximately 4 pages long and printed on rice paper. It will be wafted softly in the general direction of Whitfield, and may or may not softly glance his cheek. The second will be an enormous leather-bound volume, bound with a hard spine plus additional appendices, launched from the Herald Sun's media cannon at Sammi Nowland's unsuspecting face.

What a bunch of gutter crawling scumbags they are. They've been caught red handed and to try and blame it on "the crazy girlfriend" is just disgusting. Let's take their story at face value. Whitfield has attempted to avoid his girlfriend by claiming he has to stay at Lamberts house for a few days because he took drugs and is scared he will test positive to PED's. Meanwhile he also apparently has a migraine and has to stay at Lamberts house because.... If that's the best they can come up with they deserve suspensions for sheer stupidity

Like with the Essendon thing, the BS and denial is almost more offensive to me than the actual act. At least the Bombers could blame rogue Dank, these peanuts blaming the girlfriend is nothing short of pathetic.

as long as hawthorn still have their 2nd round pick for next year then (begrudgingly) this time i agree with the afl can't believe i'm defending hq - lol

This I really agree with. Surely it's far more important to start handing out tougher penalties on managers and administrators providing dubious advice? It would only force clubs to take a much harder look at their governance. Gubby Allen most of all I hope gets 4 years. The AFL allowed shady characters like Ricky Nixon and that ilk to exist for far too long and it's time to get rid of these sorts of people from the industry.

Still haven't been able to locate the missing spreadsheet, however have located the missing PowerPoint slide.

And of course the offence here is not the taking of any drugs but is the "deliberate avoidance of a drug test" Classic Watergate syndrome where the "cover up" far outweighs the original wrong (in this case the possible taking of a recreational drug which may or may not have been in breach of WADA rules).

The fact that Jobe hasn't handed this in already is an indictment on whatever remnants of integrity the bloke had.

Looks like I was very close to the mark re Eddie being on thin ice: http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/eddie-mcguire-gary-pert-looking-shaky-after-drugs-scandal-20161025-gsafga.html Every time I see other clubs in turmoil I thank God that PJ came to us. By him recruiting good capable people who have in turn recruited good capable people, we have become boringly stable. And, I love that our club is boringly stable!!

Spot on - and let us not forget the very handsome salaries these guys are being paid in consideration for the sacrifices they are required to make to participate at the elite level.

So. He tried to cheat the system, if he took illicit drug, he and the club should have self reported and copped a strike. Instead they tried to hide him, put all the blame on his ex and thought they were smart. For that reason alone I hope he cops four years. They thought they were being clever and beating the system. Sucked in, busted chump.

The thread is about Jordan Lewis so if you don't mind I'll begin my response by referring to him. Lewis is 30 years old. He has 264 games of AFL football behind him and has played in four premierships. He is mature, a family man and handled himself with assurance and self-confidence over his decision to leave Hawthorn. I think the football world gave him great credit for this and he deserved it. Very few true Hawthorn supporters are going to argue with him about this or boo him when he runs out on the field against their team wearing a Melbourne jumper. By contrast, Tom Scully was a mere kid at 20 on the night when the events I described took place. I don't have the slightest doubt that he wasn't being entirely open and frank with me during our conversation. I mentioned how nervous and distracted he seemed and how he often checked his mobile phone during the evening. This happened most when he was asked about the knee injury that had affected his season and about his future. I never believed for a minute his claim that he hadn't "seen any offers" and that he would sit down with his management to decide on his future after the game. That decision had been done and dusted for some time by then. There were however, other parts of the conversations we had that night (and others were also taking part) during which the nervousness wasn't so apparent. He joked about Sam Blease having a big head, he talked about his family life and his experiences at the club including his respect for Jim Stynes. I'm prepared to accept what he said about those things as truthful. His obfuscations only came on the point of his future because he had a very good reason not to reveal the truth. Tom Scully was about to leave Melbourne and I believe there was a single motivating factor behind the move - the money. I don't believe for a second that Stynes "hounded" him, nor do I believe he was involved in any conduct that constituted a "meaningful factor in Scully's decision to move". I stand completely by my point of view. The conversation took place in front of others including some of his teammates and I also had discussions with people involved at the club including a Board Member that reinforce my view. I'm not surprised however, that you were told these stories. I'm not suggesting you lied but there were clear divisions of opinion at the time and there were those who had their reasons for pushing the self-serving line they gave you. There were people who had reason to dislike Jimmy - perhaps because he led the move to push them out of power. We're all too aware of the power struggles that blighted the club, causing great damage over too long a period that thankfully has now come to an end. I'm puzzled however, that you think I'm being naive about this - "he stated that he had not been involved in any negotiations with Melbourne or anyone else". I think the statement was correct. The negotiations were conducted by his manager with his father looming large in the background. He was a 20 year old kid who wanted to play footy and while adults did the real dirty work for him, it wasn't only the Scully camp that had unclean hands in this. That's why in the end, I'm happy that the thread is about Jordan Lewis and I'm clear in the knowledge that the club is heading in the right direction with people of his ilk in the foreground and a lot of very positive people in the background.

taking the plss...surely

Crap. At 16 I decided to give myself the best chance at playing AFL. I stopped smoking dope and drinking alcohol. I still went out, still had fun with mates. Only in the last year (I'm 39) have I started drinking a couple of drinks regulary. This whole peer pressure thing is a cop out. It's an out. I had Mates taking drugs, getting high etc I had plenty offered to me but all I said was "no" Whitfield could have self reported but he tried to be clever. It's backfired. Consequences are imminent.

I want a clear rule, if you cover it up and avoid drug testing, the maximum penalty applies. I can't see any other way to govern this. so if a Dees player does that, then bang they have to go.

Yes I would want a full ban for them. It is really very very simple. To be a professional athlete you need to make sacrifices in all areas of your life. This is one area where the consequences are so clear it isn't funny. It really isn't hard to follow the code or to say no to drugs. Zero sympathy here.

Your initial post clearly showed you do NOT understand how these things work. How is a drug agency supposed to know if a player is hiding from them to avoid a test they haven't even planned because he took drugs and feared they may be laced with PED's? Too many cheerleaders willing to forgive cheats and misdirect their anger at those who penalised them. A lot of people need to grow up and realise their footy heroes aren't infallible.

I have zero sympathy for Whitfield, all the power to his ex girlfriend.

Collingwood may be looking for a lot of new senior people: Football Manager: Gubby Allen may find himself on an extended holiday courtesy of AFL/ASADA. President: Eddie must be on thin ice after: hiring Allen; his big mouth nearly lost them their sponsorship with Holden; upsetting the chief recruiter; and realising his 'love child' can't coach. The Board must be asking themselves big questions about Eddie and his judgement! Wouldn't be surprised to see an 'exit' plan for Eddie. But will he go quietly or will the sparks fly. Popcorn time again? Senior Coach: ... Collingwood is looking very poor in the management stakes - lots of off field turmoil happening. Some old Rooboy mates (Pert, Randell) are there but can't see Roos at a club that is all over the shop! He chose the Demons rather than the Lions because we were stable with the firm hand of PJ in control.

Surely not. Didn't he put off his retirement plans in Hawaii to come to us on big bucks? Surely putting his plans off for 3 years is enough. I'd be pretty sad if he ended up at Collingwood.

I hope I can assume you are against drugs in sport. What should an anti drug agency be doing to ensure clean sport? How is your "ideal" anti drug agency structured and what does it do?

and the joke is that the gf he was hiding from was actually overseas at the time - lol

Wait, they actually expect that concocted story to get them off these charges? ... Wow. Just when you thought you'd seen it all over the last 4 years, an even dumber group of drug cheats pops along. Mindboggling.

Wow you don't understand how this works at all.

EFC will be kicking themselves. They played their "rogue sports scientist" card poorly. Look where it got them. They should have come out on day 1 day 518 and admitted that the 34 players all had psychotic girlfriends that they were trying to avoid. That Gubby. What an operator.

Let's see the evidence but if the case against these characters is proved then it amounts to a further condemnation of the AFL. The news first broke before the finals and relates to events that took place and were known to them well before then. Whitfield should not have been allowed to play in the finals in the face of these allegations.

I'm not surprised and I don't believe the story because I have a different understanding - one that came directly from the horse's mouth. On 31 August 2011, I attended the Fawkner Hotel and with about 20 others, had dinner with four members of Melbourne's team - Tom Scully, Cale Morton, Stef Martin and Max Gawn. It was the week before the last game of the season, one which he eventually withdrew from due to general soreness. For a time during the evening, I sat next to Tom and in our discussions (heard by others), made him aware that my family had a business connection going back several years with his father's roofing company (which he had recently resigned from as a Director). He seemed nervous and distracted during the evening, often checking his mobile phone. Tom spoke about the lingering issues that he had with his knee that year and said he felt that they were all manageable and that he would be over them after the break in between seasons. On the subject of his future, he stated that he had not been involved in any negotiations with Melbourne or anyone else. He told me that he had not "seen any offers" but that after the game on Sunday, he would sit down with his management to decide between then and the B & F in a few weeks' time. I asked him how he felt the club had treated him in the circumstances and he said he couldn't be happier. They hadn't put any pressure on him and were aware that he would be talking to his management at the end of the season which he said had been his position since March. On Jimmy Stynes who had been fighting cancer for two years and was extremely ill at the time, he said he was full of admiration and he had no issues with Jim's comments earlier in the year. He said he didn't even believe they were directed specifically at him. For the record, I thought after that night that Scully was gone. I respected fully that his decision was a difficult one but, on the figures I had heard that he was being offered, there was no real choice. His departure was announced about a week and a half later. Usually, I would be more than somewhat bemused that five years after the event, a story emerges that flies in the face of everything that I was told that night but I'm not any more because I've heard this sort of scuttlebutt before. Several months after Scully departed, stories started emerging that he left the Demons' 2010 end of season trip to China because of the drinking culture of the players (Tom was apparently a teetotaler). At the time he returned, Phil Scully told my brother-in-law that he left early because of serious health issues involving a family member. When I hear allegations made about a dead man that he can't respond to, it brings out the cynic in me.

I'm sick of these spoiled brats not taking any responsibility for their actions and blaming everyone but themselves. Bust his chops.

Oh, the poor little darling, he had heaps of training on the matter, had the rules explained to him many times, and the consequences, yet it appears he still went against them. How he must be suffering.

Watson is going to get booed just as much as when he was last on the field. The hawks fans will let him hear it in round 1. Its going to be beautiful and I hope he cries again.

Why not? Worked brilliantly for Dustin Martin. The trick is to blame the woman, and then make sure it stays within the AFL. One outcome of this matter you can bank on. The AFL will at some stage have to come out with a whole lot more public relations BS about how much they respect women.

So he can run fast, but can't play football. I'd much rather give rookie list spots to speculative kids showing promise rather than a bottom of the ladder discard.

GWS have no imagination. Here are some other excuses which worked well against another psychotic woman. I ran out of gas. I had a flat tire. I didn't have enough money for cab fare. My tux didn't come back from the cleaners. An old friend came in from out of town. Someone stole my car. There was an earthquake. A terrible flood. Locusts! IT WASN'T MY FAULT, I SWEAR TO GOD!

Someone gets delisted from the worst team in the comp, and we give him a rookie spot? No thanks.

Waldron is the king of getting it wrong...

Once again, I don't know why people are stressing about the crowd. It's not our home games so it's not our problem.

Small correction required.

I just realised that any draft sanctions taken against GWS this year would hurt the Giants deeply because they are supposed to have about half a dozen highly thought of academy prospects awaiting selection. My guess therefore is that the AFL will not do anything about this that requires a final decision until after the draft.

Wow, this story just keeps getting better and better.

The whinging about where it is being played. It's an away game. Against an Etihad tenant. Not our home game, means no whinging.

It appears whilst I was at work, someone hijacked my account and decided to start a thread about re-recruiting Mitch Clark.... Lol! What a thread!!!! I mean, hah... Pfffftt.... ha.... Ahhh-gah.... Ffffsss... heh... *Gulp*

They didn't go looking. Whitfield hid IN CASE they went looking. As ever, the cover up is ten times worse than the original offence. But feel free to continue bagging ASADA based on nothing. They could use a break.

You've gotta be kidding Steve!!! Your footy posts are usually informative and considered ......... but this!!!! FMD!!!!

I'm not sure why the Brownlow question is even being asked. In any sport, if you're found guilty of a doping infringement, you lose all victories, awards and prize money for the period when you were found to be doping.