M_9

For goodness sake do not quote the OP when posting!

I posted just one load of tripe posted by one 'diane' here purely for the amusement of DL'ers. This diane really has a vivid imagination.

From the posts made after one of the HUN's items on ASADAgate (by Diane): Hamilton was in charge of Robinson, Dr Reid, Dr De Morton and Dank. These 4 people had to report to Hamilton and not Hird. Hird was told Dank had a vial of Hexarelin in his fridge and ordered him to get rid of it. Hird reported the matter to Hamilton. Thompson ripped into Dank 30 minutes after Hird had admonished him.Robinson sent Dank an SMS reminding him that he could not administer injections. In reply Dank stated, ‘I can use vitamin injections. The doc is happy with that. I need to fight for Cerebrolysin. 4 September 2012 – Dank left Essendon 11 December 2012 – Dank, who had joined Melbourne, organised a meeting with two senior Melbourne people and Alavi to discuss the possibility of Alavi supplying supplements as part of a sponsorship. There is so much more that the media dont want you to know, but as a detective. I would have thought you would do your due diligence and investigate everything. Not just what the media feeds you.

I may be wrong, but essentially ASADA deals with athletes, not a club, so I don't know that they would sanction 'Cronulla' per se, unless the 'team suspension rule' was invoked. Richard Ings tweeted 8 days ago "why haven't the NRL issued SD with an infraction notice?" It appears he wasn't actually paid by Cronulla and that may be a factor? Cronulla officials may have received infraction notices, but you'd only hear about it if those officials made it known. As far as I'm aware, there were 12 players in total who were offered, and took, a deal. A number were playing with other clubs. Those players were named by at least one paper. I'm sure I read that 5 players were not offered a deal, and were issued with infraction notices. As I said elsewhere, they may have retired, so a deal makes little sense. Then again, they may have been offered a deal and refused it. I don't think those players have been named. The latter has ramifications as far as Essendon goes. It's believed that about 21 are still playing AFL. What happens with the other 13 if 'the 21' are offered a deal?

I've looked into it pretty extensively, but the details are scarce due to ASADA's privacy rules. Even the exact number of players issued with SCNs was not specified. It appears to have been 17, but the names were not published. It seems that only 12 of the 17 were offered deals and all accepted them, so avoiding a tribunal hearing. Their names were published. No reason has been given why the other 5 players weren't offered deals, but it was probably because they had retired or are/were playing OS. I read one report that those 5 were issued with infraction notices recently. The names of these 5 players have not been made public. Roy Masters also reported that Dank was employed by Cronulla for 11 weeks, but there's no record of him being paid. Similarly there was no invoice or receipt for the purchase of the supplements - CJC-1295 and GHRP-6. At least 3 players are suing Cronulla, Dank, Shane Flanagan, and the Head Trainer. Another two are suing Cronulla. More lawsuits are expected. Obviously the players are risking $millions in legal fees should they lose. All of the above was gleaned from the 'net, mainly Roy Masters in the SMH. I'm happy to be corrected.

The sanction given to the NRL players was 3 2014 matches plus part of the 2015 preseason. The sanction has just been completed.

Of the 6 or so Bombers' supporters I know all are dead certain that it's a beat up. Without fail, they worship Hird in the same way Kim Jong-un is idolised.

Could WJ or someone else with legal knowledge tell me the 'order' of avenues for appeal as regards ASADA v Players? My understanding is that the first recourse is to appeal to the AFL Anti-doping Appeals Board. What happens after that? Federal Court and then CAS? I know Mark French was acquitted after appealing to the CAS. Did he pass through other avenues?

I'm surprised this story hasn't got a mention in either of the daylies: http://www.afl.com.au/news/2014-11-17/i-can-clear-players-dank I'm wondering if it's because 'Honest Steve' filed defamation suits against 8 media outlets ($10 mil.) including Fairfax in Feb last year. He also said he'd sue Demetriou (withdrawn), Dave Smith (NRL CEO), the NRL, and Cronulla.

From my research: It's actually Thymomodulin and belongs to the Thymosin alpha 'family'. Thymosin alpha regulates the immune system. Thymosin alpha is not banned. Thymomodulin is prescribed for infants to increase their immune system but only if it is deficient. Thymosin beta 4 (TB4) is banned under the S2 category Growth Factors and Related Substances. Like Thymomodulin, TB4 regulates the immune system. but it also appears to aid in tissue regeneration, hance it is a PED. Thymosin (alpha and beta) occurs naturally and there is no test that can detect elevated levels. Richard Ings reported that no athlete worldwide was banned in 2012-13 for the use of TB4. Why I reckon Dank injected TB4 and not Thymomodulin as he reportedly told the ACC: Dank sourced his PEDs through Charter and the Chinese supplier Vincent Xu said he only ever supplied Charter with TB4 Charter forwarded a text message to Dank stating "Which peptides do you need (compounded) next?" In his reply Dank requested Thymosin Beta 4. Dank told Nick McKenzie that he injected the players with TB4 When McKenzie told Dank that TB4 was banned Dank said "that's mindblowing" IMO ASADA would have a watertight case against Dank (and the players).

If the 34 players are found to have been administered a banned drug (TB4) then I can't see how they can get less than 12 months. Even then, they would have to plead 'no significant fault or negligence". The players were negligent in signing a waiver that listed Thymosin on it. A Google search would have told them that there was "good" and "bad" Thymosin. Hird and Dank didn't help the situation by sidelining Reid who would have been the one to check with ASADA. Having said that, Reid had reservations about Dank's use of AOD9604, and was not forceful enough in his objection to the use of that. During the player interviews, it was apparent that some players were told more by Dank re Thymosin than others. It didn't help the 34 players that something like 12 did not have the injections. BTW the story about Zaharkas having an aversion to needles was rubbish. Looking at the NRL penalties, I think the players will get 12 months backdated to the issuance of the initial SCNs (mid-June). They would then miss half the 2015 season. If the players are found guilty the AFL tribunal may try to get away with the minimum. I reckon ASADA will appeal if the bans are less than 2 years. They'll go in hard as they did in both Matt Clark's and Saad's case.

I think you'll find the persons sitting on the AFL Tribunal, chaired by former County Court judge David Jones, will be completely impartial.

Can someone tell me if the NRL Tribunal that judged the Cronulla affair was held in camera? I assume from the paucity of information we received about that judgement, that it was.

Extremely passionate at the B&F about his desire to get into the area of player welfare. I thought at the time that there'd be limited opportunities (18 spots in the AFL?)

Above GC, GWS, Brisbane, Crows, WC? Tell him he's dreaming. Agree we may finish ahead of Bulldogs, Saints, Carlton and Pies.

If you're a subscriber to the Age: http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/melbourne-appoints-shannon-byrnes-as-welfare-and-development-coach-20141111-11kkcx.html I sat with the Byrnes family at the B&F and spoke briefly with Shannon about his future. I can't say I thought much of him as a player, but he did come across as a really nice bloke. This job is exactly what he was after.

Ditto.

Some funny comments posted on the HUN website yesterday - speculation as to what Tania was doing with her notebook. Was she really taking notes or drawing ponies?

Thanks WJ for that explanation. As I understand it, the verdict on Monday's hearing is likely to be given some time in December. I have some understanding of where ASADA will head if they lose from reading an article in today's Age. I take it that, if Hird loses, it will likely be the last we hear from him, at least until the law suits are filed!

Pardon my ignorance, but what is the Full Bench? Is that the same as the Supreme Court? Is the next step after that an appeal to the High Court?

It was a similar situation at Cronulla. There is no record of who supplied or paid for the CJC 1295 and GHRP 6 according to Roy Masters. These two drugs were on Charter's shopping list. Masters also alleges that Dank does not appear to have been paid for his 11 weeks at Cronulla. What a bloke - not only donates the peptides, but also his time. The belief is that the peptides were on-sold to Cronulla players via a Kogarah compounding pharmacist. Dank actually claims that he passed on the Thymosin he got from Alavi to Mimotopes Lab who destroyed it (affected by the sun). Mimotopes deny this. I reckon ASADA have an air-tight case. They ran it past an independent panel prior to issuing the SCNs. There's too many experienced personnel involved with ASADA to stuff this case up.

According to 3AW's Breakfast Show, the Chjip La Grand article in today's Australian claims that the Thymosin supplier in China only ever gave Charter 'the bad Thymosin' (TB4) on the understanding that it would not be used on humans. It would have killed La Grand to write this. I don't have a subscription to The Oz.

I live 20km from K Park but refuse to go there, partly because my 16 game Victorian games membership does not get me through the gate. I wasn't aware that Geelong had succeeded from Victoria.

Not sure that our third match against Essendon sans 18 players* will prove much of a hit-out. *Any player hit with an infraction notice is immediately 'provisionally suspended'. The player may appeal to the AFL anti-doping appeal tribunal.

The AFL Anti-doping code can be found here: http://www.afl.com.au/staticfile/AFL%20Tenant/AFL/Files/Schedule%206%20-%20National%20Anti-Doping%20Code.pdf Section 14 deals with Sanctions