Whispering_Jack

I'm wondering when the authorities are going to finally get stuck into Stephen Dank. It beggars belief that we constantly read stories like this one Texts reveal Stephen Dank discussed injecting Bombers with experimental racehorse drug and the man has yet to be questioned by ASADA despite the fact that it's had the power to do so for a month already. Some of the text messages sound like they came straight out of Monty Python but am I missing something? I'm trying to think about what they could be waiting for and the only thing I can come up with is that there might be some consultation between ASADA and the ACC (which has interviewed him) on how to approach the interview and the sharing of information and there might be some jurisdictional issues involved.

Oops. I think I might have gone a bit early with the Black Caviar line. Texts reveal Stephen Dank discussed injecting Bombers with experimental racehorse drug

Here's the article from of all places, the HUN which through Robbo and Whateley has become the EFC's news sheet on AOD-9604 lately.Australian expert says not enough yet known on on anti-obesity drug Whateley, who I once admired greatly, has IMO stained his reputation over this with the manner in which he disingenuously promoted Garnham's story about the drug and his enquiries with ASADA and incorrectly interpreted it to mean that its S0 classification was irrelevant. The Age's investigative team has been all over Robbo and Whateley who would be best off going back to writing about Black Caviar rather than engaging in tabloid journalism.

Pretty poor form from the barrister representing someone who's supposed to be remorseful about his role in this saga. Sometimes, even if you happen to be a $15k per day mouthpiece, it's better to say nothing at all.

Hopefully, we'll arrange it so that one of those byes is preceded by a Darwin game so that the team has a rest when it goes up there.

On the Melbourne investigation, we did what the AFL CEO publicly endorsed (in a Wilson article of all things) and were still hounded and chased while others who did exactly the same thing were ignored. Wilson and others in the media had amnesia about such things. On the Essendon investigation, not even idiots like Sam Newman endorsed the drug aspect of what the Bombers did.

Early start and two byes highlight season structure change

I disagree. The penalty was imposed for poor governance and specifically not drug cheating. The offence was therefore not much different to Adelaide and Carlton cheating the salary cap or Melbourne joking with intent. Everyone knows that each of those offences are clearly designed to bring the game into disrepute and that's why in our case they rolled out the Gestapo to bully our people into submission to the point where I believe one witness confessed that he used to admire Benny Hill and that's why his comedy was so behind the times and lurid. We can't have our community exposed to these things and that's what resulted in CC being sent to purgatory.On the other hand, a far more powerful body than the Gestapo still awaits the Bombers. It's a big fish called WADA and its little helper ASADA is nutting out a report which will be no laughing matter when released. It might get Jack Trengove for dabbing some cream on his toe but only if someone can figure out what it was or wasn't. There's a suggestion that it might have contained nothing more devilish than Viagra because Jack's been running around like he's carrying a heavy load until lately. Anyway Redleg. Melbourne has nothing to worry about because Dr. Bate's prescriptions are apparently illegible. Essendon, on the other hand should prepare for some infraction notices on players and that's when the punishment gets tough.

You forgot to mention that at the outset of the investigation Caroline Wilson will demand that the bootstudder and the doorman be sacked.

I hope that wasn't considered part of Bomber's job interview for the job next year.

This is not the reason but apart from anything else, the Essendon VFL side didn't exist in 2012. They were the Bendigo Bombers so technically the VFL can take the points off the Bendigo team (which didn't win a game).

Yes. The ASADA Report that precipitated the governance charges was interim only. It hasn't produced a report on allegations of prohibited substances being administered to the Essendon players as a result of that club's supplements programme and, despite having been given the power to require Dank to give evidence, hasn't interviewed him yet.

The AFL is a signatory to the WADA Code. It was always going to happen that ASADA was going to investigate the allegations about Dr Bate's involvement with Dank and whether any of our players were administered prohibited substances. The facts appear to be vastly different to the Essendon situation and for our sake and that of the players involved it's hoped they didn't. On what I've heard and read we should be in the clear but otherwise, we have to accept it in the spirit of Tyson Gay and not the shonks at Essendon who are still carrying on about not being drug cheats. For the betterment of sport and its competitors, the WADA code adopts a regime of strict liability and that's how it should be.

Unfortunately for us, that's where we stand.All we can hope for Jack is that the facts exonerate him .

Given that there may be further repercussions in respect to the players depending on the outcome of the ongoing ASADA investigation when it issues its final report, the Bombers will be hurting badly over this for a long time to come. Essendon finish 9th and not last. I assume this is (among other things) to determine their entry into the draft i.e. in the third round. I don't think they've gotten off lightly at all.

When are we starting the countdown to the national draft?

Reckon he'll end up at Essendon.Now that they're out of the first two rounds of this year's draft they might consider him a good prize at pick 55 or something and, in some way, compensation because if you put his image at a side, he's probably a top 10 pick. He also trained with them before last year's PSD and rookie drafts.

Is Brown Sugar performance enhancing?

Of course. I should have made the connection given the subject matter.

A selection of letters from today’s Age: Lifetime bans for those found to be guilty The Essendon ''drug blitz'' has been a disaster. Those responsible must be dealt with severely, with lifetime banishment from all sporting codes. They have negligently exposed many of our finest young men to numerous unknown and potentially life-altering and threatening complications of biologic agents. Already deleterious psychological effects are evident in players and their loved ones, but physical effects in the coming decades may be worse. These may include male infertility and teratogenic and developmental defects in their offspring. Health professionals found to have been involved must be deregistered by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency. The AFL must inflict lifetime bans on all the ''masterminds'' at Windy Hill and expel the club for five years. Only then can the integrity of our beloved game be restored. Dr Peter Lazzari, physician, Vermont South Hird's right to be heard In principle, I support the concept of the AFL making and enforcing its own rules, with appropriate protocols to ensure natural justice and probity. However, I was dismayed by the statement of support against my club by the presidents of the other 17 clubs (Sport, 23/8). While I do not excuse all of what has transpired, I believe that James Hird and Essendon are justified in defending themselves from a seriously flawed process of investigation by ASADA and the AFL. I exhort the presidents to work with the AFL commissioners to bring about improvements to the system to ensure such a debacle never occurs again. Keith Richards, Buronga, NSW Time to cut the coach loose James Hird has played, worked and lived under the AFL regulatory system for many years without questioning its validity. Now that he is being asked to be accountable for his actions and accept the consequences, he takes them to court. Essendon, get rid of Hird and then you can start to recover (having first accepted your sanctions). Lois Gaskin, Cowes Hypocrisy of many footy fans Every week we expect players to endure the smashing and bashing of bodies. Not many games reach the final siren without one or several suffering significant injuries. In light of this, consider Essendon's motive in providing supplements. It was to protect and help players recover from the ravages of the games and arduous training, not compromise their health. I have no doubt Hird believed it would help his men. Meanwhile, fans who have condemned the supplements program will watch more games next weekend and not bat an eyelid when yet another injured player is carried off. Fiona Evans, Bells Beach

Yes, assuming ASADA has something to say in the final version of the report which is an inevitability.

The problem as I understand it is that, for the good of the game and its image, the AFL wanted Essendon out of the finals so an interim report was issued. In an ideal world (oxymoron) they should have waited till the report was final (i.e. after the Danks interview) so that all of the issues, drug use, governance etc. could have been dealt with as one. It was reported that the legal bill all round for this currently stands at $4m. Imagine what it's going to be like if this goes on, and on and on ...

If they think that they're in more trouble than the early settlers.

Point 1 - the charges brought by the AFL relate to governance issues so I'm not sure that WADA would override any outcome in the currect discussions. More likely, they would act if not satisfied with the way the ASADA final report is dealt with.However, WADA would be looking closely at the final outcome of the negotiations to determine if Essendon agreed to a charge which might come within their jurisdiction. Point 2 - correct although technically, the prosecution is done by other bodies. Point 3 - ASADA will issue its final report and then it will be up to the AFL to deal with any infraction notices raised as a result. WADA has the right to appeal if it considers any outcome to be incorrect and not in accordance with its code. As mentioned above, the standard of proof is not the same as in the criminal courts and circumstantial evidence can often be sufficient to sustain a charge.